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Today I created the 2015 Christmas Dining Room display for the c. 1801 Riversdale House Museum in Riverdale Park , Maryland. You can click here to read all about this wonderful historic treasure in Prince George's County.
Normally , I use the festive Christmas season to create an elaborate Christmastide ball supper with an array of buffet items appropriate to the very early decades of the 19th century. This year , in keeping with the museum staff's decision to recreate Christmas traditions from multiple time periods , ranging from the middle of the 19th century to the 1930s , I decided to use an 1889 description of a Christmas dinner given by Juliet Corson in her publication entitled , Miss Corson's Practical American Cookery (New York).
Here is Corson's description of a classic old-fashioned Christmas (or even Thanksgiving):
For the current Riversdale House Museum dining room display , I used Corson's description of the Christmas meal as the inspiration for my display. Here is a schematic of how I interpreted it given the faux food objects available at the museum:
Here are some images of this year's design which clearly reflects a simple family gathering of just two traditional courses , not the pomp and circumstance of a lavish ball supper:
Dining Room Table:
Sideboard with Desserts Awaiting Service:
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