HALLS ARE DECKED AT MAGNOLIA MANOR

CAIRO, Ill. -- There's a good reason the Magnolia Manor begins celebrating Christmas on Thanksgiving Day: The uncounted handmade ornaments and decorations that fill the 121-year-old mansion are for sale to visitors. When the Holiday House is over at 5:01 p.m. on Dec. 5, those decorations will disappear and begin adorning houses and Christmas trees all over the region.

"It takes us three months to put up and takes us three days to take down," says Myra Polston, curator of the Magnolia Manor museum.

About 3,500 people are expected to attend the Manor's 41st annual Holiday House, which opens today and continues Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Dec. 4-5. The hours all days are 1-5 p.m.

The Manor closed Nov. 2 to allow teams of volunteers to begin turning the mansion into the Holiday House, which mixes the customs and ornateness of the 19th century with the conveniences (Styrofoam snowballs and undying Christmas trees, for instance) of the 20th.

The bushes and dogwood trees in the yard are festooned with lights, and hand-painted carolers will be in the yard. Keeping with the theme "There's a Song in the Air," Christmas carols greet visitors at the front door.

The aim, says Polston, is to make guests "feel like they're visiting an old friend."

Polston, whose grandmother was a member of the historical association, has been the curator for three years but says, "I've been running around the house since I was 5 years old."

Almost every room in the four-story mansion contains a Christmas tree, each with a different theme. Large ornaments in the shape of gold bells and caroling angels hang dramatically from the top-floor skylight to the bottom of the winding staircase, which is guarded by a statue of a cavalier.

In the drawing room, a 13-foot tree decorated with angels, hurricane lamps containing candles, and pint-sized violins holds center stage in the bay.

Wreaths made of white poinsettias and white and mauve roses are everywhere.

Cookies and punch will be served in the dining room, where the table is set for a visit from a special guest.

Ulysses S. Grant was a friend of the mansion's original owner, Charles Galigher, a milling merchant who made his fortune selling flour to the Union during the Civil War. Grant was stationed at Cairo during part of the war and they became friends.

His visit to the manor in 1880 occurred after he had left the presidency.

Charles and Adelia Lippit Galigher built the Italianate house during the years 1869-72, designing it themselves for gracious Southern living. Four of the Galighers' seven servants were housed under it 14-foot ceilings.

Two porcelain Santa Clauses flank the buffet in the dining room. In the library, which is also on the second floor, the wreaths are made of deep maroon poinsettias and brass and are frosted. The Galigher family dictionary, dated 1882, lies on the settee.

In one of the five bedrooms upstairs, the wreaths are made with gold apply sprays. In the governesses' bedroom the color theme is maroon, ivory, white, gold and pink and the tree is hung with ballerina ornaments.

Another bedroom, once occupied by the Galighers' eldest son, contains the very bed Grant slept in. "When we say Grant slept here we mean Grant slept right here," Polston said, pointing at the bed.

Noting its short length, she said people at the time slept upright "for respiratory reasons," propping themselves up against the huge headboards.

"They also were very superstitious and thought they were inviting the Angel of Death if they laid all the way down," she added.

Down in the first floor, visitors will walk through the pump room to the kitchen, which contains the Galighers' original stove.

The decorations are topped off by another Christmas tree in the fourth-floor cupola, visible to all from the outside.

Though surrounded by gargantuan magnolia trees, the mansion was not called the Magnolia Manor until so named in a contest sponsored by the historical association.

Polston says the Holiday House is the major fund-raising event of the year at the Magnolia Manor, which is owned by the Cairo Historical Association and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The ornaments range in price from less than $10 to about $100 for one of the centerpieces.

"Kids can pick up something inexpensive for mom," Polston said.

On the third floor, a table will be laden with handmade crafts, pumpkin bread and other goodies.

Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for children 4-12.

The Manor also serves luncheons during Holiday House, but they already are booked up this year.

The Cairo Public Library and the U.S. Customs House, both also on the National Register of Historic Places, will be open for viewing during the Holiday House as well.

The manor is located at 2700 Washington Ave. in Cairo. Group tours can be arranged by calling (618) 734-0201.