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A Stroll Through Christmases Past

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By ESTHER HAMMER, Tribune correspondent

Published: December 1, 2007

Updated: 11/29/2007 04:55 pm

DOWNTOWN - Visiting the Henry B. Plant Museum in December is like a trip to Christmas past, without a ghost as guide.

That's the wonder of the museum's Victorian Christmas Stroll, the yearly event where rooms are decorated in period splendor to recall the glamour of the late 19th century.

The 26th annual stroll kicks off today and continues through Dec. 23.

The museum is housed in the former Tampa Bay Hotel, which railroad tycoon Plant opened in 1891, toward the end of the Victorian era. It served as a hotel through 1931, museum relations coordinator Sally Shifke said.

"The idea of the stroll is that we're really showing what the decorations might have looked like during the hotel years from a guest's perspective," she said. "And what a guest's home might look like at Christmas."

Though the theme varies from year to year, the decorations remain true to the era.

"Some are authentic period pieces, some are replicas," Shifke said. "We actually take a theme and then try to find items for that theme."

People in the community often contribute costumes and other memorabilia.

The dining and entertainment room is outfitted with trees made from goose feathers that have been cut, spliced, dyed and wired onto a frame.

In the lobby, little brown bears overflow three children's wagons. They are part of a yearly fundraiser that provides stuffed animals to needy children through several charities.

A 14-foot tree decorated in a railroad motif looms straight ahead from the lobby. It's the centerpiece of the Plant System Room, also called Mr. Plant's Southern Empire Room, which celebrates the entrepreneur's steamship, railroad and hotel businesses.

There will be model trains, signals, whistles, railroad watches and more on the branches, with a conductor's hat on top, Shifke said.

An artificial pine tree in the Writing and Reading Room is decorated with inkwells, reading glasses, bookmarks, book covers and other related items.

In the Spanish-American War Room, a Cuban theme pervades. The tree will be adorned with Cuban flags, cigars, fans and a garland of dominoes. It's a perfect companion to the railroad room, Shifke said.

"Basically Vicente Martinez Ybor built the cigar factories because Plant brought the ships and the railroads to Tampa," she said.

The centerpiece of the stroll is always the 18-foot tree at the end of the hallway.

"It takes us two days to put that tree together and put the lights on," Shifke said.

In keeping with the old-fashioned feel, spiced cider and cookies will be served on the veranda daily, and soloists and ensembles will perform each evening.

STROLL BACK IN TIME

WHAT: 26th annual Victorian Christmas Stroll; sponsors include The Tampa Tribune

WHERE: Henry B. Plant Museum, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., on the University of Tampa campus

WHEN: Today through Dec. 23; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily

COST: $10 for ages 12 and older and $4 for others Wednesday through Sunday; $6 for ages 12 and older and $3 for others Monday and Tuesday

INFORMATION: (813) 254-1891 or www.plantmuseum.com; for group reservations, call Sally Shifke at (813) 258-7302

Correspondent Esther Hammer can be reached at (813) 835-2108 or ehammer@tampatrib.com.

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