Unwrapping Christmas Past: From Puritans to Pop Culture at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum explores 250 years of American holiday traditions with its new exhibition, Unwrapping Christmas Past: From Puritans to Pop Culture. The immersive exhibition traces the evolution of Christmas from the 1760s through the 1960s, examining how immigration, industrialization and changing family traditions helped shape the holiday.

Visitors can explore how Christmas evolved from a holiday once banned by early New England Puritans into a cherished and increasingly commercialized part of American culture. The exhibition follows the transformation from the quieter family traditions of the late 18th century to the elaborate seasonal celebrations of the Gilded Age and beyond.

The holiday season and exhibition will launch at 12 pm on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, located at 295 West Avenue in Norwalk. The exhibition is curated by museum consultant Stacey Danielson with assistance from LMMM Curatorial Volunteer Midge Lopat.

Tickets will be available through the museum’s website at www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com.