INTERVIEW with The Danish Pioneer Newspaper: The Story Behind the Museum of Danish America’s 2014 Christmas Card

Now that Halloween has come and gone, it is time to look forward to Thanksgiving and the magic of the holiday season. At the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn, Iowa, a beautiful, new 2014 Museum Christmas card has been designed and it is available for your holiday card writing.

The Christmas card itself has a special story, and The Danish Pioneer Newspaper interviewed Nicky (Christensen) Bauerkemper, Development/Social Media Associate at the Museum of Danish America, to find out the story behind the 2014 holiday card, which stars her young son Hudson Christensen as the Danish elf on the cover.

Nicky explains, “The Danish lore of nisser is such a fun tradition surrounding the Christmas season. This summer, an impromptu brainstorming chat between Museum Shop Manager Joni Soe-Butts and Museum Volunteer Annette Andersen resulted in a call up to my office: ‘How would your son like to dress up as a nisse for you?’ “

“They were up to no good, I could tell,” Nicky says. “In the end, my ‘up-for-anything’ six-year-old son dressed up in Danish folk garb provided by Annette (used for local folk dancing) and we spent a Saturday afternoon frolicking around the Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park.”

Initially, Nicky says, the thought was that Hudson would be photographed on the new outdoor fitness equipment (and they did–see a YouTube video of this here: http://youtu.be/yoItTDZgpEo?list=UUFeCSXZT1IuXDurUhx3djQw), however, before they made it to that part of the park, Hudson spotted the Jens Dixen cabin down the hill. His curiosity got the best of him, and off they trekked down the path to see what this little house (really a pre-1900s homesteaders cabin) was all about.

“Having photographed many children and families in the past,” says Nicky, “I know that the trick to getting good shots is to just keep shooting and go with the flow. ‘Posing’ and ‘sitting still’ is not in the vocabulary of little boys. He checked several things out, humored me with a few action shots, and then we moved on.”

When Nicky opened the set of images for other museum staff members to see, they had a few clear winners. This image was selected because it portrays the mischievous quality that nisser have—not at all unlike that of six-year-old boys.  There are several other images that could lend to a series of nisser-themed cards in the future, if the museum decides to go that direction.

In order for the Christmas cards to be ready in time for pre-holiday-season ordering, the photo shoot actually happened in the beginning of June.

“The grass was green and the temperature was warm,” explains Nicky. “The grass was so green, in fact, that it made a green cast on the cabin that later had to be removed in Photoshop after the snow was added to the image. Without giving away too much of the magic of photo manipulation, a few other elements were added to the image to give it a holiday feel as well. We experimented with adding different types of holiday objects to the photo before settling on a simple scene that kind of reminded the staff of the popular and gorgeous children’s book, The Christmas Wish (available for purchase through the Museum of Danish America’s Gift Shop).”

Nicky concludes, “Our hope is that this card and the corresponding porcelain ornament will keep families sharing stories of those naughty (but lovable) nisse for generations to come.”

To learn more about the Museum of Danish America, visit www.danishmuseum.org — or the Museum of Danish America’s Catalog is available online to view and order from in a variety of ways: http://issuu.com/museumofdanishamerica/docs/museumcatalog2014/1

You can also call the Museum directly at 712-764-7001. Please tell the Museum of Danish America that you heard about the 2014 Christmas Card and the Museum’s extensive Gift Catalog from The Danish Pioneer Newspaper.

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