A large majority (83.3%) of respondents indicated they do use Christmas decorations or traditions for their holiday events, while approximately one-sixth (16.7%) do not. Several respondents from historical museums indicated that their décor was themed according to the period of their architecture. Meanwhile, others mentioned that their holiday events are tied to museum store sales or special exhibits or programs. Here are some comments from our subscribers:

In keeping with our city's 19th-century architecture, we hold a Victorian Tea every December as one of our primary fundraisers. So trees, boughs, bows, etc. work into this theme naturally and seamlessly. We do not include anything specifically religious. We have experienced no negative feedback, perhaps because we embrace diversity in many of our exhibits and programs. -- Kit Schlich, program manager at Petaluma Historical Library & Museum

Christmas decor means "marketing" to me, as in shopping mall. It's all about consumerism. I don't like it personally and prefer to keep it out of our museum. That goes for sappy Christmas music too! – Anonymous

An 1899 house decorated to the hilt from top to bottom- but interestingly enough it seems as if the family that lived in the house (they were Jewish) actually did celebrate the holidays and decorated the house for family and guests when they were here (this was only one of their homes). – Anonymous

We decorate the museum with Christmas decorations: holy, trees, lights etc. We sale holiday items in the gift shop. We offer one small case for holiday collections. This can be any religious/ or holiday collection. One year we had a Santa Claus collection; another year a menorah collection. -- Karen Mehring, Director, Folsom History Museum

We do no decorations but we do have events focusing on Winter Holiday traditions from other cultures, usually focused on New Year. – Anonymous