Reliving Christmas Past on the Lincoln Highway-- Part 1

From the Dec. 9, 2012, Chicago Tribune "Reliving Christmas Past" by Jay Jones.

Paradise, Pennsylvania, is in Amish country along U.S. Highway 30 (the Lincoln Highway).  And, as the sign in the parking lot says, "We're more than you expect,"  especially if you like Christmas and all its trappings.

Museum curator and founder, Jim Morrison, has found a place for his huge collection of Christmas memorabilia.  He started his collection at age 7, the day after Thanksgiving 1946 on a trip to Philadelphia, about an hour east of the museum.  He used a quarter to buy three small cardboard houses at the Woolworth's store. 

They are in the museum's first gallery, a replica of F.W. Woolworth's store at Christmas time. (Woolworth's first store was in nearby Lancaster.)

Morrison says he had a four bedroom house in Maryland so filed with his collection that he ended up sleeping on the sofa.  "It's an addiction," he says.  I can relate to that.

The National Christmas Center opened in 1998 www.nationalchristmascenter.com and is at 3427 Lincoln Highway in Paradise, Pa..  Admission for adults is $12 and is open Saturdays and Sundays in March and April, then daily May 1 through January 6th.  It is closed, of course, on Christmas Day.

Something Else to See.  --RoadDog