Dan Antion

Christmas Doors from OSV – #ThursdayDoors

I love the hinges on this door.

In previous years, I’ve shared Christmas doors from the Gingerbread House contest the Old Sturbridge Village holds as part of their Christmas by Candlelight, event. Last year, we didn’t attend Christmas by Candlelight until after Norm began his Christmas hiatus. I figured I’d save the delightful baked doors until this year. This year, we visited OSV early, and I updated the supply of gingerbread doors. I also collected a series of doors from a different miniature display.

But first, for anyone new in the audience, who’s Norm and what’s this about a hiatus? Norm Frampton is, to borrow a phrase from Dickens, the founder of the feast (of doors). But unlike the founder in “A Christmas Carol,” Norm is already benevolent and kind. Each week, he organizes a group of door lovers from around the world to gather images of doors and to share those images with us all. Norm does this throughout the year, but he is taking a break for a couple of weeks. Next week will be the last Thursday Doors until 2020, and next week is one in which we are encouraged to select and share our favorite doors from 2019.

Now, back to the mini doors. While I would expect that everyone can imagine a collection of gingerbread houses, it’s the second group of doors that I found fascinating. These were among the many components of the Nativity scene on display in the Friends Meetinghouse. The man responsible for the display has been collecting the components for over 50 years. As opposed to the manger scene you might associate with a Nativity display, these model buildings and characters are designed to show what Bethlehem might have looked like at the time Jesus was born. A few of the scenes within the display are also representative of Old Sturbridge Village.

We arrived at the meetinghouse as a man had just begun reading the account of Jesus’ birth according to St. Luke. After the reading, the interpreter told us about the display and he shared several other bits of information about the village and about how the King James version of the Bible had influenced the version of English spoken here in the States. And, in case you’re wondering, I did not take these pictures during the reading – I was raised right.

I hope you enjoy the pictures in the gallery and I hope the preparations for whatever event you celebrate (or don’t) at this time of year are going well. If you want to see some beautiful collections of doors, head up to Norm’s place.

This is about 80% of the display. I cant imagine how long this takes to set up.
This is the end you cant see in the long shot.
The scenes are so realistic.
We needed a lamp for Joey
This is a model of the beehive kiln at Old Sturbridge Village.
I love the hinges on this door.
The construction details in this building are meticulous.
I love the street scenes.
Almost lifelike.
This is amazingly accurate at scale.
Look at those sheep! I voted for this one.
This looks like the large carriage they run through the village during this event.
I could live here.
More sheep!
Not just houses, entire scenes.
Mini pizzelles and the only good use of Shredded Wheat cereal as far as I’m concerned.

112 comments

    • Thanks Gwen. I had never heard about this even until our daughter discovered it several years ago. She gifted us a membership and tickets, and we’ve been going ever since. It’s a unique way to experience the holidays.

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  7. These are amazing little works of art. There is so much detail in this village, I imagine it would take a while to absorb it all.

    As you said, it would take a while to set it all up. I’m thinking that each year it would look somewhat different depending on how the pieces were put together. And yes, the sheep are priceless :)

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  9. WOW! I love them all, but my favorites are the gingerbread barnyard scenes. Those little marshmallow sheep and snowman are so cute. I can’t imagine the time it took to create such intricate scenes. Oh, and the shredded wheat roof is ingenious! Thanks for sharing these collections, Dan.

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  16. Glad you showed the details, so we can see all the delightful details, and how much work was put into these little pretty scenes:) The train is for sure one of my favorites. The roof of the last one looks professional!

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  17. Oh wow these are amazing. I’d love to see how they go about making them. It must take a steady hand and a lot of patience.
    I’m with you; had I been there I would have voted for the one with the sheep as well. They’re adorable! And the barn in that scene is really well done too.
    Thanks for sharing these Dan :-)

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  23. I LOVE THE SHEEP!!! What an awesome display. The intricate details are mind-blowing. I can’t even wrap my head around the hours that were spent designing the village, building it, and setting it up. Add to that the hours spent shopping for supplies and tools in order to accomplish this project.

    And let’s not forget the talent and creativity of the man behind this project. Well done!

    I love the Gingerbread Houses/landscapes as well. Again, amazing talent and imagination.

    It takes more than talent though….it takes a boatload of patience!
    Ginger

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    • Ha ha Thanks Ginger. The sheep are pretty special. Patience and talent would both be necessary in abundance. The Bethlehem display must take nearly forever to set up. Everywhere you look, there are a ton of little details that are just right. Animals, including dogs and cats, in positions just like you’d expect. We see new things every year.

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  24. I could stay there for quite a while soaking up every detail and scene! I love miniatures and have a small collection myself. The time it takes to put this together and create each piece must have been hours and hours.

    The shredded wheat did make an excellent roof, but I also like to eat it once in a while. 😀

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  28. Thanks for sharing this creative Christmas display! I couldn’t ever begin to do this detail on a cookie, but it’s fun to look. My favorite is the gingerbread men with red scarves building a snowman at the church. Also the lady knitting (with wool yarn, of course ;) amongst those fluffy sheep.

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  31. The gingerbread village is just gorgeous! Thanks for sharing the photos. My hubby retired from an architect’s office last year. They make a gingerbread village every year. This year the theme was “Monopoly”. People built either houses or hotels on the various properties. It was pretty cool!

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  32. Hey, terrific little (quite literally) collection of doors, Dan! Perfect for the season, and a nice change of pace. Hope you and yours are having a lovely Advent season. Can’t wait for the big day to arrive. After all, it marks the birthday not only of You Know Who, but also Rod Serling. :)

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  33. excellent holiday post for Thursday doors this week – and ha – Norm sure is the the founder of the doors’s feast! another nice holiday tie in.

    smiled that you were raised right (high five Mr. Manners)

    and side note – a small pet peeve used to be when some Christians would argue that the King James version was the authoritative version – they had no idea it was just one of many translations and was flawed more than some other translations – ugh – know a few folks that still argue it is the better – oh well –

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  34. Hi Dan – those are all delightful … people are so talented – and as you say … they did look almost real. What an amazing site to be able to visit and celebrate this time of year. Thanks – loved the door views … Norm’s idea was very clever, and still is – as we see so many interesting ones. Cheers for now – Hilary

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  36. I love scenes in miniature and this collection is absolutely incredible. Some much artistry and detail. I can only imagine the significant amount of time to set up, store, and take in as the observer. A very nice way to help usher in the holiday!!

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    • That village scene would be hard to put away. First, the work involved, plus the knowledge that you’d have to set it up again. It’s pretty enough, I’d leave it up (but then I suppose you’d had to dust it).

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  40. My goodness! I had to zoom in on every one as the detail is intricate and meticulously done. The lighting inside the homes, those hinges that you like, and there’s even a tiny sign in Hebrew over a door. I loved your comment that you didn’t take the pictures during the reading as you were raised right. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this OSV display, Dan.

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  42. This is wonderful! I especially like all the animals in Bethlehem. I’ve been trying (not that hard) to sell the Christmas village I inherited from my dad because I don’t have room to display it. But this post makes me think about setting it up at church.

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  44. Oh the sheep! Yes!
    Thanks for taking us along again. I marvel at the detail. I don’t have the dexterity or the patience, so I admire the handiwork of those who do!
    I got Moo her first Gingerbread House Kit today. She’s the first kid who ever wanted to do one. I hope she enjoys it :)

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