December 15, 2005

Sugar plums and spiders mean it’s a ‘Cobweb Christmas’

Quicksilver Museum Park interpreter Terri Sanislo-Williams delights
children of all ages

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Christmas is for children of all ages. And while some visit Santa at the local mall, others recently partook in a special holiday event with New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum’s park interpreter Terri Sanislo-Williams and her presentation of a “Cobweb Christmas.”

Terri Sanislo-Williams puts the finishing touches on the tree for her Cobweb Christmas. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

A “Cobweb Christmas” was held recently at the mining manager’s room of the museum where kids ages 4 to 10 were accompanied by adults. Sanislo-Williams crafted handmade ornaments of cornucopias, angels and lace ornaments and of course, cobwebs made of tinsel pipe cleaners. Fellow park interpreter John Slenter decorated the tree and the room for the special occasion.

“I remember my mom telling me about the candles they would hang on the Christmas tree,” said Slenter. “They had no electricity so that’s what they used. Then they kept a bucket of water nearby just in case a fire was started.”

No lit candles were on Sanislo-Williams’ tree, but instead the modern day electric kind were on display. But that was the only concession to the present day that was apparent in the velvet-couched, antiqued room decorated with Victorian flare. But she also had stashed plenty of surprises for her young visitors.

“This is a side of Christmas you don’t expect,” said Sanislo-Williams. “You’re not at the mall. It’s peaceful, wholesome and non-capitalistic and the parents like it as much as the kids. We say the program is for the children, but really it’s for anyone who is young at heart.”

Girl Scout Troop Leader 267 Anna Coursey, who brought along five scouts to the event, agrees.

“I was looking for something different and special and non-commercial for the kids,” said Coursey. “And this was it—a Victorian Christmas.”

And with that, Terri-Sanislo weaved her web of an old-fashioned Victorian Christmas.

Park interpreter Terri Sanislo-Williams entertains children with her “Cobweb Christmas” at New Almaden Quicksilver Museum.

“Welcome to a ‘Cobweb Christmas,’” said Sanislo-Williams. “Now first of all you don’t have to be quiet. It’s not a library. We’re here to have fun. Can you find something that is strange and not Christmassy in the room?”

“The cookies on the tree,” said one young boy.

“Yes, you usually do not see them on a tree,” said Sanislo-Williams. “But they were on trees in the Victorian times. This is the original packaging by Barnum’s Animals Crackers from 1902 so we use them. What else do you see?”

“The cobweb!” said a wide-eyed girl.

“Yes, and that’s where our story begins,” said Sanislo-Williams.

The master storyteller combined history, natural science and Christmas lore as she weaved a web around the imaginations of the spellbound youngsters. She explained how poinsettias were introduced to this country by United States Ambassador to Mexico Joel Poinsett in the 1820s. Viewing the beautiful red and green bush growing wild on a trip to Mexico, he took a cutting home and it quickly became the traditional Christmas foliage because of the green and red leaves.

And Santa Claus was actually a Turkish bishop, St. Nicholas. Harpers Bazaar’s cartoonist Thomas Nast was actually responsible for the present day image of the St. Nick he created in the 1860s that we know today.

Children’s classics “The Cobweb Christmas” and “The Christmas Cobwebs” were Park interpreter Terri Sanislo-Williams’ inspiration for her Cobweb Christmas at the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum this past weekend.

Sanislo-Williams read from “The Cobweb Christmas” by Shirley Climo and “The Christmas Cobwebs” by Odds Bodkin. And to supply authenticity to the children’s story are Sid, a seven legged tarantula and Charlotte, a black widow spider from Sanislo-Williams’ personal collection. The young girls screamed and the boys crowded in closer to the crawling arachnids. Afterwards the kids created their own spiders out of pipe cleaners.

But Sanislo-Williams is not finished with her Victorian interpretation of Christmas. It’s treat time. The kids sample sugar plums and plum pudding—a bit like fruit cake with prunes, currents and nuts. The kids are eager to try the goodies except for one.

“I’m allergic to prunes,” said the young girl as she eyed the brown cake. “I better not.”

Sanislo-Williams laughs and gives her a sugar plum. Everyone has a good time at the “Cobweb Christmas.”

The Almaden Quicksilver Museum has special events throughout the year. They are located at 21350 Almaden Rd., San
Jose. For more information call (408) 323-1107 or go on line at www.parkhere.com.