This Is Christmas
Photographs from the Manx Press Pictures Archive
1950s, 1960s & 1970s
28 November 2020 – 10 January 2021
A new photographic exhibition ‘This Is Christmas’ opens at the Manx Museum on Saturday 28 November.
‘This Is Christmas’ is a nostalgic snapshot of Island life during the festive season drawn from the thousands of negatives which make up the extraordinary Manx Press Pictures archive held by Manx National Heritage (MNH). From Christmas turkeys, childrens’ parties, visits to Father Christmas and pantomimes, Manx Press Pictures captured it all on camera.
Manx Press Pictures was owned and run by island resident Bill Peters. He was contracted to supply images to the Isle of Man newspapers; The Examiner and The Isle of Man Times. In 1964 he was joined by John Maddrell and between them they have created a fabulous photographic legacy of Manx memories.
The photographs on display all date from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and there are a further 2,000 images to enjoy on MNH’s online archive at www.imuseum.im.
Katie King, Community Outreach & Learning Support Officer for MNH said:
“Our previous Manx Press Pictures exhibitions have been extremely popular with our local visitors, so we decided to curate a ‘festive’ special at the Manx Museum. We’ve really enjoyed delving into the archives and found some amazing photographs – my favourite being Father Christmas visiting the Co-op in Duke Street.
The exhibition is sure to bring back happy memories and we hope it will be enjoyed by all the family – as we are incorporating elements of our popular family hands-on gallery, The Exploratorium, into the exhibition.”
To celebrate the launch of the exhibition Katie will be delivering a talk at the Manx Museum entitled ‘This Is Winter’, which takes a nostalgic look at the Isle of Man in the 1960s and 1970s. Using images and stories from the Manx newspapers the light hearted talk will focus on what life was like during the winter months. The talk takes place on Sunday 6 December at 2pm in the Manx Museum Lecture Theatre. Tickets are available on www.manxnationalheritage.im/whats-on/.
To see all the digitised Manx Press Pictures images, please visit This Is Summer & This Is Winter at: www.imuseum.im.
“This is Christmas” is on display in the Temporary Exhibition Gallery at the Manx Museum from Saturday 28 November until 10 January 2021. Admission is free, with donations welcome to Manx National Heritage, Isle of Man registered charity no. 603.
For further information, please contact:
Katie King, Community Outreach & Learning Support Officer
E-mail: Katie.King@mnh.im
Tel: 01624 648035
Auldyn School Christmas Show, December 1977
Father Christmas Douglas Coop