If you grew up in Nashville during the 1950s and 60s, one of the biggest annual Christmas traditions was riding over to Centennial Park to view the Nativity Scene in front of the Parthenon.
Despite the strange juxtaposition of the Christ Child being placed in front of a pagan Greek temple (which never occurred to me as a child or a teenager),the people of Nashville truly loved the gift of department store owner Fred Harvey, who donated the Nativity Scene to the city in 1953 and continued to add pieces to it for several years. The original Nativity Scene was estimated in value at $20,000 in 1953 when it was first erected.
An article in THE NASHVILLE BANNER in 1957 estimated at least one million people annually "came from near and far" to seen the Nativity Scene, which was particularly striking at night with all the changing-colored lights reflecting off the larger-than-life albaster figures while Christmas carols played softly in the background.
I do have one Sing-Out South memory to share about the Parthenon Nativity Scene. It was Christmas,1967 and I was dating Laura Jones (now Rutter)from the cast. We had been to either a dance or a basketball game at Father Ryan and then went by the Nativity Scene. It was particularly beautiful that night because it was snowing, which added even more luster to this wonderful holiday scene.
Little did we know but this would be the last time the Nativity Scene would be on display in Nashville. By the next year in 1968 according to George Zepp in his book called THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF NASHVILLE: "the annual exposure to Nashville's fluctuating winter weather had weakened and eroded the statuary so much that the diorama wasn't fit to display outdoors. The display was sold by the city to an advertising agency which placed in a Cincinnati shopping center where it was reportedly used for only two seasons before being discarded as irreparably worn out."
How sad, but what great memories still continue to flow for those of us who saw the Nativity Scene each holiday season while we grew up in Nashville.
Of course, the 1950s and 60s were very different times. A religious display like this in a public park today would be a source of likely controversy and perhaps litigation. But that doesn't mean Nashvillians have no place to go anymore to enjoy the holidays lights or the reason for the season.
For the past quarter century or so, the place to be during the holiday season has been the Gaylord Opryland Hotel where according to a recent article in THE TENNESSEAN(December 13) "the outside light display features about two million sparkling globes, while inside, the botanical atriums are awash with holiday wonder, including water shows synchronized to holiday songs (and) horse-drawn carriage rides among the decorations.."
Almost as a tribute to Nashville Christmases past, there is also an outdoor nativity display from 5 to 10 p.m. daily on the hotel grounds. And all this is just the beginning, as Opryland has plenty of holiday shows to attend (including the annual Country Christmas show, as well as ICE! featuring A Charlie Brown Christmas and the Rockette Show from Radio City Music Hall in New York City).
According to THE TENNESSEAN article, at Opryland you can also place an e-mail to Santa and take a trip through a 1950s Christmas with a live band, dancing girls, icebergs and Santa's lost sleigh (must be a very different '50s from what many of us grew up in :)).
Many of the outdoor light displays are free of charge as you drive your car around the Opryland complex. But the traffic stretches for miles so be ready to take your time!
There are of course paid tickets available for the shows, while parking to go inside the Hotel or to attend the shows can range from $18 to $25.
Do you have Nashville Christmas memories to share? Please leave them below and come back to this blog next week for another special Nashvillle Christmas memory from Christmas Eve, 1968.
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