A while back I got a lot of emails from people wondering if I had lost my mind, or had become confused, because I posted this video.
To this day, I have no idea whether the thing is real or not. My suspicion was that it was a parody meant to sting the consciences of those who go overboard with the Christian Kitsch -you know, the pictures of Jesus playing soccer with the kids, or the Virgin Mary who looks like Barbie.
As Christmas draws near, our friend Caroline Cannonball -who entertained/frightened us by procuring pictures of ugly churches- is on the hunt for the Kitschiest of Christmas; specifically Nativity Kitsch, but I suspect anything really horrid will fascinate her. To get us started, she offers:
At this writing, Ms. Cannonball already has one submission, in her comments section. I am sure she will be drowning in them, soon enough.
I may as well confess, I have a thing for Nativity sets. I own half a dozen of them and 2-3 are always out all year, because the Incarnation is a source of endless fascination and meditation for me. If I had been a nun, I’d have had to have taken the name “Sr Mary Whatever of the Incarnation.” And, yes, one of my Nativity sets is…a little kitschy. But it’s also really adorable, and since the Teddy Bears are supposed to be putting on a Nativity pageant, I you know…really love it and will make excuses to keep it. ‘Cause it’s cute.
Then there is this:
I have to be honest, again…this one’s sort of growing on me. I can’t believe I even said that. But it is!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Anchoress, Christmas. Christmas said: The Kitsch of Christmas » The Anchoress | A First Things Blog http://bit.ly/8cOaCv [...]
Bless you Anchoress, I am just the opposite. I have one nativity set that I have assembled over a number of years. I can’t bear Nativity kitsch. I saw one set where the figures were bears – not teddy bears but just plain old bears and I shuddered.
You know, I’ve got nearly all of Dylan’s albums (I vote for Nashville Skyline as my favourite- what about that Johnny Cash duet, eh?) but I’ve withstood the charms of that one!
I moved out in November 2007 &, for those years, have not put up any decorations. Most of the street goes totally over the top (for some reason, it’s mainly in working-class areas that you get the really garish stuff) but it can bring a warm & convivial atmosphere, I agree.
On a vaguely related note, maybe, I saw this about life as a secular Jew. I interact with a fair few Jewish Americans*, none of whom are religiously observant, but all of whom value their identity, & why not?
The only time I’ve ever lost my temper with someone irl, over political issues, was when I had to sit through two trendy anti-”Zionists” talking near me at work. I ignore the climate change “sceptics”, the nothingtohidenothingtofear authoritarians, the one particular person who sits around berating everyone on any kind of welfare, but this was too much.
I wonder whether some self-styled Catholics are a bit like that too. (Presumably not readers of this blog, but maybe some of you interact with them in outside life). Certainly I know those who, if asked, would say they were Muslims, but who are essentially secular. Perhaps they’ll be gracing the front page of a supplement one day.
*One of whom is extremely pretty. Is this the true explanation for my sentiments?
PS- Unfortunately I can’t watch any videos as my computer speakers are broken & I’m unable/unwilling to spend any money on a replacement.
[Yer link doesn't seem to work, DV -admin]
I completely agree. So far we have two Nativity sets – one “real” set which we keep away from the kids, made of ceramic and looking Awesome, and one of those Little People sets from Fischer-Price for the kids.
In fact, here’s a link to it at Toys R’ Us:
We’ve only got a small apartment or we’d purchase more sets to display – my mother, though, has one in every room and two in the hallway. My grandmother, when she still had her mansion, had, I believe, ten sets on display around the house.
I can’t stand nativity kitsch, either; the Holy Family portrayed as (take your pick): 1. Peanuts characters. 2. Disney characters. 3. Playmobile dolls.
And so on.
One year, a friend—a devout Catholic, by the way—sent us a Chritmas card displaying a photograph of live dogs, dressed up as Mary, Joseph, the shepards, etc. Given her dog fixation, I think she thought it was cute.
There is a lot of Christmas kitsch I like, however. In fact, I prefer kitsch-i-ness to more elegant and standardized Christmas stuff, i.e., “Martha says the only truly elegant tree is an artificial one, decorated all in one color, with white lights! Handmade ornaments destroy the tree’s elegant line, and must be discarded. Presents should be wrapped in elegant pastels rather than old-fashioned red and green,” etc.
The other day, when we were out shopping, a Salvation Army bellringer picked up his trumpet and began playing, “Frosty, the Snowman” on it. Might have been kitschy, but I liked it.
You know what I think about people who keep seeing the images of Christ or Mary in bizarre places? They are looking, yearning for God and, as odd as they appear, I cannot fault them for that search. My mother gave me a poem, can’t remember the name of the poem or the writer, but it was to the effect that God is hunting us throughout our lives, hoping to bring us into the light of his love.
I saw a Little People playset Nativity Scene at Wal Mart this weekend. I didn’t know whether to be happy that Little People seems to be encouraging interest in Bible stories or appalled that the Holy Family now looks sort of like Weebles. I though that was kind of cheesy.
Hey, J, you are probably referring to Francis Thompson’s poem, “The Hound of Heaven.” I’ve got it copied here:
It’s a really beautiful poem that moves me every time I read it. Thompson should know, too. Thompson was born into a middle class family – the son of a doctor – and himself trained in medicine. His ambitions to be a writer failed at first, and he was addicted to opium and alcohol before long. He was sheltered by a prostitute and later discovered by a publisher that loved his work. He was given lodging and became sober, but his earlier lifestyle certainly damaged his overall health and he died young, of tuberculosis.
The problem with kitsch regarding Christmas is that it trivializes the thing, as I am sure everyone reading is aware. The great thing about a poem like Thompson’s is that it dramatizes the whole thing, making it very clear what the Incarnation is really about.
Yes, even when the feeling behind it is sincere—as I’m sure it was with my friend, and her doggie nativity card—the overall effect of turning the Holy Family into teletubbies, rock stars or rubber duckies it to trivialize, and, ultimately, degrade what is really going on.
You know what I think about people who keep seeing the images of Christ or Mary in bizarre places? They are looking, yearning for God and, as odd as they appear…
So true!
We have the granddaddy of them all here in Utah – about 10 or 12 years ago a city worker discovered the ‘image’ of the Blessed Mother on a tree trunk. It quickly became a shrine, and talk about kitsch! Candles, icons, flowers, all surrounding this shapeless, formless, and depending A LOT on the imagination of the beholder, ‘image.’
I saw it – a priest friend took me there once. I couldn’t believe it. It looked like nothing more than an injury to the trunk which had healed and formed a scar.
None of this is surprising though – what with the dominant religion here in the state, there are many who are seeking something, as is evidenced by the popularity of Catholic Masses at Christmas and Easter among non-Catholics; especially vigils.
I have to confess that my dtr and I were delighted yesterday when, driving to Mass, we saw a yard decorated in life-sized (i.e., about 4 foot) M&Ms with earmuffs. If you think about it, weebles Nativities and the like are pretty much the same as Christmas trees, wreaths and poinesttias: we bring the ordinariness of our lives to Christmas to bring it into that sacred time. I think there’s a place for beeswax candels and rubber duckies. So long as you have both.
Having said that, I should also confess (’tis the season!) that I have ruined Christmas music for my kid, because I play it so much. On that note, I recommend to you my old cyber-friend Ernie (not Bert), who every year collects Christmas music for the long-ago (you know, those 99 cent records your parents used to play?) and offers them for your downloading pleasure. The link is http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/
I love creches so much that I have a couple of dozen, at least, mostly from Mexico. I keep about 15 out all year on the dining room hutch and a spectacular one by Tiburcio Soteno on the mantel. I will send you a picture of it. It is a glorious and huge, clay sculpture in brilliant colors.
BTW…did you see that Jay Nordlinger mentioned you?
Would my Precious Moments Nativity set be considered kitsch? I collected pieces one by one over the years. I’m now trying to collect Wise Men.
There is one trio, in particular, that I would just LOVE to buy if I have the chance. Let me show you this set here, Anchoress. Of course, everyone curious enough can check it out, too.
