The Pennsylvania State University the Graduate School School of Humanities
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School School of Humanities CHRISTMAS MONSTERS: THE PHILADELPHIA PARADE OF SPIRITS IN CONTEXT A Dissertation in American Studies by Cory Thomas Hutcheson © 2018 Cory Thomas Hutcheson Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2018 ii The dissertation of Cory Thomas Hutcheson was reviewed and approved* by the following: Simon J. Bronner Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Folklore Dissertation Adviser Co-Chair of Committee Anthony Bak Buccitelli Assistant Professor of American Studies and Communications Co-Chair of Committee John R. Haddad Professor of American Studies and Popular Culture Chair of the Graduate Program in American Studies Mary Napoli Associate Professor of Reading, School of Behavioral Sciences and Education *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii ABSTRACT In December 2011, Philadelphia’s Liberty Lands Park began hosting an annual event called the Krampuslauf. The communities involved modeled this processional festival around a traditional European event featuring a masked, costumed holiday monster called the Krampus. The Krampuslauf, later renamed the Parade of Spirits, brings together several groups from Philadelphia and Central Pennsylvania. The neighborhood around the park, a community of contemporary neo-Pagans, and an active arts-and-crafts community in the area adopted the Philadelphia Parade of Spirits as a representative festival. Using ethnographical methods and analyzing the communities as folk groups practice a form of social drama through the parade form, I argue that in Philadelphia and similar locations like Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles, California, the Krampus and other “Christmas monster” figures are being re-contextualized in an American capitalist environment as a way of critiquing the commercialism of the holiday season by those who wish to find personal meaning in seasonal ritual without conforming to mainstream Christmas practices. I simultaneously argue that the festival meets the social and symbolic needs of multiple communities at once, while also providing a unique reflexivity from the folk groups as they negotiate the expansion of the festival and the meaning of winter holidays in the United States. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. COAL AND SWITCHES: MEETING THE KRAMPUS ..................................... 1 “Gruß Vom Krampus”: The Christmas Monster in the New World ......................................................... 1 Making Holiday Fright: The People of the Christmas Monster ................................................................ 6 Unpacking the Krampus’ Sack: Methodology & Research .................................................................... 16 “Alternative Parades” – Comparing the Philadelphia Krampuslauf and the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade 27 Chapter 2. HORRID FRIGHTFUL LOOKING OBJECTS .................................................. 37 The “Colony of Aliens”: European Migration and Holidays in Pennsylvania ....................................... 37 “Nicholas in Furs”: Origins and Activities of the Belsnickel ................................................................. 42 “Making Night Hideous”: Urban Belsnickels, Fantasticals, and Mumming in a Class-Divided City .... 51 Seasonal Observation: Time and the Tradition of Parading ................................................................... 59 Chapter 3. YOUR OWN FUN AND PART OF SOMEBODY ELSE’S ................................ 65 Setting the Stage: The Parade as Social Drama ...................................................................................... 65 Setting ..................................................................................................................................................... 68 Costumes ................................................................................................................................................. 74 Props and Objects ................................................................................................................................... 85 Direction and Action ............................................................................................................................... 92 Online Interactions ................................................................................................................................ 102 Chapter 4. NO ONE CRIES AT KRAMPUSLAUF ............................................................. 109 Cards from Strangers: The Monster that Brings People Together ........................................................ 109 Monster Makers: Art and the Krampuslauf Parade............................................................................... 112 A Parade of Spirits: Nature Religion and the “Traveling Liminal Space” ............................................ 124 The Devil You Know: Children and the Krampuslauf ......................................................................... 135 Reclaiming Darkness & Embracing the Monster Without/Within ....................................................... 145 Chapter 5. BLACK SHEEP AND DARK COMPANIONS .................................................. 150 Performing Old Monsters in New Places .............................................................................................. 150 “The Dark Companion”: Old-World Krampuslaufs in the Contemporary Era ..................................... 153 Raising the Devil: The Origins of the First Contemporary American Krampuslauf ............................ 161 “A Considerable Investment”: Krampusnacht in Los Angeles and Beyond ......................................... 166 The Wild Hunt Online: The Role of Digital Folk Communities in Krampuslauf Performances .......... 171 v The Krampus on Your Screen: Pop Culture and the Christmas Monster ............................................. 178 The Beautiful Data Potluck and the Reflexive Turn ............................................................................. 186 Coda ........................................................................................................................................... 191 APPENDIX: INFORMANTS .................................................................................................. 195 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 197 vi List of Figures1 Figure 1 – An urban Belsnickel. Picture taken in Halifax, PA, 1 January 1910, by Miss A.W. Clemson and presented to Alfred Shoemaker in 1959. Photo from the Alfred P. Shoemaker Archives at Ursinus College ......................................................................................................... 51 Figure 2 – A Google Maps layout of the 2014 Krampuslauf Parade route, posted by Amber Dorko Stopper in the Facebook group for the parade attendees ................................................... 68 Figure 3 – A Parade reveler in a homemade costume that incorporated ornamental grass fronds as a “fur” ruff, from the 2017 Parade of Spirits. ........................................................................... 76 Figure 4 – Parade member Robert Schreiwer on front right in his Ewicher Yeger (“Wild Hunter”) costume, leading the Parade in 2015. Photo by Mary Sellers. ...................................... 78 Figure 5 – Parade founder Amber Dorko Stopper in her “Frau Perchta” costume, during the 2015 Parade. Photo by Mary Sellers. ..................................................................................................... 78 Figure 6 – The “Das Mädchen” wearable puppet, from the 2014 Krampuslauf. ......................... 80 Figure 7 - The “Es Meedli” children’s backpack puppet from the 2015 Parade. Photo by Mary Sellers.] ......................................................................................................................................... 81 Figure 8 – The Baba Yaga hut prop, designed and built by Amber’s family and assembled by Tucker Collins, at the 2017 Parade. .............................................................................................. 85 Figure 9 – A mask and lantern crafting day at the iMPeRFeCT Gallery in Philadelphia during the preparations for the 2014 Parade. ................................................................................................. 87 Figure 10 – “God’s eye” hangings created at the Northern Liberty Community Center in preparation for the 2017 Parade. ................................................................................................... 87 Figure 11– The “Hellmouth” stage entrance used in the Lux Arati fire-dancing performance at the 2017 Parade. ............................................................................................................................ 89 Figure 12 – The 2017 Parade of Spirits Liberty Lands official poster. Design by Amber Dorko Stopper. Used with permission. .................................................................................................... 91 Figure 13 – Procession moving through the streets of the Northern Liberties in Philadelphia during the Parade in 2015. Photo by Mary