STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Each Christmas season, Marybeth McCarthy’s Oakwood home becomes a quiet tour of the world, told through dozens of creches displayed along her fireplace mantel and throughout her living space.
The collection, built over more than 30 years, reflects McCarthy’s travels, her faith and her childhood memories of Christmas on Staten Island.
A retired New York City teacher, McCarthy spent her career teaching intermediate school science before serving as science coordinator for District 31.
She grew up in Westerleigh and now lives in Oakwood, where her annual Christmas display has become a personal tradition meant to be shared.
“Christmas is celebrated for only a few weeks each year,” McCarthy said. “It’s nice to do something special that explains, as Linus says to Charlie Brown, the true meaning of Christmas.”
Oakwood resident Marybeth McCarthy has collected dozens of creches that adorn her fireplace mantel and home for the last 30 years, reflecting her faith and memories of Christmas on Staten Island. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy
The idea to collect creches, also known as nativity scenes, began during a stay at a bed-and-breakfast in North Carolina. The owner displayed nativity scenes gathered from her travels in a curio cabinet kept out year-round.
“I like to buy some kind of memento from our trips, and I thought that was such a unique idea,” McCarthy said. “I decided mine would decorate my fireplace mantel, to make it special just for the Christmas season.”
Every piece in the collection reflects the culture, dress or environment of where it came from.
A creche from Alaska shows Mary and Joseph dressed in fur, with Baby Jesus resting on a sled, a husky standing guard outside an igloo.
From Chile comes a colorful, two-story nativity set against the snowcapped Andes, with llamas replacing the traditional donkeys.
McCarthy read about the distinctive Chilean creches while flying to South America and later tracked one down.
A creche from St Thomas V.I. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)(Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)
Other pieces come from across Europe and the Caribbean: a Holy Family set inside an olive oil jug from Italy; figures carved from olive wood in Spain; hand-crafted Santons pottery from Provence, France; and a nativity from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands set inside a passion flower.
A Hummel nativity from Germany was a gift from McCarthy’s mother for her first Christmas after marriage.
South America is represented again with a Peruvian creche carved into a gourd, while Africa is depicted through a nativity showing the Holy Family in simple structures, dressed in clothing reflecting local traditions.
One creche tied closely to history came from a Mississippi River cruise. During a stop at Melrose Plantation near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, McCarthy learned about Clementine Hunter, who was born enslaved and began painting plantation life using discarded paints.
According to McCarthy, Hunter once sold her work for 25 cents; today, an original can sell for thousands of dollars. McCarthy later found an image connected to Hunter’s story in a museum.
“She lived to be 101 and got to see her talent recognized,” McCarthy said. “That made it especially meaningful.”
Plantation life/Nativity Clementine Hunters is part of MaryBeth McCarthy’s creche collection.
(Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)(Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)
Some additions came through friends who knew her well. After seeing the collection, a friend bought her a shell-themed nativity that recalls summers McCarthy spent collecting shells along the New Jersey Shore.
Another friend brought back a nativity from Africa when McCarthy couldn’t find one during her own Caribbean travels.
Small figures fill in other memories: a donkey from Greece, a camel from Turkey, angels from Austria.
McCarthy says her love of Christmas displays began in childhood, when her family would drive to Port Richmond at night to see the lights strung and dazzling decorations in the neighborhood.
“By today’s standards they were simple,” she said. “But to a child’s eyes, they were spectacular.”
Those memories, she said, inspired her to create traditions of her own. Each year, the creches are carefully unpacked at the start of the season and wrapped away again after Epiphany.
Oakwood resident Marybeth McCarthy has collected dozens of creches that adorn her fireplace mantel and home for the last 30 years, reflecting her faith and memories of Christmas on Staten Island. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy
“When they’re unwrapped, it brings back all these lovely memories of our journeys,” McCarthy said. “And it shows how important the Nativity is in so many countries around the world.”
These days, McCarthy, whose husband was a former band teacher at Susan Wagner High School, keeps up her collection of musical-themed ornaments.
“I also have a collection of angels, since I was born on Oct. 2, which is Guardian Angels Day,” she added. “My children are grown, married and no longer live on Staten Island, but we make sure we are together every other year by gathering at our house or one of theirs.”
Oakwood resident Marybeth McCarthy has collected dozens of creches that adorn her fireplace mantel and home for the last 30 years, reflecting her faith and memories of Christmas on Staten Island. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy
Oakwood resident Marybeth McCarthy has collected dozens of creches that adorn her fireplace mantel and home for the last 30 years, reflecting her faith and memories of Christmas on Staten Island. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy
Oakwood resident Marybeth McCarthy has collected dozens of creches that adorn her fireplace mantel and home for the last 30 years, reflecting her faith and memories of Christmas on Staten Island. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)(Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)
Oakwood resident Marybeth McCarthy has collected dozens of creches that adorn her fireplace mantel and home for the last 30 years, reflecting her faith and memories of Christmas on Staten Island. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy
Oakwood resident Marybeth McCarthy has collected dozens of creches that adorn her fireplace mantel and home for the last 30 years, reflecting her faith and memories of Christmas on Staten Island. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy
Oakwood resident Marybeth McCarthy has collected dozens of creches that adorn her fireplace mantel and home for the last 30 years, reflecting her faith and memories of Christmas on Staten Island. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy
Oakwood resident Marybeth McCarthy has collected dozens of creches that adorn her fireplace mantel and home for the last 30 years, reflecting her faith and memories of Christmas on Staten Island. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy