Famous Folk Art Collection Mounted
In Museum Exhibition For Christmas
The seen is a quiet uoodland
in the Sabine Hills north of
Rome. The year is 1223. It is
the eve of Christmas and the
hour is nearing midnight.
Suddenly the dark winter's
night is pierced with the glow
of a hundred tapers and the
soft voices of men, women and
children chanting the age-old
hymn of the Christmas season.
"Glory to God in the Highest."
A procession may be seen
moving up the hillside from the
nearby village of Greccio to a
humble cloister of the Brothers
of Francis of Assisi. Francis
himself beloved patron of ihe
poor, of children, birds, and
animals leads his brown-roued
brothers and the people of Grec
cio to a cave near tire clois
ter. There. Francis has arranged
T
hiipiih ma hi mi i nmm V"" WTf' iwiw
PAINTED POTTERY SCENE From Guadalajara, Mexi
co, where the Nativity creche is called a "Nacimiento,"
has come the painted pottery scene shown here which
is comprised of 26 pieces arranged in a three-level,
alter-shaped unit.
;1
MAKING OF CRECHES Collector Alexander Girard,
noted folk-art authority of Santa Fe, N.M., has gathered
representations of the Nativity Scene from the world
over. The making of creches has flourished in most
Christian countries from the time of St. Francis of Assisi,
who is reputed to have built the first such creche in the
I 3th century.
Measons fereetiigsf!
.H-
WE
BE
Shop at Sears and Save
?atifaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back
to celebrate Christmas in a set
ting never before known. In the
center of the cave, just below
a makeshift altar, lie had
placed a manger filled with
straw and in it, the figure of an
infant. On either side was a
live animal the traditional ox
and ass of the stable at Beth
lehem. A biographer has recorded
Francis as explaining:
"I want to celebrate the com
ing of the Son of Jod upon
earth and see with my own
ees how poor and miserable
He wished to be for our sakes."
Thus was presented for the
first time a religious tableau
that was the inspiration for a
unique form of folk art tile Na
tivity crib, or creche, as it is
called found today in homes
and churches throughout the
YOUR SHOPPING
WILL BE
UNTIL CHRISTMAS EVE.
INNING TOMORROW, FRL, NOV. 29
OPEN 9:30
Christian world and collected
and treasured by such out
standing experts in the field as
the noted American architect
and designer, Alexander Girard.
Premiere Exhibition
Girard's collection of this rare
folk art glorifying the birth of
Christ gathered in his world
travels over a period of 30
years has been mounted for
the first time as a major mu
seum exhibition for tiie 12
Christmas season.
The exhibition, entitled simply
"The Nativity." will be shown
at the William Rockhill Nelson
Gallery of Art in Kansas City.
Mo. An elaburate sotting has
been constructed to accommo
date more than 150 Christmas
creches on loan to the gallery
from the Girard Foundation of
Santa Fe, N..M.
Appropriately, the exhibition
with its deeply significant tlieme
of "peace on earth," will be a
b e n e f i t for the international
People-to-P e o p 1 e Program,
whose aim is international un
derstanding among the nations
of the world.
Hallmark Cards, Inc., of Kan
sas City, whose president, Joyce
C. Hall, is an executive of the
People-to-People Program, has
underwritten the cost of trans
porting the 2.(W0-piece collec
tion from New Mexico and of
constructing the setting.
Creche Becomes Famous
The Shrine of Greccio where
a church now stands and the
story of that Christmas scene
became known throughout Eu
rope. In 131(5. Pope John 22nd. then
living at Avignon, introduced
the idea of the creche to the
region of Provence in southern
France whence it spread
throughout Europe and eventu
ally the whole Christian world.
To this day in Provence,
where shepherds still tend tlioir
flocks on the hills of that rich
farming area, the- account of
the Nativity is as real as if it
were a modern miracle. A sim
ple little creche is arranged on
a table in the liest room in the
house and neighbors visit each
other to admire the tiny clay
figures called scntons (little
saints i fashioned from hand
made molds. They are bright
ly painted to represent not just
the Holy Family. Ihe shepherds
the angels and Ihe Wise Men,
bill various figures in the vil
lage as well.
In Italy, and esiecially in the
city of Naples, some of the most
distinguished sculptors of the
15th Century devoted them
selves to the creation of the be
loved figures.
Charles 3rd. of Spain, made
his own statuettes and his Sax-
FORGKT SOMKOXE?
If a Christmas card arrives
on Dec. 24th from someone not
on your mailing list, don't rush
out and mail a card that will
arrive after the holiday. Instead,
suggests the Rust Craft greeting
card company, send a New
Year's card. Many say "Thank
You for Your Christmas Greet
ing" along with the New Year
message.
OPEN EVERY NIGHT
AM to 9:00
SEARS
on queen sewed the garments
that covered them with her own
hands.
Simple Folk Arl
But in France. Germany and
Spain, the creche was adopted
also by the simple folk. Every
church and home had its own
hand-carved set of figures
dressed, in each instance, in the
clothing peculiar to that time
and region.
The creche took on a variety
of forms. Skilled artisans in Vi
enna in the 18th Century, cre
ated animated figures which en
acted the Nativity with moving
animals, kneeling shepherds
and Wise Men presenting their
gifts to the newborn Child.
Giraixl himself lias supervised
the construction of an adobe-like
wall within the Kansas City mu
seum. It has been formed in Ihe
shape of a cross into which the
creches were installed in indi
vidually lighted shadow boxes.
Variety of Sizes
The scenes range in size from
a single carved piece irom
Peru, so small it can be held in
the palm of tlie hand, to a 4-by-7
foot Italian scene containing
172 figures.
Many are a primitive type
of folk art from rural areas of
Southwest United States, and
from several Latin American
and European nations.
"Tliese are the expressions of
simple craftsmen, potters and
woodcarvers. They speak the
direct language of faith. They
are naive, humble, and for the
most part, anonymous," Girard
said.
"The figures range from Ihe
contemporary to the 17th Cen
tury and constitute the most im
portant collection of popular
Christmas art ever shown in
this country," said Laurence
Sickman, director of the Nelson
Gallery.
Girard. who is 55, was born
in New York and grew up in
Florence, Italy, where he be
came fascinated with folk art
and soon became a collector.
His notable collection of toys,
fabris, masks and other arti
facts are housed at the Girard
Foundation which he established
two years ago in Santa Fe.
His Nativity scenes include
figures fashioned of wood, pot
tery, wax, paper, plaster, yarn,
glass, lead, carved nuts and
gourds and even baked bread
with colored icing.
The exhibition in Kansas City
w ill be open to the public Irom
November through January.
DON'T FORGET
"THANK YOU!"
There are three things for
which thanks are due: "an in
vitation, a gift, a warning,"
says an old proverb. May we
give you this gentle and limely
"warning," says the Rust Craft
greeting card company at the
end of this gay holiday season
of "invitations" and "gift-giving."
writing "Thank You"
notes will be in vogue. Small
boxes of note paper, beautifully
decorated in Christmas patterns,
are excellent "stiiflcrs" fo r
Christmas stockings, or for that
small, yel distinctive gift.
CONVENIENCE
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133 So. 8th St.
Ph. TU 2-4481
9:30
Puppy Shopping Popular At Christmas
And Should Be Done With Great Care
NEW YORK iNEAt - When
Christmas comes, kennels emp
ty out as fast as toy stores.
Nearly every third letter ad
dressed to tlie jolly gent with
the long white beard begins, "I
want a puppy."
There's nu age limit on this
request. It can come from a
school kid or from his great
Aunt Bessie, 75. who lives alone
in a one-room apartment.
Pup shopping should be done
as carefully as car shopping. Af
ter all, the dog usually lasts
longer.
Make a mental check list, tak
ing the personality and size of
the recipient's living quarters
into consideration. You wouldn't
exactly brighten Aunt Bessie's
Christmas if she were backed
into a corner of her room by
your gift of a Great Dane.
Personality is a big factor
Die new owner's, not the
dog's. Is he the slay-at-home or
the gadabout type? Does he
like to take long walks or
prefer to sit in front of Ihe
fire? Or will the new master
be a child?
Armed with this knowledge,
you're ready to pup shop.
Y ou have 115 registered
Cleaning
Studied
LINCOLN', Neb. (UPH-No
one method of cleaning the
wide variety of modern surfac
ing materials is satisfactory for
all of them, dousing specialists
at the University of Nebraska
said.
They said paste wax, for ex
ample, gives a soft lustre to a
wood floor, but causes asphalt
tile lo become gummy or
woody.
The specialists recommended
reading labels to determine Ihe
classification of the cleaning
products and waxes on the
market.
The following suggestions also
were made.
Use water sparingly. Water,
if allowed to stand on tlie floor,
may loosen tlie seams, cause
tlie material lo buckle or the
pores to expand. Never use w a
ter on wood.
Use warm (90-100 degrees
F.l water solutions. Hot water
or steam deteriorates adhesive
and the materials themselves.
Avoid strong soaps and de
tergents that will dull or even
dissolve color. Alkali dries the
surfacing, making it hard and
brittle.
Avoid abrasive cleaners in
instances where they may
create a maze of fine scratches
lo hold dirt.
Beware of solvent cleaners
because many are highly in
flammable and breathing the
fumes from others ol Ihesc pro
ducts is harmful.
Use water 4iascd compounds
on vinyl and rinse well. Vinyls
arc non-porous and film rides
on the surface.
Largest gold nugget mined
in the U.S. was a chunk which
weighed 1!)5 pounds and was
worth $73,710.
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xceptcd
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.t 2 i(
breeds to cluwse from, accord
ing to Bob Bartos i manager of
Friskies Research Kennels), So
if you have trouble locating a
pup that will please, perhaps a
nice selection of imported chees
es would lie a more suitable
gift.
Here's how you go about bark
ing up the right tree: Elderly
Aunt Bessie probably can't take
long hikes, spends a lot of time
alone and has a motlierly in
stinct. For her you select one of Ihe
smaller breeds who loves being
lussed over, such as the toy or
miniature Poodle, the Dachs
hund, the miniature Sclinaiizer
or Pekingese. These dogs need
a minimum of exercise and
adapt easily lo apartment liv
ing. Small as they are, they still
function as watchdogs and are
mighty vocal when the need
arises.
For Ihe man who thinks of
himself as the outdoor, pipe-in-moulh
he-man, yet doesn't have
an estate to go w ith this menial
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Now for the children. Tlie
bluest blueblood or the dog with
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child is very young, choose a
pup that can take it. You can
count on Janie or Johnny to dish
it out. Most children are prone
to love a dog so much that it
hurts the dog, that is.
Belter to get a pup s i x
months of age or over. Try for
the calm breeds such as the
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