Join the Campbell House museum Sunday, December 11th for an informative lecture given by Tom Gronski on the History of Christmas from the Baron’s Hall to the Campbell House.

Join the Campbell House museum Sunday, December 11th for an informative lecture given by Tom Gronski on the History of Christmas from the Baron’s Hall to the Campbell House.
Part of what makes Campbell House so unique is that the vast majority of everything you see when you go through the House is completely original. No fakes, MSGs or fillers. What you’re seeing belonged to the Campbells, was used by them on a daily basis, and is still calling CHM home more than 160 years later. But when it comes to Christmastime at the Campbell House, we’ve had to be a little bit creative.
You see, though we would like to say that all of the beautiful ornamentation, luscious greenery, and Victorian frills found throughout the building is spot-on original as well… it’s not. In fact, we only have TWO original Campbell Christmas pieces in our collection. That’s not two sets of decorations or two boxes… it’s two. And there’s a pretty easy explanation for why this is.
The Campbells, as we’re well aware, knew how to throw a party. Folks like President U.S. Grant, General William Tecumseh Sherman, James Eads, and Henry Shaw regularly supped here at the House, and Virginia even had the formal parlor doubled in size to accommodate the elaborate get-togethers. As you can imagine, their Christmas parties (and later, their son Hugh’s Christmas parties) would have been a grand affair, and the Campbells made sure their guests went home with gifts to remind them of the evening. But these weren’t specialty gift bags or neon t‑shirts with “Campbell Xmas Party 1854” emblazoned across the front. When you came to a Campbell Christmas party, you were allowed to take with you an ornament from their tree. And, as many guests came and went through the halls of this grand home, so too did the Christmas decorations. Kind of a neat tradition, right? Great for the guests, not so great for us here at CHM who would love to get our mitts on some of those ornaments in the present day.
So, when you come through Campbell House this holiday season (and we HIGHLY encourage you to do so), know that you’re looking at our best guess of what a Campbell Christmas might have looked like. Is it spot-on original? No. But it is quite the sight to behold. Holiday decorating takes the better part of a month to complete. It’s worth the effort.
Check out pictures below of the two remaining Campbell Christmas decorations in our collection. Also some pictures of how we deck our halls during the holiday season!
The only Campbell ornament remaining in the CHM collection. A small, celluloid (thin plastic-like material) piece depicting a young girl with a basket of apples. The ornament was taken off the Campbell Christmas tree and given to a young visitor in 1922.
The only other Campbell Christmas piece still in our collection today, is this reindeer. Originally part of a full set of Santa’s eight reindeer that sat on the Campbells’ dining room table (see below), Vixen ended up with a different St. Louis family for more than 90 years before he was returned to Campbell House.
Sterling silver harp nameplate on the critter’s back identifying him as Vixen. Please disregard the neon green iPhone case.
About 1895 the Campbell family hosted a small Christmas party for their close friends. In true Gilded Age style the dining room table was set spectacularly for the event. The table itself was completely wrapped in fresh flowers–red and white carnations with greens. The centerpiece of the table was a figure of Santa Claus complete with his sleigh holding toys and a decorated Christmas tree all pulled by 8 reindeer. This unusual table decoration was also the party favor. Every family in attendance was invited to take part of the display home.
The reindeer Vixen was taken home by the Hugh Scott family of St. Louis. Vixen decorated their dining room Christmas table for almost 80 years. About 25 years ago the Scott family was persuaded by Campbell House supporter Zoe Desloge Lippman to donate Vixen to the Campbell House Museum for all our Christmas callers to enjoy.
Come and visit Vixen and experience the splendor of Christmases past. Campbell House is open Wednesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. through December 30. During January we are open most days by appointment. Call us to make and appointment, 314–421-0325.
Yep, it’s the time of year for us to get our festive on and deck the halls. We started in earnest a few weeks ago, and our efforts culminated this week when we finally got the tree and creche up in the Parlor.
In addition to the wreaths, holly sprays and food throughout the house, we even brought one of Virginia’s party dresses out of storage for everyone to see. As much as any of the furnishings in Campbell House, Virginia’s dresses represent the family’s wealth in a beautiful, textural way. This dress was made for Virginia by Moschcowitz & Russell, a couture dressmaker in Union Square, New York City. It’s a two-piece reception dress with ribbed silver and gold silk with cream silk brocade details.
Virginia’s dress is on display in the Aviary with another Christmas tree. Here’s a link to a Flickr set of photos we took of some of the scenes of the house.
This is the best time of year to see the house, so come on down and say hello. We’re here Wednesday through Saturday 10–4, Sunday 12–4, and Monday and Tuesday by appointment (call 314/421‑0325 to check our availability).