’Tis the season, y’all!

Now that our bellies are full, and we have given due thanks, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at nearly every gift shop in America. Here at the Frazier History Museum, things are no different, as the holiday season kicks into high gear this week with parties to kick off two exceptionally cool exhibitions.

With Spirited Design and Lights on Main now on view, the holiday feels are flowing!

Wednesday night we have a party to officially open Spirited Design: Old Forester’s Mid-Century Decanters with our good friends at Brown-Forman. Friday is the opening bash for Lights on Main in collaboration with our nonprofit partner I Would Rather be Reading. I can assure you the Friday Night Lights will be well worth seeing. Every ticket comes with Bourbon tastings from Rabbit Hole and Mary Dowling. Against the Grain Brewery is sponsoring complimentary beer tastings.

At the Spirited Design opening party, there will be a drawing for the one lucky guest who will have the option to purchase the very last 150th Anniversary Old Forester Decanter available for sale. Earlier this month, 150 of them sold out in fourteen minutes at the Old Forester Distillery.

Then, throughout the month of December, guests will step into a magical winter wonderland with three floors of trees carefully decorated by local schools, organizations, families, and individuals. To ensure everyone can see it, the Frazier is extending hours on Wednesday evenings and opening at no cost to visitors on December 17 and December 27 thanks to sponsors Walmart and Derby City Gaming Downtown.

The Brass Band of Louisville is featured in today’s issue of Frazier Weekly. We sure are lucky to have Kent Klarer on the team. It’s Cyber Monday and our guest services folks have a creative gift idea. Hayley Harlow Rankin sets up Giving Tuesday, Simon Meiners rolls out another Musical Kentucky installment, and Amanda Briede puts a bow on our Kentucky Rivalries exhibition, which closes Sunday.

But we start with a big ol’ thank you to Amazon for donating the trees to Lights on Main!

This Week in the Museum

Amazon Donates Seventy-Five Trees for Frazier’s Lights on Main Exhibition

What a gift, and just in time for the holidays and Lights on Main at the Frazier. We want to thank Amazon for donating seventy-five trees to make our winter wonderland come to life with our partner I Would Rather be Reading. It will delight and help children all at the same time. Keep reading to learn more about how our local fulfillment center values giving back.—Rachel Platt, VP of Mission

Giving back is an important part of our culture and an example of how Amazon uses its scale for good. Our work includes providing children and young adults from underrepresented and underserved communities access to computer science and STEM education. But our work continues. Amazon remains committed to helping address right-now needs, which involves helping secure food, shelter, and basic goods for youth and adults.

Since coming to the state of Kentucky in 1999, Amazon has been honored to work with partners like Frazier History Museum to support the cause of Lights on Main and I Would Rather be Reading. Through this partnership, we’re proud to give back seventy-five Christmas trees in hopes of using our resources to help Louisville completely transform into a Christmas wonderland—delivering an immersive, magical holiday experience for children and families!

We look forward to continuing our investment in Kentucky and helping to create a positive impact where we work and live.

Brass Band of Louisville to Perform at Friday’s Lights on Main Opening Party

British brass bands trace their history back to the United Kingdom in the early 1800s. So it may surprise you to learn that Kentucky is home to one of the largest festivals of brass bands in the world! What’s more, Louisville has its very own active brass band—just one of many across the Commonwealth.

Brass Band of Louisville graphic. The Brass Band of Louisville was formed in 2014 as a traditional British-style brass band. Credit: Brass Band of Louisville.

The Brass Band of Louisville performs at the University of Louisville’s Comstock Hall, April 12, 2019. Credit: Brass Band of Louisville.

These musical ensembles, which are composed entirely of brass instruments and percussion, feature around thirty players. They differ from a military style band, such as a high school marching band, in that there are no woodwind instruments like flutes or clarinets. At their start, many brass bands were sponsored by industrial companies and served as cultural beacons for their communities. (There also may have been a union-busting motive for their formation, as such stories sometimes go.) Nowadays, these groups are mostly community-based volunteer organizations; however, some do still participate in brass band competitions, which are designed to find the town whose band has the sharpest technique and most inspiring artistry.

The Brass Band of Louisville is one such volunteer ensemble. Its members include professional musicians, University of Louisville faculty, business owners, students, and one Frazier employee—yours truly! We play purely for the love of the music. We’ve performed around town, at music conventions, and at the Great American Brass Band Festival—a multiday celebration of brass music that attracts more than 40,000 people to Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky, each June.

You’ll have two chances to hear the Brass Band of Louisville perform in December.

First, we’ll perform at the Frazier History Museum’s Lights on Main Opening Party on Friday, December 1, 6–9 p.m. Tickets are available now! After that, we’ll perform our annual holiday concert Monday, December 4, 7 p.m., at the University of Louisville’s Comstock Hall. That is a free, ticketless event.

