In praise of the putzes: Bethlehem’s embrace of a Christmas tradition dating back centuries

December 5th, 2022 | In The News

Written by Heidi Butler for Lehigh Valley Live

If you Google “putz,” you’ll find the Yiddish version and the slang word, but no mention of the works of art found in Bethlehem at Christmastime.

Each December, dozens of putzes (rhymes with “foot-zes”) appear in this historic city settled by the Moravians in 1741. All depict the story of the birth of Christ, but the renderings are as different as their creators. If you’ve seen one, you definitely haven’t seen them all.

Michael Cox and Jim Whildin are two of the busiest putz-builders in town. Born on the same day some 70 years ago, the two met as 5-year-olds in the choir at (where else?) the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. They couldn’t read yet, but they could sing “Away in a Manger” with fervor. They didn’t have to imagine what a manger looked like. As a toddler, Michael had been allowed to place a miniature version of the Christ child’s “crib” in his family’s putz.

Jim made his first putz at the age of five using cardboard cut-outs for the angels, tiny plastic animals from a farm set, and Daisy Duck for Mary. He meant no disrespect. Daisy was a beloved toy.

Most putzes are much more extensive, depicting not only the stable scene, but also the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary before Christ’s birth, Mary and Joseph’s arduous journey to Bethlehem, shepherds in the fields, wise men following the star, and Mary and Joseph’s flight to Egypt to save Jesus from death at the hands of King Herod’s soldiers.

Although the scenes in a putz are often rendered in great detail, the materials are simple – rocks gathered from the backyard or from a streambed, moss from local wood, gnarled stumps or unusually-shaped driftwood foraged from forest or beach, and sand or sawdust for the deserts.

Figures may be plaster of Paris miniatures cast at home or expensive collectors’ items carved by some of the world’s finest woodworkers. Now – as in the 18th century – it is the story that matters. Putzes are a way to make the tale of Christ’s birth real for children and adults alike.

Putz-making began in Bethlehem in the 1700s when members of the Protestant sect known as Moravians brought the tradition with them from Herrnhut, Germany, as a way to share their faith with other settlers and with Native Americans.

Church diaries describe the first putzes built in Bethlehem as “pure wonders” for those who saw them.

Likewise, records of the Moravian Boarding School for Girls (the first boarding school in the colonies to offer girls an education comparable to boys’), report that a putz built by teachers delighted students with “summer landscapes with mossy banks and lakes and streams” near the usual manger scene.

Putzes became even more elaborate in the Victorian era, according to author Vangie Roby Sweitzer. A putz set up in a glass-domed structure near where the Hotel Bethlehem stands today was on display year-round and changed with the seasons.

“Such displays were popular attractions since putzes were seldom seen outside Moravian communities,” explains Alfred Shoemaker in his book Christmas in Pennsylvania.

The same could be said today. In the Christian Education Building next to Central Moravian Church, a large community putz with music and narration draws visitors from far and wide each Christmas. Other Moravian churches in the area also open their putzes to the public.

The largest collection of “Weihnachtskippe” (Christmas putzes) can be found in buildings maintained by Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, a non-profit organization devoted to bringing Bethlehem’s early history to life.

Cox and Whildin began building putzes for Historic Bethlehem in 2010 as volunteers. This is a labor of love, not money. “Each November we get the call,” Cox chuckles. They put the rest of their lives on hold as they scramble to prepare the displays.

Cox jokingly refers to himself as the brawn of the operation and Whildin as the brains. Cox drives to the Poconos to gather moss, hauling it back in Hefty bags as big as Santa’s sack. You can never have too much moss. “If you run out, you have to collect leaves from gutters and crumble them up,” he mutters. The effect is not the same. He has also learned by hard experience to make the trip before the first frost. Peeling moss off frozen tree stumps shreds the fingers.

Together Cox and Whildin unpack the small closet where the putz “ingredients” are stored. The collection includes heirlooms contributed by local families. It has grown over the years. The closet has not. Box after box emerges like clowns climbing out of a tiny car at the circus.

The manger scene is always the focal point of a putz, but the other elements can be arranged in an infinite number of ways. A retired architect, Whildin has a million ideas.

