On December 20, 2024, the Packard Proving Grounds Historic Site is hosting a ‘Twas a Night Before Christmas event as a way of honoring the site’s historic timeline. This year they step back in time to 1939. Teacher Jennifer Allore’s art class was contacted by the packing grounds in hopes of them being able to make Great Depression-themed Christmas decorations and to hand them off to be utilized for the event.
October 29, 1929, commonly referred to as “Black Tuesday” the stock market crashed, and it led to a worldwide economic downturn leaving people unemployed, homeless, and on the streets. Life was miserable as people barely had enough money to get necessities for their families, leaving no money for celebrating the holidays, especially Christmas.
“The Proving Grounds asked us to make Depression-oriented Christmas decorations for their special event they are hosting called ‘Twas a Night Before Christmas,” Allore said. “Obviously during the great depression, people didn’t have enough money to buy ornaments or decorations, so we helped make newspaper chains to help support their museum’s event.”
These newspaper chains meant more than just another assignment for students to do. These chains represent a harder time when people made the most of what they had, teaching the students to enjoy what they have.
“When you’re recreating art from history, you are feeling the emotions of those in the situation,” senior Hailey Daubert said. “You can feel the joy they got while making the decorations but also the subtle disappointment that they could not do more to decorate for the holidays because money was short.”
This was not a hard lesson for the students. These ornaments allowed difficult issues like the Great Depression to be much easier to swallow. The project fostered a sense of unity among the students in the class who were thankful for what they had.
“I enjoyed the project because it was simple and not stress inducing,” senior Samantha Cross said. “It was fun to roll and staple all the paper together to make the longest chain.”
Some students made stars instead of paper chains, making the project a little harder as the star shape is a little more intricate than the round rings. The students were not sure of where they would go but assumed that they would be used to decorate the walls of the event.
“With the smaller stars, you could definitely just goof off and cut them out while talking to your friends,” sophomore Cailyn Alley said. “The bigger stars were harder to cut out especially since you had put the aluminum over some cardboard and then cut the aluminum in the shape of the cardboard.”
The activity mixed creativity with teamwork, helping students connect with the meaning behind it. It made them feel fortunate that they did not grow up in the time of the Great Depression where money was super tight. Working together on the stars made the lesson feel more meaningful and brought the class closer together.
“It was definitely a sad topic to learn about, but it was very informative and insightful, and it made me appreciate what I’ve been blessed with a lot more,” senior Charlie Dobson said. “I enjoyed how it brought a sense of community to the classroom as we had to work together to complete this.”
Overall, the project was fun for the art students who participated and a major help to the Packard Proving Grounds. They look forward to partnering again next year to help the site’s history with more Christmas-oriented decorations this time for the year 1940.
