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Off the Shelf

Lifestyle Columns

My family and I baked the annual Christmas lefse recently, so I was thinking about Scandinavian traditions and wondering if we have books at the library on that subject. Yes, we do have Scandinavian books! I’m starting with holiday books because, after all, it’s that time of year. Jul: Swedish American Holiday Traditions by Minnesotan Patrice M. Johnson (641.5686 Johnson) is a beautiful book highlighting Swedish traditions. Lutfisk anyone? The Swedish Meatballs are more to my liking. There are many traditional recipes for your julbord (Christmas table), but I especially enjoyed the ...

Menorahs can reflect contemporary artistic styles

Lifestyle Columns

Most families put their own unique spins on holiday traditions and see them evolve over time. Similarly, modern artists bring their own artistic styles and contemporary trends to traditional holiday decorations. Hanukkah menorahs are fantastic examples. Throughout the 20th century, many prominent sculptors and designers created menorahs that fit with popular art movements, such as brutalism or mid-century modern design, or that reflected their personal styles. This enormous wrought-iron menorah, which stands more than 42 inches tall, was designed by Judith Brown in 1979 and recently ...

Recent Reads

Lifestyle Feature

Here are few of my favorite recent reads. Library staff would be happy to help you place requests on these or any other titles. If you’d like to place your own request, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and choose Library Catalog. A new school year has begun at Tiffin Academy. Amid the flurry of dorm assignments, class schedules, and football games, the campus discovers that Tiffin has been ranked number two on America Today’s list of U.S. boarding schools. This is a positive step for the campus, but the extra attention is unnerving, especially when the campus is still reeling from the ...

Bohemian glass artists excel in quality, variety

Lifestyle Columns

There are numerous ways to decorate glassware, and 19th-century Bohemian glass artists excelled in all of them. They often used multiple types of decoration on the same piece. For example, a small glass beaker or tumbler that sold for $75 at an auction by Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates fits multiple layers, cut panels, colorful enamel, and gilding into its 3 3/4-inch frame. It is attributed to Harrach, a glasswork founded in the 18th century and still operating today as Harrachov in what is now the Czech Republic. Harrach experienced its golden age, when it won medals at world ...

Lighting up the night

Lifestyle Feature

On Thanksgiving, lights returned to Sportsman’s Park in Sleepy Eye as part of the Holiday Lights in Motion. This was the first time since 2023 that the park was decorated for the Christmas season. Sleepy Eye Holiday Lights in Motion took a year off in 2024 but is back now. Holiday Lights ...

Gueridon: A French table with some character

Lifestyle Columns

If you enjoy trivia, picking up obscure historical references is part of the fun of antiques. Most people probably haven’t heard of Gueridon, a character from 17th-century French farces. But if you’re a fan of antique furniture, you may be familiar with gueridon tables. Maybe you have one. A gueridon is a small table with a round top, originally designed to hold a candlestick. They may have long, thin legs or a single column support. As their name suggests, they were first made in France in the 17th century. Early designs often had supports shaped like human figures, which may be ...