Historic photos depict Christmas scenes from the 1950s
Scenes of the Nativity are gathered in the archives of Presbyterian Historical Society
The holiday season brings with it many things — cold weather and cozy clothing, lists for Santa and his elves, a fluctuation of reds and greens and blues, hot cocoa and candy canes, paper cuts from too much gift wrapping, and Nativity scenes on every corner. Often, as is the case with a lot of holiday iconography, you’ll see Jesus, Mary and Joseph nestled in their stable on someone’s front lawn, right next door to a blow-up Santa Claus and his flying reindeer.
In these images, taken from the Presbyterian Historical Society’s archival collection of Religious News Service photographs, you won’t find any distracting elves. You won’t see any red-nosed reindeer. No, these photographs highlight moments from holidays past in which the Nativity scene, and the magical story it tells of the infant Jesus’ birth, took full stage.
This life-sized Nativity scene was installed in the show window of the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company in Baltimore, Maryland, for the 1953 holiday season. Passersby are drawn into the stable, the perspective making it seem as though the viewer is part of the moment, someone who’s walked in behind the magi, eager to greet the new child. The tableau figures, duplicates of hand-sculptured originals, are clothed in real fabric sprayed to keep its natural folds. Additionally, there are three messages propped up at the front of the display, signed by three different men and representing three different faiths.
The first, on the far left, reads:
“Isaiahs of old with prophetic eyes saw the Infant in a manger and exclaimed in rapturous accents. ‘A Child is born to us, a Son is given to us … and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of the World to come, the Prince of Peace.’ May that same Divine Infant Whose birth this Christmas Season commemorates, born anew by Faith in our hearts, bring not only that Peace which the world cannot give to our souls, but that peace which He alone can give to our World.”
It is signed by Francis P. Keough, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore. The middle message, signed by The Rev. Dr. Paul C. Warren, President of the Council of Churches of Maryland and Delaware, is a bit shorter:
“Christmas is God’s candle in the dark. It tells us that because man’s life is love-lifted and star-led we can have hope. May this Holy Season of joyous song and haunting loveliness bring God’s peace to all.”
The final message, offered by Dr. Abraham Shusterman, Rabbi of the Har Sinai congregation, explains that:
“Within a week after the Jewish people conclude their observance of Channukah, the Festival of Lights, our Christian neighbors will celebrate Christmas. The concurrence of the two sacred seasons suggests this common prayer… ‘May the light of brotherhood and love so illumine the world, that peace on earth and good will toward men will be realized in all our lives.’”
If these holiday-fueled words were not enough, Christmas hymns were being broadcast through the display’s speakers throughout the day and into the evening. The BGEC really outdid themselves with this window manger scene!
From life-sized sculptures of Mary and Joseph … to a life-sized sculpture of the scripture. In 1954, encouraged by his family to “get away from Santa Claus” in designing a holiday lawn display, sign painter Wally Wohlust decided to try something new. The result? This nine-foot-high Bible, opened to the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2.
Not only did Wohlust construct the upson board Bible, paint the text and illustrations in oils on the five-foot-wide pages — and work on his creation for a week in his garage studio — he also designed a star-shaped case, which was lit by a floodlight and rested on a wooden stand against a background of cedars.
Talk about a dedication to holiday décor! Wohlust’s display “wow”ed the neighborhood of Racine, Wisconsin, where he lived at the time of the photograph. The caption shares that, “A steady flow of traffic passes the home each night, and many of the drivers pause to read the verse printed on the page.”
Life-sized Nativity scenes are one thing — living Nativity scenes are an entirely different affair. This one, in Santa Barbara, California, went one step further by occurring on the deck of a ship.
On the left, three men are gathered — The Rev. Noel Moholy, O.F.M., of Santa Barbera (center) is assisted two priests from the Santa Barbara Old Mission as he blesses a living Nativity scene on board a fishing boat at the waterfront. Another boat contained an authentic scene of a marketplace in Bethlehem, with every character dressed as in the days when Jesus was born. Once the scenes were blessed by Rev. Moholy, the boats cruised around the harbor as onlookers sang Christmas carols. (Let’s hope Mary and Joseph and their angels weren’t prone to sea sickness.) This was in 1954 — it was intended to be the first iteration of an annual holiday celebration. Now, in 2024, you can attend the Parade of Lights at the Santa Barbara Pier, where you can watch around 30 illuminated watercraft cruise from Leadbetter Beach to the Cabrillo Pavilion and back again.
We’ve shared a few larger-than-life manger scenes — now let’s scale it down.
In 1950, John B. Hachey, seen here on the right, spent four months building a beautiful creche outside his home in Montreal. Built as a Holy Year project, the first night Hachey lit up his front yard, several hundred people turned out to see it!
Hachey molded the 12 human and animal figures himself, creating them out of cement. The largest five weigh around 180 pounds each — so while they might not be actual-human size, Hachey certainly had his work cut out for him lugging the heavy figures into place. Like the Baltimore gas company’s window display, Hachey had records of Christmas carols playing inside the scene day and night. We admire your dedication, sir — see how he takes care to adjust the spruces he’s corralled around his artwork.
Joseph Chiaravalle’s Peoria, Illinois, living room had no space left for guests during the Christmas season of 1953. Scratch that — the huge Nativity scene he created within his home took him six entire years, so seating was probably scarce for a long while.
This huge scene of a tiny Bethlehem contains more than 200 pieces, took six years of spare time work to build, and cost more than $500 — a pretty expensive hobby at the time. Not only did he assemble and place the figurines, trees, and other “units” in the scene, but Chiaravalle also carved each church and building!
Despite the lack of seating, Chiaravalle’s neighbors were reported to frequently visit his home to view the magical Christmas scene. This isn’t too surprising — did you know that the artistic depiction of the Nativity has been traced back to the fourth century? Millions of renditions, millions of interpretations, millions of pieces of art have been created in commemoration of this biblical story. The five artworks shared here are enshrined in history forever, captured through the lens of an RNS journalist, and preserved for future storytellers in the archives of PHS.
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