“He likes height,” Cox sighs. “It’s not always easy to figure out how to get from his upper tiers down to table height.” Together they make it work.

In one circular putz, a three-foot high stand of evergreen branches towers over the arch of a weather-worn tree stump that shelters the young family from the elements. Nearby, at a lower-level palm, trees offer shade for the wisemen as they travel through the desert to Bethlehem.

In another putz, the stable is set high on a mossy hill with sheep grazing below.

In a large panoramic putz, the manger appears on the outskirts of Herrnhutt, the Moravians’ homeland in Germany. The replica of the town as it looked in the early 1700s was built by a youth group at College Hill Moravian Church.

To the delight of children of all ages, putzes pay tribute to all God’s creatures, not only cattle and sheep at the manger, but also rabbits, owls and bears in the woodlands, ducks diving in a lake of mirrored glass while long-legged cranes look on from the shore, an occasional cardinal or blue jay in a tree, and even lions and giraffes roaming the desert as they did in Jesus’ time. Wherever the eye lands, there is something new to see. You can even spot the camels’ hoof prints in the sand.

Putzes like those on display in the historic buildings can also be found in private homes. When Cox and Whildin were young, neighbors would go “putzing,” visiting each others’ homes between Christmas and New Year’s to see their putzes and enjoy good cheer. That custom is no longer as prevalent as it once was, but it has not completely died out.

The putz that delights family and friends at Cox’s house each December includes figurines that have been in his family for generations. Unwrapping them to set them up is like opening Christmas gifts, Cox says. When all have been lovingly arranged on an antique sideboard, he flips a switch. A Moravian star shines down on the manger, and wax angels hover nearby. There are touches of whimsy too. Is the little boy angel praying for a breeze as he launches his sailboat in a glass pond?

The putz that takes up most of the basement in Whildin’s home features 241 scenes. You read that correctly. He is lucky his wife has a sense of humor. “No one wants to visit a putz that requires an intermission,” she kids him. Visitors who have been lucky enough to see the Whildins’ putz dispute that.

Being captive at home during the early months of the pandemic made Whildin restless. With room for no more scenes at the inn, he took on another epic project. If life hands you a pandemic, why not create a replica of your hometown as it looked in the 1700s? In less than a year, he fashioned large-scale reproductions of the buildings where the early Moravians lived, worked and worshipped. Configured as Bethlehem was in the 18th century, his masterpiece is accurate down to the number of panes of glass in each window.

With its unique and well-preserved history, Bethlehem is being considered for designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When the decision is announced, it will come more than 270 years after Moravians celebrated their first Christmas in Bethlehem in surroundings as humble as those portrayed in the putzes that continue to delight both locals and visitors.

Over the years volunteers Jim Whildin, left, and Michael Cox have built dozens of putzes for the Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites. (Thomas F. Amico | Courtesy photo)

Where to see putzes

Central Moravian Church

73 W. Church St., Bethlehem (610-866-5661)

Nov. 25 – Dec. 23: 1-7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturdays, and 1-5 p.m. Sundays

Dec. 26 – 31: 1 to 5 p.m.

Free

Edgeboro Moravian Church

645 Hamilton Ave., Bethlehem (610-866-8793)

Dec. 1 – 22: 6-8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; and 12-3 p.m. Sundays

Free

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites

505 Main St., Bethlehem (800-360-86870

Nov. 25-28, Dec. 1-4, 8-11, 15-23, 26-31, and Jan. 2 and 5-8: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Jan. 2: 5-8 p.m.

$25 for admission to the “Trees of Historic Bethlehem” exhibit at 5 historic sites, plus putz displays at the Moravian Museum Gemeinhaus (66 W. Church St., Bethlehem) and The Single Sisters House (50 W. Church St., Bethlehem). Discounted tickets for $14 are available for youth ages 4-17. Under 4 is free.

Moravian Historical Society

214 E. Center St., Nazareth (610-759-5070)

Nov. 26-Jan. 8: 1-4 p.m. including weekends (Closed Dec. 24-26, Dec. 31, and Jan. 1)

Free

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