There is a story behind this Three Kings set. These are hand-carved in native woods from Puerto Rico, and painted by local artisans as well. Those sets can cost hundreds or even up to a thousand dollars nowadays, but these have been around for centuries. During the time Puerto Rico was under Spanish rule, tallados, or hand-carved wooden saints imported from Spain, would not survive the termites and the moisture from the tropics. So, the better alternative was to carve them with the native-grown woods. There are so many santos de madera, or wood-carved saints, out there, even in museums, of many of the venerated ones in the island. The Three Kings are called there Los Tres Santos Reyes (the Three Holy Kings), as fully saints as the others in the Puerto Rican cannon.
The Three Kings Day and the carved ones took an even greater significance after the end of the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the arrival of Americans to the island. Protestant missions boards had agreed to set up shops in different parts of the island to gain new converts and to modernize the island, since Washington saw the need to educate a population that was “backwards” and “superstitious”. (Of course, over 90 percent of the PR population was illiterate.) With the blessing of Washington, they went over there and began their missions, while the education department there, under orders from Washington, began a total English-based curriculum. Those efforts were met with a very strong resistance from the local population, especially after it was decreed that January 6 (Epiphany) was not to be celebrated as a public holiday. So, the Tres Reyes Magos in wood and the whole celebration became a huge symbol of resistance against the process of “Americanization” of the island. Eventually, many years later, Spanish returned to the classroom and is taught with English there, January 6 became an official public holiday (The U.S. Postal Service won’t deliver the mail that day), and the Three Kings are as celebrated as ever today. Of course, it took an autonomous contract with the United States in order to reach all that, in 1952.
That’s why I want to dig my hands into one of those wooden Three Kings sets.
Let’s try again with that link
The commentary is as with the above link.
As for the commercialisation of Christmas, I suppose it’s what you’d expect within a neoliberal economy geared towards mass consumption, eh?
Though I would probably have preferred the simpler & more explicitly religious ceremonies of earlier days, at a time when beating back the cold really meant something because it was at the back of everyone’s mind that they may not make it through the winter.
I bet they had a right buzzing time at the old heathen Yuletide as well.
I actually collect rubber duckies and have over 300 in my little flock. I rotate them both in my bathroom and around a washtub fountain in the yard. My favorite group is the ladies at the spa duckies.
I passed on getting the nativity ducks. The nativity is a profoundly joyous event while duckies of all ilks are just plain silly. I do, however, have other Christmas duckies. There is a set dressed as carolers, one as characters from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and the santa, elves, reindeer and snowmen. Indeed the duckies are the only North Pole images I have among boxes and boxes of Christmas decor except for one Uncle Sam Santa on the American themed tree.
My favorite of the several nativity scenes I own is a lithophane tealight dome. I love the way the images spring to life when the candle is lit.
I wouldn’t mind the FP nativity, because I have two rather hands-on little boys (one with autism, the other who is 4) and my good nativity is now missing pieces –the donkey, my favorite animal in the set, painted with such a sweet face, and so is one of the lambs. I should have known last year that bringing it out would be a bad idea! But the little boys loved seeing ‘baby Jesus’. At least it was the donkey that went missing and not the Infant!
I just may buy them the FP nativity, because they do love to touch everything, play with it, act it out and tell each other ‘the story’ over and over. A friend gave us a very large wall crucifix that now hangs in our dining room. You should hear the little one telling the one with autism about ‘poor Jesus on the Cross’, and how they so reverently touch His wounds and say, “Oh, poor Jesus! I love you Poor Jesus!” They give Poor Jesus little paper gifts and hang their rosaries around His neck. They might really enjoy playing with Baby Jesus for a change! Although, He may end up fleeing to Egypt for a year in the sand box….
LOL, no offense, Valleys, but I sort’ve doubt you would have preferred the “simpler and more explicitly religious” rituals of earlier times. I also don’t think you would have enjoyed “right buzzing” heathen celebrations, either. Paganism really wasn’t as much fun as it’s been cracked up to be.
If you ever are interested in older, more traditional Christmas rituals, you might want to search out an abbey, a convent, a traditional Catholic parish or an Orthodox church sometime.
Victorian caroler kitsch (be it duckies, or anything else), “Christmas Carol” kitsch (Scrooge, Tiny Tim and the gang) or any other kind of kitsch, be it blow-up santas, plastic elves or angels with their faces painted on crooked, can be charming, funny, tacky or what have you, depending on the circumstances.
I confess, turning the Holy Family into, i.e., Warner Brothers characters, troll dolls and the like makes me twitch. (And a moose nativity? A MOOSE nativity?)
As I said earlier, I actually rather enjoy ordinary, non-religious Christmas kitsch, as opposed to the mindset that wants Christmas to look like something you buy at Nieman Marcus, i.e., “Hang your etched Austrian tree lights at precise distances from each other, always being careful not to get them in the way of the hand-blown Transylvanian glass ornaments, with the gift cards—which are the most tasteful of all Christmas presents—tastefully tied to your professionally flocked nursery grown Noble Spruce tree with tasteful silver bows, tied in tasteful knots. . . “
Speaking of kitsch. . . is anyone here posting from California? If so, have you ever seen the Riverside Mission Inn at Christmas? It’s a level of kitsch that goes beyond kitsch, to something weird and wonderful, from the big toy train running through the front garden (all the palm trees bedecked with Christmas lights), to the audio-animatrated victorian carolers on the balconies to the giant golden angel statues, and dwarf statuettes hiding in the shrubbery near the lobby—incredible!
I love kitsch. Absolutely appeals to my sense of humor.
I started out thinking the Dylan Christmas album was a piece of kitsch as well. But having listened to it for a couple of weeks now, on top of the recent interview with Bill Flannigan, it strikes me as 100% authentic. Too much sincerity out of Dylan for it to be anything but.
For something that will either set you to laughing or overwhelm in a different way go to: link It’s a collection of just about every type of nativity set conceivable and I admit to being carried in almost uncontrollable laughter at many of them – but I’m sure that most of the designers’ hearts were in the right place. There’s also a link to a second collection.
As for the Fisher Price and Playmobile natvity, I see nothing wrong with it for kids. My 4 kids love them (we own both). They have a great time playing with them and going over the story of Our Lord’s birth. No worse than bibles for kids or a thick wooden multicolored Rosary that a toddler can hold in their hand. You introduce the faith in baby steps on the child’s level and go from there. The other silly nativity sets I have never liked.
And I agree with the poster about Martha perfect Christmas. Some of my Christmas ornaments might be kitchy but every one is special. I love to take out every ornament in my collection when I decorate the tree and remember all the Christmas past. It can take an hour or more and lots of tears. My husband and i have collected them from all the places we have traveled, important life events (!st Christmas together, baby’s Christmas, and so on) and of course there are many made by or with the kids. My brother lost every thing in Hurricane Katrina so I have a list of the few things I would take if I had to leave fast, my wedding dress, my photos and my Chrsitmas ornaments.
Rhinestone Suderman: Is this the house in the northern Bay Area? My mother has been taking my nieces to see that one— it’s not only 110% decorated, inside and out, they have Elf-is.
The Mission Inn is in Riverside, California, which is inland southern California. It’s a huge hotel, not a house, and it is decorated inside, as well as out.
A lot of houses in California tend to go all-out for the holidays, with dancing dolls, lights, giant snowmen, and the like! When we lived in a suburb just outside of L.A. there was one we called the “Fou-fou” house, because it always went so foofy, and frou-frou, for Christmas. They even had a live Santa, one year!
Thanks, James, for your link to the Nativity set by FP ~ I just ordered it for two little ones in my life (ages 4 & 1) and they will love it. I have one Nativity set that has been around since my girls (36 & 41) were little, and it goes out every year. Last night I was in BJ’s Warehouse and saw one of the most incredibly beautiful Nativity sets I’d ever seen…no place to put it now, but if it goes on sale for half price after Christmas, I might just have to indulge to have on hand for next year.
As I get older (don’t ask!), my sense of humor seems to be growing, and I don’t mind the kitsch as well as the more sedate.
You should have warned us about the ‘elf’ on the inside of Dylan’s CD case.
[Haven't seen it yet. what is it? -admin]