Holiday nostalgia at Turnblad Mansion

A towering mansion dripped in nostalgic holiday decor is now open for tours. That sounds good. Shane Wells joins us from the American Swedish Institute where she's taking us inside this historic castle. Good morning. The holidays are a very big deal here at the American Swedish Institute. They go big every year and this is something we've been doing for a very long time. Erin Stromgen joins us this morning and doing this for a long time actually leans into the theme this year. Tell us about that. Yeah, I mean this space is one of a kind here in Minneapolis, this historic mansion, so we've definitely leaned into what it is. It's a home and we've decorated the different rooms to evoke that feeling of being home with the for the holidays with loved ones. Right now we're on the third floor of the mansion. What is on the screen and why? What's the significance? Yeah, so we're in the ballroom and we have a little viewing spot set up for Kalle Anka, which is Swedish for Donald Duck. And this goes back to the 50s. I think it was 1959 they aired a Walt Disney compilation of different, you know, shorts from different films and they played it in Sweden on Christmas Day and people loved it. So they still play it. And then right next door there's a few other things you can do here to kind of tap into the past. Yeah so this this level is a great spot after maybe seeing everything and needing a spot to sit down you can have conversation about what you saw maybe write a postcard we even have a wish phone this year so you can call up someone who maybe is no longer here with you and talk about a memory or a feeling. Clearly the entire mansion feels nostalgic it takes you back the whole thing. Will you tell us just a Just a little history of it. The mansion itself was built between 1904 and 1908, and it opened as what is now the American Swedish Institute in 1929. So we're nearly 100 years old as a museum and gathering place, and yeah, the holidays have been a staple here for some time. You have a ton of events going on around this too, not just come check out the mansion, which is something I would say definitely do. So the mansion is decorated until the end of January. Between now and then there are so many events. You can come to enjoy a smorgasbord, a Yule board together with folks, or you can check out the Yulemarknad Handcraft Festival where there's multiple vendors selling crafted goods. There's music too isn't there? There's always music. There's always music. Including playing in the exhibit. Which we've turned down today so that we can hear each other throughout but the tunes will be flowing for sure for your visit. Thank you for your time, I so appreciate it. I always love checking out what you all have done because every year it changes. If you came last year it looks different than it did in the past. Right, but that will send it back to you guys. You guys, if you want to learn more, head to asimn.org.