You don’t need a Scrooge or ghosts to glimpse into Christmas’ past.
For the month of December, the Nanaimo Museum is featuring an exhibit called Christmas in the Golden Age of Radio.
The exhibit includes radios from the museum’s collection and highlights popular culture from the 1920s-1940s, including Christmas traditions. The exhibit opened on December 1 and will run until January 4.
“We have an extensive collection of radios,” said Aimee Greenaway, Interpretation Curator at the Nanaimo Museum. “Most of them came from Fletchers, a music and furniture store that was a fixture on Commercial St. for over 100 years.”
The exhibit also takes a wistful look at Nanaimo’s history in that time period—daily life and Christmas traditions. “Over the last few years we’ve been building a tradition of Christmas-themed exhibits in December,” said Greenaway. “Families are returning annually to check out a different take on Christmas and the history of Nanaimo.”
The Christmas season is the busiest time of the year for the museum, and so this new exhibit is expected to be extremely popular. “We have 600 primary students participating in our Yesteryear Christmas school program,” said Greenaway. “They enjoy seeing the Christmas exhibit while participating in hands-on activities that teach them about the history of Nanaimo.”
Admission to the museum in the month of December is by cash donation to the Great Nanaimo Toy Drive. “The holiday season provides a great opportunity for us to support local organizations that help Nanaimo families,” said Debbie Trueman, General Manager. “Community members can visit the museum for a family Christmas experience and know they are helping people in our area.”
The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. — 5 p.m., except for holiday closures as listed on the museum website. For more information, visit the webstite or call 250-753-1821.