We hope to see you at the Frazier on Friday evening!

Join Us December 6 for Tea Time with Tish: Hot Toddy Edition

Angel’s Envy hot toddy. Credit: Angel’s Envy.

Hello Frazier friends! As you read in the open letter above, we are so excited this year to have additional hours and programing on Wednesday evenings in December.

For our very first Late Night Wednesday, which is December 6, Frazier members will have the opportunity to join me in a program looking at the 1950s cocktail party. That’s right: in this program, we will look at the history of the cocktail party, the effect of suburban life on culture in the 1950s which makes the in-home party so popular, and cocktail party fashion. We will also look at some things you can do to host your own mid-century-themed cocktail party. During this program, instead of tea, a representative from Angel’s Envy will teach you how to make a hot toddy to get us all in the mood! Then you will be able to view our new exhibition Spirited Design: Old Forester’s Mid-Century Decanters.

We hope you can come out and join us for this festive event!

Museum Shop: Don’t Let Cyber Monday Whiz Past!

Cheers to Cyber Monday! Dive into our online Museum Shop, which is accessible around the clock and brimming with unique gifts. One staff favorite is this quirky dispenser, inspired by the iconic Manneken Pis sculpture in Belgium. Tested and approved, it not only dispenses wine but also pours a perfect glass of Bourbon. Plus, enjoy the added perk of free shipping on orders over $50!

Support the Frazier Tomorrow for Giving Tuesday!

As we embrace the season of giving, I invite you to support the Frazier Museum as a part of Giving Tuesday’s global movement of generosity. For over a decade, Giving Tuesday has represented collective goodwill and giving back to organizations that impact our communities for the better.

QR code you can scan to donate to the Frazier. You can also donate by visiting fraziermuseum.org/donate. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

You personally impact our capacity to serve the community by increasing access to Kentucky’s history and culture. As readers of Frazier Weekly, I urge you to consider a small donation or membership to further the mission of the Frazier Museum. Our team thanks you for taking the time to read our stories.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Musical Kentucky: A Song from each County, Robertson–Todd

Musical Kentucky graphic. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

As a supplement to our Cool Kentucky exhibition, we’re curating a Spotify playlist of 120 songs: one song from each county in Kentucky. In 2023, once a month, we’ll share songs from ten counties, completing the playlist in December. For November, we’re sharing songs from these counties: Robertson, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Scott, Shelby, Simpson, Spencer, Taylor, and Todd.

“Dead Horses” by the Local Honeys. (Released July 15, 2022.) On “Dead Horses,” the Local Honeys—who met at Morehead State in Rowan County—explore a routine misery Kentucky farmers have known since the late 1700s. “I never got used to watching horses die / They die badly, it has kept me up at night / I never got used to watching horses die / Count my pretty ponies when I greet the morning light.”

“Falling from Grace” by Gravel Switch. (Released August 31, 2011.) Named for an unincorporated community in Marion County, Gravel Switch is a high-energy rock ’n roll band from Jamestown, Russell County. They’ve shared stages with Black Stone Cherry, Tantric, Hinder, and other hard rock legends. Seether-esque tracks such as “Falling from Grace” would fit in on a Madden video game soundtrack.

“Denver” by Jack Harlow. (Released April 28, 2023.) Louisville ambassador Jack Harlow was partly raised in Shelbyville, Shelby County. “I find myself wondering if the people that write about me are right about me / I wonder if my exes are oversharing `cause they know a lot about me,” he raps on “Denver.” “I’m a long way from Shelby County / I been through some local tension, heard talks of a healthy bounty.”

“Nocturne I: C Major” by Our Transient Lives. (Released October 1, 2021.) “There’s something sacred to me about being alone in an old, redbrick house in the center of my town left alone with a piano for fifteen minutes,” Franklin, Simpson County’s Jared Rosdeutscher writes of his ambient solo piano album Nocturnes I. “Even though the piano may be old and out of tune, it still has a special sound to it.”

“Best Mistake” by JamisonParker. (Released July 12, 2005.) Jamison Covington grew up in Guthrie, Todd County, and worked at the Piggly Wiggly supermarket. In 2002, he moved to California, where he and Parker Case formed JamisonParker. Around 2003, Covington temporarily moved back to Kentucky, where he exchanged music tapes with Case via mail. In 2005, the emo duo released their first album.

Friday Night Lights on Main, Cyber Monday, Kentucky Rivalries Closing, and More

Derby City Gaming, Lights on Main Late Night Wednesdays, Frazier Madrigals to Sing “Silent Night,” and More

Holiday Shopping, UK-U of L Football Rivalry, Spirited Design Exhibition Opening Party, and More