#chuck fischer

Christmas Around the World

In celebration of the holiday this week, we present Christmas Around the World: A Pop-Up Book by artist Chuck Fischer, with paper engineering by Bruce Foster and text by Anne Newgarden. The book was published by Little, Brown and Company in 2007. 

The text illuminates unique Christmas traditions, gift legacies, and portraits of mythic figures, such as England's Father Christmas and Italy's Le Befana as well as traditions from France, Germany, Russia, Latin America, Scandinavia, and the United States. Each page spread is filled with delights, including a central pop-up image, removable booklets, pullouts, mini pop-ups, and more! If you like the images above, be sure to check out this short video created by the artist, along with a brass band soundtrack of “Joy to the World,” which definitely captures the holiday magic and book artistry much better than our pictures!

For those of you celebrating today, we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

-- Katie, Special Collections Graduate Student Intern

Spotlight: Weihnachtsmann vs Krampus

According to our pop-up book Christmas Around the World, Protestant reformers in the 16th century attacked what they saw as a cult of saints in German religious tradition. The result was a decline in the prominence of Saint Nicholas as the traditional bringer of gifts. In his stead, two more forms of gift-giving figures popped up: the Christkindl and the Weihnachtsmann. While the Christkindl is an angelic or sprite-like child figure, the Weihnachtsmann remained closer in image to Saint Nicholas as an older man in a long robe. 

In the contrasting image above, which is activated by a pull-tab, we see  Weihnachtsmann transform into Krampus. Who is Krampus? Krampus is a dark servant of Saint Nicholas, whose job it is to dole out punishment to naughty children. In Germanic folklore, Saint Nicholas not only had Krampus but an entire host of these menacing helpers. Though the Catholic Church condemned the inclusion of these demon-like figures in Christmas celebrations, their popularity persisted. In fact, many towns in alpine Europe still celebrate Krampus Day (December 5th)!

Our copy of Christmas Around the World is a first edition published in New York by Little, Brown in 2007, with illustrations by Chuck Fischer and paper engineering by Bruce Foster.