 | Christmas
in the City; New York City; Circa 1900
Entrance Foyer
Sideboard, Coffee
Table
|  |
 |
 | Christmas
in the City; circa 1900, New York City
Working on the video for this arrangement.
|
|
|
 | Dickens
Village; circa 1812-1870
As above, several
of Claradell's gift wraps incorporating music and lights.. |
|
 |  |  | | Every
tour was customized for that specific group.The nutcraker at the front door bore
a welcoming sign with the names of the individuals visiting in that group. Inside
within the various villages were placed customized sandwich boards acknowledging
the specific interests of the visitors. Examples: a young girl who played the
piano, a woman who gardened, a man who fished... The names have been changed to
protect the privacy of the specific visitor, but the sandwich boards created interest
for every group, because immediately the guests realized they were indeed a part
of this experience. We served refreshments to each group. After the tour, all
guests were given their customized sandwich boards and a summary of what they
had seen on all three floors of the house. The largest single tour consisted of
two chartered buses. Harry took one group and started on the lower level; Claradell
and the other group began on the upper level. They met on the middle or entry
level and exchanged groups. On the day of the chartered bus visit, we gave tickets
to each person. At the end of the tour, we drew tickets for gift wrapped doorrizes.
The door prizes often included a "village" building. Some sandwich boards
shown below. I had to allocate at least three hours of computer design work in
preparation for each group. Reservations "by word of mouth" began in
July for display times from Thanksgiving through the middle of January. We scheduled
two tours of two hours each per night and three per day on Saturdays and Sundays.
It took about one-half hour to put up the new signs and light the candles again
for each incoming group. We totaled about 500 visiting per holiday season, and
we did this for twelve years. There was no charge. We had displays in each and
every room of the house. Some of the displays are still up in areas not disrupting
our normal traffic flow (but covered by black plastic to reduce the accumulating
of dust). It takes forever to dust these minute figures and buildings. Dusting
is done with an artist's soft brush. I usually take each piece outside, one by
one, to dust them. |  |  |  |  | |  |  | |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|
| Music:
"Over The Rainbow" |
Home
| Newspaper | Entrance
| Upstairs | Main Floor
| Downstairs | Handout
| Contact
©2023-csheddgraphics All rights reserved.
All images and content
are © copyright of their respective copyright owners. |
