The Holiday Exhibit titled, Unwrapping Christmas Past: From Puritans to Pop Culture, will open the day after Thanksgiving. This immersive exploration will highlight the evolution of the American Christmas, focusing closely on the period from the 1760s to the 1960s.

The exhibit is part of the 45-minute and 90-minute Guided House Tours.
Tour tickets on sale via our Eventbrite page >>

Visitors will journey through time to see how the Christmas holiday, which was banned by early New England Puritans, developed into the deeply cherished, commercialized, pop-culture phenomenon we celebrate today. The exhibition will highlight the shift from the quiet, mid-to late-18th-century family traditions to the ever expanding, grand, and glittering seasonal spectacle of the Gilded Age through the 21st century.

The exhibition is curated by Museum Consultant Stacey Danielson with the assistance of LMMM Curatorial Volunteer Midge Lopat.  Ms. Danielson is a longtime independent museum professional who received her BS in business administration from Ohio University and holds a certificate in Historic Interiors and Decorative Arts from New York School of Interior Design.  She has assisted many institutions with curatorial and exhibition work including the statewide Museum Makeover program conducted by Conservation ConneCTion and Connecticut League of Museums to enhance the visitor experience at cultural heritage organizations throughout the state.

The Museum’s Holiday exhibits have been featured in several publications and have been recognized as one of the 10 Best Holiday Historic Home Tours in the country by USA Today.

LMMM’s 2026 programs are made possible in part by LMMM’s Season Distinguished Benefactors: The City of Norwalk, The Maurice Goodman Foundation, Inc., and Lockwood-Mathews Foundation, Inc., LMMM’s Leadership Patrons: Dr. Michele & Attorney Miklos Koleszar and The Sealark Foundation, Inc., and LMMM’s Founding Patrons: The Estate of Cynthia Clark Brown.

photos courtesy of Gus Apazidis