In Memoriam: jrix
Treasured Keepsakes
A small part of the train garden that my father put up each Christmas.
"Christmas gardens. Like duckpin bowling, sno-balls, and Crack the Sky, the Christmas garden is one of those Baltimore traditions that's been embraced locally with great enthusiasm while somehow failing ever to migrate--or even attract much attention--outside the Greater Mobtown metropolitan region.
If you're not from around here, you probably have no idea what Christmas gardens are. Mention them to even the most acclimated out-of-towner, the one who's enjoyed an egg-custard sno-ball while duckpin rock 'n' bowling to "Hot Razors in My Heart," and you're likely be greeted with a blank stare, or perhaps some prattle about holly, evergreens, and outdoor lighting displays.
Think again, hon. The Baltimore holiday garden is set up indoors, not out, and doesn't even involve plants, except for the Christmas tree around which it's clustered. Typically it takes the form of a tiny idealized village, set amid a plaster-of-Paris landscape and peopled with miniature citizens. Model trains are usually involved. Almost invariably you will find a Nativity scene, although some traditionalists believe train gardens have become too secular and remove the creche, relocating it to a place of honor elsewhere in the room. "The custom is known only to Baltimore and many of the smaller towns of Pennsylvania," according to a 1936 article in The Sun, "particularly those settled originally by people of German origin."
~ Michelle Gienow, writer for the Baltimore City Paper
This link from last year shows some of the items in detail:
Treasured Keepsakes
A small part of the train garden that my father put up each Christmas.
"Christmas gardens. Like duckpin bowling, sno-balls, and Crack the Sky, the Christmas garden is one of those Baltimore traditions that's been embraced locally with great enthusiasm while somehow failing ever to migrate--or even attract much attention--outside the Greater Mobtown metropolitan region.
If you're not from around here, you probably have no idea what Christmas gardens are. Mention them to even the most acclimated out-of-towner, the one who's enjoyed an egg-custard sno-ball while duckpin rock 'n' bowling to "Hot Razors in My Heart," and you're likely be greeted with a blank stare, or perhaps some prattle about holly, evergreens, and outdoor lighting displays.
Think again, hon. The Baltimore holiday garden is set up indoors, not out, and doesn't even involve plants, except for the Christmas tree around which it's clustered. Typically it takes the form of a tiny idealized village, set amid a plaster-of-Paris landscape and peopled with miniature citizens. Model trains are usually involved. Almost invariably you will find a Nativity scene, although some traditionalists believe train gardens have become too secular and remove the creche, relocating it to a place of honor elsewhere in the room. "The custom is known only to Baltimore and many of the smaller towns of Pennsylvania," according to a 1936 article in The Sun, "particularly those settled originally by people of German origin."
~ Michelle Gienow, writer for the Baltimore City Paper
This link from last year shows some of the items in detail: