Created by Judi Vaillancourt for the 2009 Collector’s Weekend the “Knickerbocker” Santa has its origins in Washington Irving’s Knickerbocker History of New York (1809) and Keeping of Christmas at Bracebridge Hall (1819-20), Clement C. Moore’s poem “The Night Before Christmas” (1822); along with images in paintings by Dutch artist Jan Steen (1666) and American Robert Weir (1837).

• Gnome-like “a right jolly old elf”, dressed as a Dutch Burgher. Gone are the robe and bishop’s miter of the European St. Nicholas. This Santa wears “knickers”, a short red cape, a broad brimmed hat, and shoes with buckles…symbolizing a common gentleman’s attire.
• Stump of a pipe in Knickerbocker’s hat—recalls country tavern tradition of breaking off a piece of clay pipe to leave the remaining fresh end for the next smoker. This new American Santa is not an aristocrat!
• Magical “laying a finger aside of his nose” is Old Dutch symbolizing that this is just make-believe. In Moore’s poem it allows Santa to rise up the chimney!
• The gingerbread Bishop St. Nicholas clutches in his arm is a reference to the Dutch family baking at Christmas.
• An orange in his hand from the legend of St. Nicholas giving gold coins to the poor.
• The toy wagon from Irving’s History of New York, “Sinter klaas” flew across the sky in a wagon.
• The doll house – a miniature of Irving’s home “Sunnyside”.
• The dog is from a Jan Steen painting “Twelfth Night” 1668.
• On the back of the flour sack, the initials f.p. represent Frederick Philipse who established Philipsburg Manor and its gristmill in 1683.

The Vaillancourt Knickerbocker Santa was designed by Judi Vaillancourt with in-put from Christmas Historian, Rev. Stanley DeCamp. The mould was sculpted by Eduardo Rodriguez. The information in this sheet is based on information from Rev. DeCamp.

For each month in 2010, Vaillancourt Folk Art will be releasing a new chalkware piece for the Tiny Series, designed by Judi Vaillancourt. This month, the 5th chalkware piece in the series, The Tiny May Flowers Father Christmas, has been introduced. Join our eNewsletter broadcast to be the first to know when the next piece is released. As an added bonus, there is free shipping for each piece during the month that it is introduced.

Starting in January 2011, these pieces will only be available as a monthly club—where you subscribe to the club and a piece is mailed to you each month—similar to our Mini Club #1, Mini Club #2, Nativity Club, Snowman Club 2, and Twelve Days of Christmas Chalkware Club.

Judi Vaillancourt: Historical Reference in Design

Thursday, December 3rd — 11:00am – 8:00pm
Friday, December 4th — 11:00am – 8:00pm
Saturday, December 5th — 11:00am – 8:00pm
Sunday, December 6th — 12:00pm – 6:00pm

The Solomon Pond Mall in Marlborough hosts Vaillancourt Folk Art for four days during the holiday season, featuring special handcrafted holiday pieces. On Dec. 3, Vaillancourt will present the 20th annual “Starlight” piece to the Starlight Children’s Foundation. For the past 26 years Vaillancourt has created a special piece every holiday season with the proceeds benefitting Starlight, a nonprofit organization dedicated to lifting the spirits of seriously ill children and their families. Vaillancourt founder and designer Judi Vaillancourt will be on hand for artists’ signings and Vaillancourt will also unveil its special 2009 holiday creation. The event takes place Dec. 3-5 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Dec. 6 from noon to 6 p.m. in the mall’s lower level Macy’s Court. The mall is located at 601 Donald Lynch Blvd.

A real Dickens (Full Article)
THE ORIGINAL’S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDSON

Gerald Charles Dickens will perform his one-man show of “A Christmas Carol” at Vaillancourt Folk Art. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

SUTTON —  He remembers the first time he heard “A Christmas Carol.” It was Christmas Eve, he was 5 and his father had gathered the children to read the story that included the miser, the trio of holiday ghosts and the ever-hopeful child. He remembers how he was caught up in the magic of the tale.

Now, when Gerald Charles Dickens reads his great-great-grandfather’s classic tale to audiences during the holiday season, he tries to capture that same magic of Christmas.

“What I remember most about it, and what I always try to capture, is the sudden realization that Scrooge hasn’t missed Christmas Day at all,” Mr. Dickens said from his home in England. “It’s absolutely magical — he doesn’t know how long he’s been gone or how far he has traveled, but he wakes to find out he hasn’t missed Christmas.”

Mr. Dickens will perform his one-man show of “A Christmas Carol” Saturday and Sunday at Vaillancourt Folk Art in Manchaug Mills, which has been transformed into Blaxton’s Hall for the event.

Vaillancourt Folk Art is a local Christmas tradition in its own right, and to prepare for the performance, Judy Vaillancourt researched Charles Dickens at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which is home to the Robert Fellman Dickens Collection, one of the largest in New England.

“We really want him to be proud,” said Mrs. Vaillancourt of the venue her family business is creating for the performance. “We’re in a textile mill, what could be more fitting than that because that is what his great-great-grandfather wrote about.”

And his great-great-grandfather visited Worcester twice in the 1800s.

The first visit was a three-day stay in February 1842, when he celebrated part of his 30th birthday; his second visit came March 23, 1868, when he gave a reading of “A Christmas Carol” in Mechanics Hall, said Joel J. Brattin, professor of humanities and art at WPI and curator of the Robert Fellman Dickens Collection.

And now his great-great-grandson will visit Central Massachusetts, giving a similar reading of the famed tale.

Though not formally trained as an actor, Mr. Dickens has been acting since he was cast in a school play at 9 and has remained active in theater in England.

Mr. Dickens has been offering his one-man performance of the holiday classic since 1993, when he was asked to give a reading to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the tale’s publication.

“At that time, I did the readings in much the same way that Charles Dickens did — standing at a lectern, reading from the book,” said Mr. Dickens. “It grew from just a reading to something that took a life of its own.”

Mr. Dickens first began touring in 1996, giving readings of “A Christmas Carol” in large settings to an audience of 2,000 people, and in small settings to a family of 12 in their home.

It was on one of those tours that what could have been a performer’s worst nightmare, turned into a fortunate mistake that has created Mr. Dickens’ unique performance.

He was scheduled to do two readings in Tennessee, and the time between performances was tight. He raced out of the first venue, traveled several miles to arrive just before his second performance was to begin, only to discover that he had left his copy of “A Christmas Carol” behind.

“There was no time to do anything about it, so I did it from memory,” said Mr. Dickens. “What started as something I did out of sheer necessity, became a one-man show. It was the best thing that ever happened, and it completely changed the show.”

His props are few — a walking cane, a hat stand and a chair. What makes his performance unique is the way he brings voice and life to all 26 characters in the tale. Mr. Dickens said “A Christmas Carol” incorporates so many changes in scenes, that he wants the focus to be on the words, on the characters, and not be distracted by scenery.

“A Christmas Carol” was first published in 1843 and has helped to create a certain perception of Christmas.

“At the time he wrote ‘A Christmas Carol,’ the celebration of Christmas in England was changing,” said Mr. Dickens. “It was the year the first Christmas card was published. Decorating was becoming much bigger, and he was there to capture it — to capture Christmas in the Victorian Era.”

“(Charles Dickens) helped move society away from the old, the days of the Puritans when there was no celebration of Christmas,” said WPI’s Mr. Brattin, noting that Dickens introduced a holiday celebration that includes the hanging of the green, food, drink and family. “You get the sense from the Cratchit Family that Christmas is not all about money or the giving of Nintendos, that there is so much more to it than that … The story has lasted for such a long time because of its own strengths; it is a story of the possibility of change and conversion.”

What Charles Dickens was also able to capture in his tale were the feelings of hope, generosity and frustration that the Christmas season brings.

“There’s a bit of everybody in all of the characters,” said Mr. Dickens, adding there is even a bit of the author in the personalities he created. “He (Charles Dickens) could be mean, miserable and pig-headed as Scrooge, but he could also be generous and fun-loving like Fezziwig.

“What I like to have happen is that people come at the beginning of the evening to see a show, and they leave having been part of the show,” said Mr. Dickens.

While the reading of “A Christmas Carol” has become a holiday tradition for many, what is Mr. Dickens’ holiday tradition?

“This is my tradition,” Mr. Dickens said. “I get to live Christmas two to three months out of the year. What could be better?”

Mr. Dickens will perform “A Christmas Carol” at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, and at 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased by calling (508) 476-3601 or online at www.valfa.com.

Copyright 2009 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.