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If you love historic houses and you’re in a holiday kind of mood, see if a historic
house museum near you is decorated, vintage-style, for the holidays. You’ll get a
feel for Christmases before plastic tinsel and the crazy Target lady.

Run a web search or check the events section in your newspaper for events at museums
near you, or tours of private homes. You also can browse the historic house museums
in the MuseumsUSA
directory. I did a little Web surfing, and my personal jet, if I had one, would
fly me to these holiday houses:

• Belle
  Meade Plantation, Nashville Tenn. A Century of Christmas: 1853-1953, shows how
  Christmas celebrations here evolved from fresh greens and a simply decorated tree
  in 1853 to 20th-century electric tree lights and characters.

• Glessner and Clarke
  House Museums, Chicago. Two museums display different aspects of holiday celebrations.
  Clarke House exemplifies emerging holiday customs of the 1850s with simple decorations,
  and more elaborate decor at Glessner House reflects the growing interest in the celebration
  of Christmas.

• Pabst Mansion, Milwaukee. This
  beer baron’s mansion features a nationally recognized Christmas display representing
  America’s Gilded Age.

• Kimball
  House Museum, Battle Creek, Mich. A lovely Victorian house museum features lavish
  decorations.

• Aiken-Rhett
  House, Charleston, SC. This home re-creates the Victorian Age in its holiday decor.

• Mackenzie
  House, Toronto. This row house belonging to Toronto’s first mayor is decorated
  in holiday greenery.

• Christmas
  at Arlington, Birmingham, Ala. Flowers transform this Antebellum home, built by
  one of Birmingham’s founders, into replicas of Christmas past.

• A Christmas Story House,
  Cleveland. So this isn’t exactly pre-outdoor electric lights, but it’s definitely
  nostalgic for those who remember Ralphie’s quest for an air rifle and Randy’s immobilizing
  snowsuit. You can tour the house where much of the 1983 movie was filmed and and get
  your own version of the Old Man’s leg lamp.