{"id":77129,"date":"2025-12-21T14:47:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T14:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/77129\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T14:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T14:47:13","slug":"staten-island-womans-worldly-nativity-collection-reflects-faith-travel-and-christmas-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/77129\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island woman\u2019s worldly nativity collection reflects faith, travel and Christmas tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Each Christmas season, Marybeth McCarthy\u2019s Oakwood home becomes a quiet tour of the world, told through dozens of creches displayed along her fireplace mantel and throughout her living space.<\/p>\n

The collection, built over more than 30 years, reflects McCarthy\u2019s travels, her faith and her childhood memories of Christmas on Staten Island. <\/p>\n

A retired New York City teacher, McCarthy spent her career teaching intermediate school science before serving as science coordinator for District 31. <\/p>\n

She grew up in Westerleigh and now lives in Oakwood, where her annual Christmas display has become a personal tradition meant to be shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas is celebrated for only a few weeks each year,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to do something special that explains, as Linus says to Charlie Brown, the true meaning of Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CourtesyOakwood 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<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to buy some kind of memento from our trips, and I thought that was such a unique idea,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cI decided mine would decorate my fireplace mantel, to make it special just for the Christmas season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every piece in the collection reflects the culture, dress or environment of where it came from. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

From Chile comes a colorful, two-story nativity set against the snowcapped Andes, with llamas replacing the traditional donkeys. <\/p>\n

McCarthy read about the distinctive Chilean creches while flying to South America and later tracked one down.<\/p>\n

\"(CourtesyA creche from St Thomas V.I. (Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)(Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

A Hummel nativity from Germany was a gift from McCarthy\u2019s mother for her first Christmas after marriage.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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\u2019s story in a museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe lived to be 101 and got to see her talent recognized,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cThat made it especially meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"(CourtesyPlantation life\/Nativity Clementine Hunters is part of MaryBeth McCarthy’s creche collection.
\n(Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)(Courtesy MaryBeth McCarthy)<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Another friend brought back a nativity from Africa when McCarthy couldn\u2019t find one during her own Caribbean travels.<\/p>\n

Small figures fill in other memories: a donkey from Greece, a camel from Turkey, angels from Austria.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy today\u2019s standards they were simple,\u201d she said. \u201cBut to a child\u2019s eyes, they were spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"CourtesyOakwood 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<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they\u2019re unwrapped, it brings back all these lovely memories of our journeys,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cAnd it shows how important the Nativity is in so many countries around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, McCarthy, whose husband was a former band teacher at Susan Wagner High School, keeps up her collection of musical-themed ornaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also have a collection of angels, since I was born on Oct. 2, which is Guardian Angels Day,\u201d she added. \u201cMy 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CourtesyOakwood 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\"CourtesyOakwood 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\"(CourtesyOakwood 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)\"CourtesyOakwood 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\"CourtesyOakwood 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\"CourtesyOakwood 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\"CourtesyOakwood 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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Each Christmas season, Marybeth McCarthy\u2019s Oakwood home becomes a quiet tour of the world,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-77129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}