Holidays With the Melchers - Specialty Tours December 27, 2008

Using excerpts from American artist Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne’s diaries and letters, archival photographs, Corinne’s personal recipes, oral histories, and other research material, docents will recount how the Melchers spent the holiday season at Belmont in the 1920s and 30s. Interior house decorations and exterior fresh decorations by a local garden club will set the holiday scene. In a 1921 letter to her mother, Corinne recounts a grand New Year’s Day afternoon tea and dance she and Gari hosted at Belmont where she wore a blue velvet dress. Eighty guests ranging in age from 7 to 78 enjoyed music by three uniformed members of Quantico’s Marine Corps band. Fredericksburg’s Daily Star newspaper described the event as “one of the most delightful informal social functions held in this section in recent years, and worthy of the best and oldest days of ‘Ole Virginia’” “Holidays with the Melchers” tours are included in the regular admission price of $10/adults, $9/seniors, and $5/students. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm.