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Why shop anywhere else for the holidays? That's the question all of us at the Museum are asking ourselves - staff and Trustees alike - now that we have opened two of the most interesting shops in New York City. The handsome Visitors Center and Museum Shop at 108 Orchard Street is all about New York: heritage and cool. In my shopping bag, there's a Zolo a-go-go, an artistic, zany building set for my six-year old nephew; Frank McCourt's highly acclaimed Teacher Man for my son; a really hip Manhole Cover Doormat for his girlfriend; and a beaded bracelet for my daughter. You can also buy these and other wonderful treasures on the Museum's online shop. At Recollections, the Tenement Museum's new curator-designed antiques and collectibles shop at 90 Orchard Street, I found a handsome old fashioned fedora in its original box for my husband, an exquisite Art Deco mirror that I bought for someone else but couldn't part with, and a delicate Depression Glass cake plate for an inveterate hostess. At a recent evening event, I overheard guests exclaiming that everything was underpriced! Come shop now before our shopkeeper finds out! Whether you buy at the Visitors Center, Recollections or the online store, every purchase helps supports the Museum, where earned income now accounts for almost 40% of our budget. Opening these shops was one of the Tenement Museum's highlights of 2005. In 2006, we look forward to opening the restored apartment of Bridget Meehan and Joseph Moore, who lived in 97 Orchard Street in 1869. Imagine: this is the very first interpretation of the urban, working-class Irish experience in a National Historic Site in the United States. The Moore family's poignant story - their hope-filled rise from poverty to the working class followed by subsequent tragedies - raises important public health issues faced then and now by the working poor. Even if you can't get to the Lower East Side right away, you can still support the Museum. Go online and purchase a Museum Membership (and get discounts on your shop items) and then buy gifts online in our virtual shop. From the Tenement Museum to you and your loved ones, best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season and our heartfelt thanks for your continued support. Sincerely, Ruth J. Abram, President Looking for a holiday greeting with a little flair? Check out our e-cards, including a nifty new holiday card. Can't make it our new stores? Check out our new and improved online shop, which as many great items like: Ouija Board Mouse pad Reproduced from a 1920s ouija board found in the Museum's tenement, this mouse pad makes a fun and practical little present. Born to Kvetch Though it's a hilarious read, Born to Kvetch is not just Yiddish kitsch--it's also a thoughtful look at the language and life of Ashkenazi Jews. Please order by December 13th to ensure delivery in time for the holidays. The Lower East Side teems with smells and sounds. While the winter chill has (thankfully) tamed some of the more pungent aromas, nothing can quiet our neighborhood. The streets buzz with the glorious sounds of: > Street & Subway Musicians > The Feast of San Gennaro > Chinatown Merchants These audio samples come courtesy of David Gunn, a digital artist who spent the past few months recording the sounds of the Lower East Side for Folk Songs for the Five Points, a new web site that David helped produce for the Museum's Digital Artists in Residence Program that uses audio to explore immigrant identity. Folk Songs also introduces some amazing new sounds, original compositions courtesy of the acclaimed Angolan musician Victor Gama. Visit Folk Songs to hear even more sounds of the area. You can also use David and Victor's recordings to create your own original compositions. Have fun! Between 1900 and 1920, 36% of immigrants arriving in the United States returned home. While most Russian Jewish immigrants to New York fled Tsarist Russia's widespread anti-Semitism and political oppression with no intention of returning, many more returned than is commonly assumed. Between 1880 and 1900, 15-20% of Jewish immigrants from Russia went back. After 1900, however, return migration was curtailed by worsening religious oppression and political instability. In contrast to Russian Jews, the return rate among Italian immigrants reached 50% in some years--between 1880 and World War I, one out of every two Italians returned. Sometimes called "birds of passage," many of the first Italian immigrants were young men who came to America with the ultimate intention of earning enough money to return to Italy, buy land and raise a family. Rates of return migration are lower today than in the past. Between 1971 and 1990, for example, 23% of immigrants returned to their countries of origin. Nevertheless, recent developments in transportation, technology, and policy make connections between nations far more fluid than in the past. For many immigrants living in today’s globalized world, communities that cross international borders are central to the immigrant experience, maintained by ties to family, politics, and the economy in immigrants’ home societies Beginning December 28th, the Windows of 97 Orchard art space will feature Coming Home, a new exhibit by Aresh Javadi and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students that explores how immigrants bridge the gap between their new homes and the homes they left behind. Please join us on January 5th from 6 to 8pm for an opening reception at 108 Orchard Street. Folk Songs for the Five Points includes the sound of steam seeping through a manhole cover. According to The Works, a new book that reveals the secrets of city life, steam is the byproduct of the electricity generated by New York's seven Con Edison plants: "30 billion pounds of steam that flow beneath the streets of Manhattan...from the battery to 96th Street, New York's subterranean steam network constitutes the biggest district steam system in the world...bigger than the next four largest American systems combined." --The Works We'd love to read your thoughts on the Lower East Side and the Tenement Museum. Drop us a line!