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12/06/2022 11:10 AMDid you know that many Main Street businesses at the turn of the last century were owned and operated by immigrants? Or that a Madison woman who staged one-act plays in her garden on Island Avenue, contributing to the birth of traveling summer theater groups? Or that the installation of the trolley system in Madison brought tourists to our town and made leisure travel possible for those who could not afford an automobile? These stories and others from the 1920s will be told at the Holiday Lantern Tour on Sunday, Dec. 11, from 4 to 7 p.m.
All participants are invited to step back in time and enjoy this festive storytelling tradition, revived by the Madison Historical Society (MHS) in 2018. Local student re-enactors and MHS volunteers will bring history to life through a series of lively dramatic presentations that will begin at Lee’s Academy and finish at the Allis-Bushnell House.
The Roaring ’20s was a decade of dramatic political, economic, and social change. Women had won the right to vote, and economic growth fueled a consumer culture previously unknown in the United States. While some freedoms expanded during this decade, others were severely curtailed. Immigrants continued to arrive on American shores despite isolationist and anti-immigrant views that took hold across the nation.
These major themes will be the backdrop for the half-mile walking tour that will wind through downtown. Tour guides will lead small groups on a journey where they will meet immigrant merchants, people waiting to ride the new trolley line, and a princess who lived most of her life in Madison. At the end of the tour, guests will be invited to warm themselves by the hearth and enjoy apple cider, popcorn, and cookies.
Tickets are $15 for adults ($10 for MHS members) and $5 for children ages 5-17. They can be purchased online at www.madisonhistory.org or by calling 203-245-4567. The tour is recommended for children aged 5 and older.