Happy holidays, y’all!

This week, I come to you with gratitude, an enduring appreciation for the people who prepare this Frazier Weekly, for all of us to enjoy. They are the very same people with whom I have the immense pleasure of working every day here at 829 West Main Street.

Last weekend, we got together at my house to celebrate the holiday season and the accomplishments of our team over the last twelve months. The Frazier has so much to celebrate—including you, our loyal readers. As the museum where the world meets Kentucky, we hosted visitors from all fifty states in 2022—and we continued to build our loyal membership base.

We packed over thirty-five folks into my house for the Frazier holiday party and had a wonderful time. It was a great get-together highlighted, most notably, by the fact that conversation steered clear of work. Perhaps because we were so moved by the spirits : ) Unfortunately, the only picture taken was of the featured cocktail. Priorities, right?

As luck would have it, we gathered again just three days later for our last staff meeting of 2022 and snapped a more appropriate group photo.

Good looking crew, right?

As you might have imagined, there is a holiday theme to today’s Frazier Weekly. From a fruitcake recipe worth having to the history behind this much-maligned holiday treat, from Santa Claus beards to our Santa collection through the years, from winter camps at the Frazier to Old Forester holiday decanters, I think you’ll find enough in here to fa-la-la through the work week.

Happy holidays!

Andy Treinen
President & CEO
Frazier History Museum

This Week in the Museum

From the Collection: Santa Claus Puppet and Collage, c. 1930–90

Some call him Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or Ol’ Saint Nick, but today many know him as Santa Claus, the iconic and elusive figure who has possessed numerous attributes across many cultures for the past 2,000 years. From the fourth century St. Nicholas, who remained popular in Europe even after the Protestant Reformation, to the Old English figure of Father Christmas largely influenced by the Norse god Odin, Western folk traditions perpetuated the idea of an old, bearded man who brings a spirit of good cheer and secretly gives gifts to nice children.

By the nineteenth century, the widespread popularization of Christmas traditions further blended and adapted the characteristics of Santa Claus. Interestingly, the name “Santa Claus” was popularized in America by Dutch settlers who called him “Sinterklaas” and made St. Nicholas the patron saint of New York. Contemporary literature and illustrations added to existing Santa lore, such as Clement Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” which collectively introduced his classic sleigh, reindeer, and bag of toys. As Santa evolved throughout the 1800s, his image ranged from fatherly to mischievous, from an ancient wintry spirit to a merry old elf, and from wearing a regal, fur-lined robe to donning practical coats and trousers.

By the early 1900s, the many looks of Santa began to unify into a jolly, bearded man with a round belly. But it was a 1931 Coca-Cola advertisement designed by illustrator Haddon Sundblom that arguably solidified the image of Santa in a red suit. That was the first year Coca-Cola placed their holiday ad in major magazines. From that point forward, images of the red-suit Santa Claus with which we are most familiar today appeared everywhere—in prints, books, and greeting cards. The collage of vintage Santa faces pictured is a recent addition to the Frazier’s permanent collection, in addition to the mid-century Santa hand puppet.

The images of Santa in many ways are all the same, yet each is distinct from one another, which truly reflects the nature of folklore. Perhaps one wears glasses, has rosy cheeks, or has a twinkle in his eye. There is no one correct Santa. But his character of gift-giving seems to be the common thread that links them all. Whether the spirit of charity or mascot of consumerism, Santa personifies the giving of presents. And, here in Kentucky, just a small part of the Western hemisphere, the tradition lives on.

Hayley Rankin
Manager of Collection Impact

Louisville’s Heather Fleming on Making Santa Beards and Wigs, 2008–Present

When you’re out and about during the holidays, you may be struck by an incredible Santa beard. There’s a good chance that it came from the workshop Heather Fleming founded, the Custom Wig Company. Her team of wig makers creates top-notch hairpieces for Santas, cosplayers, historical re-enactors, and more. The wig world turns out to be pretty fascinating, and I really enjoyed talking with her about her path, her interests, her creations, and her hope to recreate a Marie Antoinette masterpiece.

Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience

Holiday Bourbon Milk Punch a Seasonal Hit

As the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, the Frazier History Museum shares stories of the people, places, and producers of the Kentucky Bourbon industry. To learn more, visit our Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Welcome Center or tour our Spirit of Kentucky® exhibition.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist

As folks gather during the holiday season, serving the perfect holiday cocktail becomes an annual challenge. Below is the recipe for a favorite of mine that I hope will brighten your holiday gathering: a Bourbon Milk Punch, a holiday cocktail guaranteed to be a huge hit with all your guests—whether they are Bourbon fans or not! It’s very simple to make. This recipe is the epitome of the holidays in a glass.

Recipe for Holiday Bourbon Milk Punch

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Vanilla Infused Bourbon

• ¾ oz. Cinnamon Simple Syrup

• 4 oz. whole milk

• Ice

• Grated nutmeg and cinnamon stick for garnish

Directions:

In a cocktail shaker, add ice, then add 2 oz. of Vanilla Infused Bourbon, ¾ oz. of Cinnamon Simple Syrup, and 4 oz. of whole milk. Shake vigorously to thoroughly chill. Strain into a rocks glass. Add grated nutmeg and a cinnamon stick for garnish. Then sit back and enjoy!

Stephen Yates
Community & Corporate Sales Manager

Fruitcakes are a process. My family would begin making fruitcakes for our holiday meals several weeks before Christmas. This was to make certain that the cakes would have enough time to mature or season before serving them during the holiday. The seasoning process included wrapping the fruitcake in a Bourbon-soaked cheesecloth, storing it in an airtight tin or container, and regularly brushing or spritzing it with additional Bourbon. Many families made white and dark fruitcakes each year that were filled with citron, a kind of candied fruit, along with nuts. I preferred a fruitcake recipe that was shared with me by my great aunt, Annie Briggs, that contained no candied fruit and only a wide variety of dried fruits and nuts. It tasted more like a fruit and nut granola bar than fruitcake.

My mother and I were visiting with my great aunt during the Christmas holidays in the late 1980s when she offered us a slice of what she called her famous Wakefield fruitcake. I was not all that thrilled to eat a slice of fruitcake, but that changed when I tasted it and listened to her story about the history of the recipe. Aunt Annie was an interesting and independent woman who had owned the country store in Wakefield, Kentucky, in Spencer County.

Aunt Annie shared that she had received the recipe years before from Jo Morry Wakefield, a neighbor and member of the Wakefield family. He told her the recipe had been handed down in his family for several generations. My mother and I were certainly aware of the Wakefield house and farm that was located in the center of the community of Wakefield. My maternal grandparents eventually purchased the Wakefield home and farm, and it became the place where my mother grew up and I visited regularly. The Wakefield house and farm were noted for being the location of the mortal wounding of William Clarke Quantrill, the Southern guerilla.

As a child, I was intrigued by the historical marker at the front of my grandparents’ house that described the skirmish at the Wakefield farm between Confederate guerilla William Clarke Quantrill and Union guerilla Edwin Terrell and their men. Terrell surprised Quantrill and his men on a rainy morning in May 1865 and a fight ensued. Quantrill was shot in the back as he tried to escape on horseback and the wound left him paralyzed from the chest down. He was carried across the road to the parlor of the Wakefield house where he stayed for several days until he was placed in the back of a wagon and taken to the military prison and hospital in Louisville. As kids, we thought it was fascinating that during his stay in the Wakefield house he was visited by a number of the outlaws that rode with him, including Frank James. Quantrill would eventually die from his wounds on June 6, 1865.

My aunt proudly noted that her granddaughter was working in the White House and that each year she would send her a Wakefield family fruitcake to share with her co-workers. Interestingly, this included the chef at the White House. The White House chef loved the fruitcake and asked for the recipe. My aunt happily shared the recipe with him along with the provenance and history of the family that was the source of the recipe. As we sat there enjoying her fruitcake and the story, she proudly noted that the Wakefield family fruitcake was the fruitcake being served at the White House during the Christmas holidays.

Jo Morry Wakefield’s Recipe for the Wakefield Family Fruitcake

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. butter

• 1 lb. light brown sugar

• 12 eggs

• 1 qt. sifted all-purpose flour

• 2 lb. raisins

• 2 lb. currants

• 1 lb. figs

• 1 lb. dates

• 1 lb. almonds

• 1 lb. English walnuts

• 1 pt. cherry preserves

• 1 glass jelly

• 1 tbsp. cloves

• 1 tbsp. allspice

• 1 tbsp. cinnamon

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• ½ pt. whiskey

Directions:

Grease 2 tube pans or large loaf pans. Line with brown paper that has been greased. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Blend spices with flour and add to mixture along with nuts, dried fruits and preserves, jelly, and whiskey. Bake at 325°F for 3 ½ hours or until interior reaches 200°.

This makes a lot of fruitcake. I usually cut the ingredients in half. Also, you can omit currants—or use fewer currants—then substitute prunes, dried cherries, or dried apricots. I usually also add 1 ½ tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. soda to the recipe.

After the fruitcake cools, wrap it in a Bourbon-soaked cheesecloth and store it in an airtight container. Keep it moist by brushing it with Bourbon every few days. Fruitcakes have a very lengthy shelf life if you keep them moist!

Vickie Yates Brown Glisson
Board Member, Frazier History Museum
Guest Contributor

Museum Store: Omega Disco Balls Hand-made by Yo Yo Baker

Do you have your disco ball yet? Level up your New Year’s Eve party with a disco ball hand-made in Louisville. Made on an aluminum base, the mirror tiles are hand-applied by Yolanda “Yo Yo” Baker. Each ball includes a tag of authenticity: “The Original Disco Ball Made by Yolanda Baker at Omega Mirror Products.” Order online or visit the Frazier’s Museum Store.

From 1950 to 1969, Old Forester released a series of holiday-themed decanters. For most of those years, a prolific French-American designer named Raymond Loewy designed the decanters and their packages. We’ve asked Lizzy Standridge, the assistant corporate archivist for our partners at Brown-Forman Archives, to share with our readers the history of that popular product line.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist

As the first bottled Bourbon, innovative packaging design has always been a key element of the Old Forester brand. Since the brand’s founding in the 1870s, the sealed bottle of Old Forester along with founder George Garvin Brown’s written guarantee on the label has assured customers that the product they were consuming was of good and consistent quality. This was an important promise in the late nineteenth century when there were few federal regulations surrounding food and pharmaceuticals.

Flashing forward to the post-World War II era, the United States saw a massive increase in consumerism, and with it the holiday season became an important time for shopping and gift giving. Liquor was a very popular gift and, as a nearly eighty-year-old brand, Old Forester had considerable rapport with customers. However, Brown-Forman leadership sought to create a specialty holiday decanter that was perfect for gifting—one that would stand out on the shelves, attracting new customers.

The first Old Forester holiday decanter was commissioned to arrive in time for the 1950 holiday season. The designer tasked with creating it, a man named Ernst Spuehler, was already working for the company redesigning several of the brand’s labels.

Spuehler designed the first two Old Forester holiday decanters that were available for two years each, from 1950 to `51 and 1952 to `53, respectively. His ornate designs were “reminiscent of the baroque school . . . in the sixteenth century,” the Brown-Forman employee newsletter reported.

Although the first two decanters were a success, by the mid-1950s, consumer preferences were quickly changing away from ornate designs toward a more modern style. In a competition to design the 1954 Old Forester holiday decanter, Spuehler lost to a famous designer with a more modern style: Raymond Loewy.

Raymond Loewy (1893–1986) was an incredibly prolific and well-known designer. He is also known as the “Father of Industrial Design,” which is a broad term used to describe designing products with respect to both form and function that are mass produced. Loewy was born in France and immigrated to the US following WWI. His career began in fashion illustration, but he quickly moved into the field of industrial design through his work redesigning the Gestetner duplicating machine, to which he added a sleek exterior shell that covered the machine’s inner workings.

Throughout his career, Loewy enjoyed considerable fame and success, with design firms across the globe and hundreds of employees. He was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1949, and his designs included everything from locomotives and refrigerators to cars and logos. He was known for streamlining, or removing excess from a design and giving it a sleek and graceful appearance. Among his most recognizable designs are the Exxon, Shell, and Brown-Forman logos; the redesign of the Coca-Cola bottle, the Studebaker Avanti, the Lucky Strike cigarette package, and the Air Force One livery.

The sleek and slim silhouette of the 1954 Old Forester holiday decanter as designed by Loewy was a huge departure from the first two decanters by Ernst Spuehler. Ultimately, Loewy’s decanter was a huge success, and the designer was repeatedly invited to create a new Old Forester holiday decanter each year following. From 1954 to the final holiday decanter in 1969, Raymond Loewy’s design firm created sixteen unique decanters and packages for Old Forester.

Because Loewy’s designs were so cutting edge, each year Brown-Forman employees were discouraged from discussing the holiday packaging before its grand unveiling for fear that competitors would copy the decanter. In 1955, Old Forester even used a codename—“Edna”—to refer to the decanter design, an effort to further dissuade prying eyes until the public debut!

Take a closer look at some of Loewy’s designs for Old Forester above. Learn more about Raymond Loewy here.

Lizzy Standridge
Assistant Corporate Archivist, Brown-Forman Archives
Guest Contributor

Help Me Find My People: How Archival Documents Can Connect African Americans to Enslaved Ancestors

For African Americans, researching family history has long been a challenge due to a lack of written information. During slavery, names were rarely recorded—and when they were, it was often just the first name of the enslaved. Even after slavery, many archives didn’t keep track of enslaved persons’ data in documents.

During the Civil War, however, one institution did keep track of the first and last names of the enslaved: the US military.

That information and the research by Reckoning, Inc., is now leading to life-changing discoveries for many families who have echoed the sentiment, “Help me find my people.” The Frazier History Museum in partnership with Reckoning, Inc., invites you to an upcoming program on February 8 to learn more. See details in the flyer below and sign up for the program here.

Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement

Few Open Spots Left for Winter Break Camps!

Winter Break Camp starts today! We are so excited to spend the next two weeks having some literature-inspired fun. We’re going to tackle it all, from Enola Holmes to Percy Jackson and The Book with No Pictures. Tomorrow, December 20, our friends from the Belle of Louisville will be joining us for a special surprise lesson—and we can’t wait!

Camps are by-the-day, so no need to clear your week. We take registration up until the night before, so if you decide to join us on a whim, we’d love to have you! Camp serves kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, and we are open from 9 a.m. (doors open at 8:45) to 4 p.m. every day. Come see what the hype is all about! You can learn more information and register here.

Heather Gotlib
Manager of Youth & Family Programs

History All Around Us

Bob Hill on Preserving Artist Harlan Hubbard’s Payne Hollow Home

The Frazier History Museum in 2019 had an exhibition featuring some of the watercolors of Harlan Hubbard. It opened the door to learn more about Hubbard and his wife Anna, who once resided in the Kentucky woods along the Ohio River in Trimble County, a place known as Payne Hollow. Now there is a new effort to preserve that beloved homestead and pay tribute to the Hubbards’ artistic, rustic, and simplistic way of life. Last month, journalist Bob Hill wrote a wonderful column for the Courier Journal about preserving Payne Hollow, an effort you can help through this website. It is well worth your time to read Bob’s article.

Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement