Vintage Holiday Magic at King House

Though it was a chilly afternoon on Saturday, Dec. 4, a warm fire was burning in the keeping room hearth at the King House Museum, welcoming visitors to the Suffield Historical Society's Holidayfest.

The museum presented visitors with an exhibit titled Sounds of Yesterday: Phonographs, Radios and Music Boxes. Visitors were treated to punch, cookies and a glimpse into the past. 

"Each year, a few hundred people walk through the museum, enjoying the holiday decorations, the permanent displays and the weekend exhibit," said King House volunteer Nancy Noble.

This year's exhibit featured vintage phonographs, radios and exquisite music boxes. Many of the items were displayed through the help of the Vintage Radio and Communication Museum in Windsor and other friends of the Suffield Historical Society.

Visitors were even able to hear the remarkably clear sound that a vintage Victrola phonograph produced as well as the delicate melodies produced by the antique music box featured in the parlor. 

Visitors were able to enjoy the exhibit and see how a home would have been decorated for the holidays during the late 1700s. The parlor boasted a fresh cut pine strung with popcorn and adorned with glass ornaments.

Off the kitchen is the shed room and the loft, which displayed a fascinating collection of tobacco memorabilia and cigar making equipment. This display provided a window into the world of the tobacco growing and production that was a major part of Suffield's history.

According to information from the museum, Suffield and the Connecticut Valley were noted for growing excellent tobacco. Suffield had the first cigar factory, established in 1810, in the United States, and thousands of handmade cigars were made in town until recent times.

Lester Smith, curator of the King House Museum, was pleased with the interest in the house and exhibit that Holidayfest generated. 

"The King House provides folks with a remembrance of how things used to be," he said. "If we forget what the past was about we're losing a lot. Little kids who don't know about these things can learn by seeing, not just reading about it.  When a museum like this is tied into the town, it brings the history alive."

The house is situated on the corner of South Main Street and Kent Avenue.  Built by Dr. Alexander King in 1764, it has been open to the public since 1960, when it was donated to the Suffield Historical Society.  It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 1976.  The house is open to the public Wednesdays and Saturdays, May through September.

The Suffield Historical Society has held Holidayfest every year during the first weekend of December for more than twenty years.