Snow globe prop used in the production of The Christmas House: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Snow globe prop used in the production of the television movie The Christmas House. The snow globe has a circular wooden base painted gold. Inside the glass dome, a red ribbon with white contrast stitching circles a snowy yard. A house in the yard is two stories, with a front porch extending across the front and columns supporting an overhanging roof with two joined gable dormers. The house and yard are decorated for Christmas, with strings of multicolored lights, a wreath, garlands, large packages wrapped in colorful paper, a giant nutcracker, snowman, and oversized candy canes. Snow-covered evergreen trees are in the yard behind the house.

The Christmas House was a 2020 made-for-television motion picture that was the first Hallmark Channel film to prominently feature a same-sex couple. The film tells the story of a family’s Christmas celebration, amidst several personal and professional crises and pivots. Parents Bill (Treat Williams) and Phylis (Sharon Lawrence) have found their marriage out of sync after retirements and becoming empty nesters. Son Brandon (Jonathan Bennett) brings his husband Jake (Brad Harder) home for the holidays while they are anxiously awaiting word about a pending application to adopt a son. Son Mike (Robert Buckley) is a television actor whose series Handsome Justice is being canceled, and he returns home to rekindle a relationship with “the one that got away,” his former magician’s assistant, childhood friend, and newly divorced mom Andi (Ana Ayora). In reenacting a treasured holiday tradition, decorating their house for Christmas in a famously over-the-top fashion, the family faces additional setbacks but also finds serendipitous resolution to each of their problems.

The Christmas House was the first Hallmark Channel film to prominently feature a same-sex couple and storyline. Breaking long-standing taboos for the network and its competitors, Brandon and Jake's relationship is fully accepted as a matter of fact by their relatives and friends, the film highlights their emotional decision and struggle to adopt a child, and the two men share a romantic on-screen kiss. In the months leading up to the film's premiere, fans and critics of Hallmark's decision to produce and air the film took part in a fierce debate on social media, with thousands of Instagram commenters pledging to watch the film to show their support while a smaller number of users commented that the film's content was inappropriate for the network.

The Hallmark Channel launched in August 2001 as a rebranding of the Christian, "family values"-focused Odyssey Network (formerly known as the Faith and Values Channel). The network's programming has always had a culturally conservative bent, consisting of family entertainment programming including classic sitcoms, children's series, family-oriented movies, and some Christian religious programs. The Hallmark Channel's highest ratings are during the "Countdown to Christmas" themed programming bloc, with a succession of festive original films being broadcast from late October to late December.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: around 2019
• Object Name: snowglobe
• Physical Description: wood, plastic, glass (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 6 in x 6 in; 15.24 cm x 15.24 cm
• Subject: Television
• Subject: Christmas
• Subject: Holidays and Celebrations, general
• Subject: LGBTQ
• Subject: Motion Pictures
• ID Number: 2021.0101.03
• accession number: 2021.0101
• catalog number: 2021.0101.03
• Credit Line: Crown Media
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.