The mighty Snake River which flows out from Yellowstone and Teton areas of Wyoming and Idaho has carved out what is known as the Snake River Plain. Through millions of years of volcanic activity and ice age floods, the river has carved a deep canyon and wide valleys creating fertile farmland. There are many towns along the river that to this day display municipal Christmas décor, but this story will focus on the the City of Marsing. Marsing is nestled along the Snake River in Southwest Idaho about 30 miles west of Boise, the capitol city of Idaho. The town began as a farming community in the early 1900s and has a major highway running right down Main Street, Highway 95.
Sometime in the 1960s the town invested in municipal Christmas Decorations to line the main street and bring Christmas spirit to their small town and all who passed through it. Like anything that is outside even for a month or two each year, the decorations started falling apart. As management in the city changed, the decorations were mishandled and bulbs and sockets were broken. The harsh wind that can blow through the Snake River Canyon ripped apart the shiny garland that once glistened in the sun. During the last years of the decorations’ life, the city, in one last attempt to keep the decorations lit at night, wrapped them in multi-color LED lights, the kind you find at Walmart. Now mind you, these are lit already with C9 bulbs outlining the shape. My good friend Allen took photos of these decorations in Marsing during one of the last years they were hung, sometime between 2009 and 2011.
I am the Director of the Owyhee County Museum in Murphy, ID which is about 30 miles south of Marsing in the same county. With my love of municipal Christmas décor I reached out to two local towns, and the city of Marsing replied to my email. I wanted to know if these communities still had any municipal décor, and if the Museum could have any for display. The plan worked! The new Parks Department Director took a photo and sent it to me asking if this was what I was asking about in my email. Sure enough Marsing still had them and was willing to bring them down to the Museum that afternoon. He said we could have them all and the city no longer used them.
The day he delivered them was also the Museum’s Annual Christmas Party. Upon delivery I found the old decorations weathered and in need of serious TLC. We unloaded them, and I lined them up in the hallway. I was as happy as a kid on Christmas Day! These were the first municipal Christmas decorations that I had seen up-close, and they were mine, (well technically the Museum’s) but still mine to care for. The collection included, two double candles, one single candle, a bell, tree, toy solider and two wreaths. All the members that night enjoyed the old décor and many remembered them lining the streets of Marsing when they were children.
Decorations just delivered to the Museum.
My first order of business was to take them all home and begin the restoration to bring them back to their former glory. I was so excited I couldn’t wait to start wrapping them with new garland. I immediately went on line to find out who sells garland. This was a whole new area that I had never explored. I never put much thought into who made these back in the day or how they were made. I found many companies from all over who made all sizes of garland for municipals. One company in particular named Temple Displays, not only sold the garland but also the mounting brackets that go onto the pole. Unfortunately, by the time I wanted to place an order most companies were shutting down production as Christmas was only two weeks away. I would have to wait until February. In the meantime I could strip them down and add new light bulbs to them.
During the cleaning process, the old garland just crumbled to the floor leaving only the wire that held all the once shiny fray to the decoration on the metal. I found out that the decorations are made out of rolled steel and welded into a shape, candle, tree, bell etc. This created a frame which was then outlined in C9 light strand and then wrapped with garland. The municipals I had all had to be redone. Only the bell and toy solider were in good enough condition to leave the garland on and only replace sockets and bulbs.
removal of old garland 
old garland falling away reviling original cord with broken bulbs and sockets.
The first one that was done was the double candle. All the LED lights had to come off first so I could get to the garland. Once the garland was removed, the old light strand was taken off the frame. After the frame was cleaned with alcohol, I purchased new C9 socket cord and taped it on with electrical tape, which is how it was attached originally. I ordered couple of boxes of opaque C9 bulbs in different colors. The color of the bulb depends on where it goes on the frame. In this case the red bulbs go in the bottom of the candle where the red garland is and the amber in the flame along with the yellow fine cut garland. During the process I also learned the different sizes of garland from fine cut to regular cut. Most of the candles had a mix of both.
During the month of January, I cleaned and restored five wire frame municipals with either new lights and sockets, to all the garland and lights. The City of Marsing also had two large wreaths with three large candle bulbs in the center. The wreaths were pre-lit with C7 bulbs and at one time had a large red bow at the bottom. Most of the bulbs were missing and almost none of the candles worked. I was able to find replacement candle bulbs at a local lighting place and found out later that Walmart carries the same style but now in LED. The wreaths were originally lit with clear C7 bulbs but I opted for multi-color instead.
Frame stripped down. 
New cord being attached 
new fine cut garland going on.
One wreath, along with one single tall candle, was missing their brackets to hook them onto a pole. I found out that they were cut off as the crew was unable to get them off the pole one year and thought a Sawzall would do the trick. Today the tall candle is a nice addition to the inside of the museum for everyone to enjoy. Instead of a light bulb in the center I added a LED flame bulb to make it feel more like a real candle.
During Christmas of 2020 the municipal decoration debuted at the Museum. I lined the lampposts around the museum. During the Museum’s tree lighting, each one was plugged in during the count down for the tree. They all turned out great and everyone enjoyed seeing them while riding in the horse drawn carriage around the museum. Once again, the decorations were lit properly and displayed with pride along the Snake River.
Fully restored decorations on display at the Museum.
During the off season I have them stored inside to protect them from the summer sun. I personally have one at my house and using an old fitted sheet from the Goodwill which covers the entire candle and keeps the dust off the garland. Since acquiring these municipals my collection has grown. I now own a giant 10’ tall candy cane that came from another local town in the area. I have made new friends with a shared passion for municipals, and am currently seeking out more décor. I am particularly interested in décor from my own childhood. I grew up in the Los Angeles area, which once had large skyline garlands that hung across the streets. Stay tuned for another story on that…..
Who knows what the future holds – but I know I will continue to collect and restore municipal décor, and light the world with Christmas cheer.
On the go with Eriks 
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