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his year, Colonial Williamsburg guests will connect with their “colonial me” by enjoying seasonal programs, engaging museum exhibitions and enhanced dining options. Colonial Williamsburg’s new offerings include:
- Programs in the 301-acre Historic Area that willspan 1773 through 1776, with each season representing a different year.
- Themed programs and featured events including a storytelling festival
- Hands-on interpretation at an 18th-century urban plantation.
More...
Colonial Williamsburg engages all of the senses as the restored town bustles with activities circa 1770. From the clang of a blacksmith’s anvil to the beat of the Fifes and Drums, the city is alive with the sights and sounds of America’s formative days. Here are some ideas you can adapt for your town, shop or shopping center:
People of the Past – Chat with costumed 18th-century townsfolk about their lives, hopes and challenges.
Story Hour – Williamsburg Booksellers at theVisitor Center hosts a weekly story hour for young guests.
A Grand Medley of Entertainments – This 18th-century “variety show,” a forerunner of modern circus-es and vaudeville, includes music, magic, feats ofstrength and other amusements guaranteed to pleaseaudiences young and old.
Colonial Kids on Parade –
This evening program takes a look at the history of Williamsburg through the eyes of its children. This hour-long program includes a puppet show, 18th-century dance, a fencing lesson, and African-American music and storytelling.
Shopping is as much a part of the Christmas season as decorations, parties, food, and religious services. Gift shops can be found in Colonial Williamsburg’s museums, the Visitor Center, hotels, and Historic Area. Shops in Merchants Square offer signature items from Colonial Williamsburg's licensed products, as well as generic but elegant clothing, pewter, silver, and housewares for every taste.
The Christmas decorations at Colonial Williamsburg are magnificent and inspirational. They encourage visitors to recreate them at home ... and serve as perfect examples of what other retailers can do to decorate their stores and/or resell to customers.
Colonial Williamsburg’s world renowned holiday decorations are firmly rooted in the traditions of Christmas and have emerged as a universal standard for the creative use of natural materials, including a generous supply of pine, boxwood, Frasier fir, holly, magnolia leaves, yarrow, assorted fruits and berries,and the limitless imaginations of their creators.
In the span of four days, 16 carpenters, designers and assistants use their considerable talents to decorate 75 exhibition buildings, trade shops, taverns and offices in the Historic Area. Residents of nearly 85 homes in the 301-acre historic area join in the holiday spirit each year by displaying additional decorations.
The effort results in memorable and wondrous decoration of the restored 18th-century city for the holidays.
Weather and wildlife can wreak havoc with the natural materials — especially the fruit — and the decorations are replaced at least twice during the holiday season.
Materials used to decorate Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area and nearby buildings include more than three miles of white pine roping; 2,550 white pine and Frasier fir wreaths; 15 truckloads of pine, holly, boxwood, magnolia and berries and 79 cases of fruit including fresh pineapples, apples, oranges, pomegranates and nuts.
Colonial Williamsburg’s floral staff begins decorating the exteriors and interiors of exhibition buildings and shops the week after Thanksgiving. They produce several dozen elaborate door wreaths and plaques every year and create elegant interior table and mantel decorations as well. Greenery roping is used to put the finishing touches on doorways, windows, columns and railings. Historic Area residents are encouraged to decorate their homes and a contest is held each year to determine the most imaginative or original decorations.
Ever hear of a cresset? They’re famous in Colonial Williamsburg. Cressets are iron baskets that are placed on iron poles. Pitch pine, or fatwood, is placed in them and burned to provide illumination during evening programs. This particular wood contains a high amount of resin that provides an especially hot, bright flame.
There were no Christmas trees in 18th-century Williamsburg. The first “Christmas tree” in Williamsburg was introduced and decorated in 1842 at the St. George Tucker House. A guest at the Tuckerhome, Dr. Minnigerode, suggested the tree for a holiday party in honor of the German custom. Far from the large, grandiose trees aglow with sparkling lights and myriad decorations of today, early Christmas trees were shorter and simpler but no less aesthetic or charming. The early trees typically were showcased on a tabletop and stood no more than a few feet tall. Volunteers at the St. George Tucker House — now the home of Colonial Williamsburg’s donor reception center — re-create the tree as it might have appeared in 1842. The Tucker House staff also decorates a much larger, American-style tree with a folk-art theme. Volunteers make decorations using themes from the book “Christmas Decorations from Williamsburg’s Folk Art Collection” and other sources. Williamsburg’s first Christmas tree is commemorated with the lighting of a large evergreen at Market Square near the Magazine. The tree is illuminated Christmas Eve during a ceremony that includes caroling and brief remarks by a prominent Williamsburg citizen.
Although Colonial Williamsburg is internationally known, holiday tourists typically come from the same places as during the rest of the year — primarily from the Northeast. The majority of them come from large cities and metropolitan areas: Washington, New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Norfolk, Richmond, Raleigh-Durham and Atlanta to name a few.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a pri-vate, not-for-profit educational institution that pre-serves and operates the restored 18th-century capitalof Virginia as the world’s largest living history muse-um. It is not part of the state or federal park system.Your purchase of tickets, gifts, licensed products, aswell as food and lodgings at Colonial Williamsburghotels and tax deductible contributions, help the sitepreserve and operate this national treasure. TheHistoric Area comprises 301 acres with 88 originalcolonial buildings and hundreds of structures thathave been reconstructed on their original foundations.
From 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the political, social and cultural capital of Britain’s largest, wealthiest and most populous North American colony. Educational tours and programs recreate daily life during the 1770s when colonists were taking their first steps toward becoming a new nation.
Colonial Williamsburg also operates the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and Bassett Hall — the Williamsburg home of Mr. and Mrs. John D.Rockefeller Jr. In addition, Colonial Williamsburg operates five hotel properties and 10 restaurants and numerous retail stores.
Colonial Williamsburg is open 365 days a year, generally from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the holiday season. Information about specific programs, times and locations can be found in Colonial Williamsburg’s “This Week,” which is available at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center, all Colonial Williamsburg ticket outlets, Colonial Williamsburg hotels and at www.ColonialWilliamsburg.com. While hundreds of Colonial Williamsburg staff tends to the cooking, decorating, singing, baking, can-dlestick making, etc. the gift division is helmed by Debra Salisbury. She’s the Director of Merchandise Management for Colonial Williamsburg. She keeps the gift shops’ merchandise on the cutting edge of what’s new while maintaining the site’s centuries old charm.
Under her jurisdiction are 13 storesin the historic area, which resemble stores that existed in 18th century Williamsburg. There are also the Visitor Center shops, hotel gift shops, a museum gift shop, a golf shop, several souvenir shops, seasonal and collectibles shop, a gift and tabletop store and home furnishings store. All of the retail stores are located in Williamsburg within and around the Historic Area of Colonial Williamsburg. National business iscaptured through Direct business — the Williamsburg catalog and www.williamsburgmarketplace.com.
Salisbury is assisted by four merchandise buyers on staff devoted to developing proprietary product. In the last few years they have introduced over 700 new proprietary products. Additionally Colonial Williamsburg orders from companies that are part of its licensing program, which has developed over 7,000 products. “We carry these throughout our retail stores, Web site and catalog. We do buy open market product but place our emphasis on Williamsburg proprietary and licensed product,”Salisbury notes.
Williamsburg is definitely “hot” for the holidays, and the merchandising team is right in the thick of it! You will see them at major and regional trade shows looking for new products and trends, but also starting their own trends by developing proprietary product for Williamsburg stores, catalog and Web site. Their decisions have a rippling effect far beyond the Virginia-based historic site. Colonial Williamsburg licensed merchandise is carried in thousands of retail shops around the country.
Among the trends the Colonial Williamsburg marketing team see for this Christmas are:
Natural Holiday - Natural holiday decorations are a big part of Christmas in Williamsburg and the merchandising team has developed several ideas for bringing this look to customers. In addition to “ready-made” wreaths, garlands and swags, it has iron forms in various shapes so customers can create their own natural holiday look. “Using faux or dried fruit and greenery, customers can develop a mantle, table or door centerpieces that are unique and beautiful. These items have been extremely popular, and we continue to expand our offerings,” Salisbury explains. She adds, “People are looking for more natural-looking decorations for their home. They also want things that are easy and quick to set up. The NDI permanent holiday arrangements were the hottest sellers last year and we anticipate being so again this year. They have an expensive price point but that does not deter people. People have less time and are willing to spend more to get results. Our iron forms and the supporting faux fruit and greenery are also very popular. In minutes, one can create an authentic, and ever-lasting, Williamsburg-style holiday arrangement."
Collectibles - Another category that has flourished with the attention from the merchandising team is collectibles. Colonial Williamsburg carries miniature lighted houses from Lang & Wise copied from its historic buildings, a collection of Lynn Haney Williamsburg Santas, a group of Madame Alexander dolls, and annual nutcrackers from Christian Albright. “The collectible area continues to be one of our top categories,” Salisbury states.
Personalizing – Williamsburg offers a lot of products that can be engraved to provide a personal message. “We have also developed many products that convey a message for our customers, like our ceramic verse dishes, our personalized baby plates, or our delft jars. There are many offerings in our engraving/personalizing category, and these items continue to be strong sales performers, Salisbury says. She adds that personalized holiday ornaments and jewelry is particularly in demand at Christmas time. But in general, “Engraving is huge!” It’s no wonder that Colonial Williamsburg has its own staff of engravers who do both machine and hand-engraving on the spot.
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