Todd transforms her home with Santas galore

By Carole Kelly

As homes and lawns are brightened with lights, decorations and displays for the holiday season, Julia Harrison Todd starts early transforming her home into a Christmas showplace. Many hundreds of Christmas decorations collected over the years are brought from storage and lovingly placed throughout her home. From the decorations and ornaments, she selects a theme each year, and, for 2024, it’s Santa Claus.

The theme of jolly elf Santa is portrayed in many forms and sizes, from Santa gnomes and tree ornaments to figurines, miniatures and pictures. They are made of different materials, from porcelain and crystal to wood, glass and plastic.

Ornaments depicting historical times, nativity scenes, nature, locales and Americana memorabilia are among Todd’s extensive collection of treasures.

Some ornaments are reminiscent of poignant family times, sweet and sad.

“My mother died when I was very young, not two years old, and my father died on December 23, when I was five,” Todd says. Her older sister raised her and gave her a special gift. “My sister made sure that we always celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior. Loving memories were planted in our hearts,” she recalls.

“I bought a new Santa every year, and some of the pieces are estate sale finds,” Todd explains. “I especially love those I’ve received from family and friends,” she says, adding, “I cannot collect another thing, but the journey of collecting has been so much fun along the way.”

Her children, daughter Nikki Menotti of Long Beach and her son Chuck Harrison of Vail, Colorado, and their families enjoy the magic of her decorative Christmas days, often offering support in retrieving treasures from storage and sharing ornaments from their home areas. She points out a treasured musical Santa from Delta State University, dated 1989, a gift from daughter Nikki when she was a student at DSU.

The grandchildren have favored blow mold figures, particularly the Grinch, but now faced with mobility issues, Todd does not focus as much on outside displays.

“The last couple of years, I’ve had some of the blow molds set up in the sunroom,” the former Clinton city clerk says.

Some sixty years of collecting and assimilating are represented in her collection. Choosing a favorite is challenging, and, as she moves among the rooms that display Santa figures, wreaths and wall hangings, she is reminded of their origin.

Two special ones are from her sister’s collection and feature a snowy, white scene and a tiny tree with crystal snowflakes. Another area is highlighted with thread-count needle work Christmas scenes. Nutcrackers find their place in the mix with the Santas, as do skater and skier figurines, no doubt from the Colorado connections.

A wreath has historical ornaments in its center depicting the historic July 1969 moon walk. Among the ornaments are a White House Christmas scene, the Eiffel Tower, miniature Santa tree clip-ons from Japan, and decorations from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and from Gorsuch, a favorite gift shop in Colorado.

Enhancing her Mississippi collection are pottery ornaments. One corner features ornaments by artist Wyatt Waters.

“I have his 2024 ornament,” says Todd proudly. Another area highlights Cindi Brown’s work.

The Todd collection includes a mix of expensive with not-so-expensive items and old, very old and new ones. The sunroom tree has two hundred Santas, each one with a memory, often in connection with a friend.

One ornament that her friend Mary Sue Hutton brought to her in 1999 is now a happy memory for Todd, who says, “I think of 1999 and where I am in my life now. I’ve come a long way.”

The sunroom is a favorite location for decorations and for her.

“I like to sit in the dark room with the lights on, drinking my coffee,” she smiles.