Inside 43215: Downtown Draw
NEXT YEAR…
Next year, let’s do a big holiday display. Really big. Like with a 12-foot Abominable Snowman that dances to music… and lots of twinkly lights; lights are important.
That’d be something wouldn’t it?
Sadly, a 12-foot Abominable Snowman falls under the category of “things you can’t find on Ebay.”
Time to call in the professionals. Time to call in State Auto. Broad Street’s State Auto has housed the biggest, best-est holiday displays for almost 80 years. That’s right; it’s been going on since the depression, when founder Bob Pein wanted to bring a little extra joy to the season.
Today, State Auto’s Kyle Anderson offers some how-to tips for those who’d like to follow in Pein’s shoes. He says, “Most of the figures are one-of-a-kind constructions with plaster layered and shaped around hollow wire mesh frames, then painted. The Roman soldier is the only figure that is solid plaster, so he’s also the heaviest.”
Anderson continues, “The Mary seated at the center of the display is made of fiberglass. For her face, we cast a mold from the face of an “older” Mary seated on the donkey. Her hands are made from casts of a real woman’s hands.”
This sounds… difficult. The only vaguely do-able part of the entire display seems to be the stable. According to Anderson, the roof is made of hula skirts.
Meanwhile, back to Ebay. Maybe State Auto will decide to unload some relics from Christmas past. Check ‘em out:
