Armstrong-Smulekoff Nativity

This 12-piece nativity set was purchased in 1959 by Armstrong's Department Store in downtown Cedar Rapids. It was first displayed at Christmas 1959 in the newly remodeled and expanded store windows. The store had been expanded to compete with Lindale Mall and to transform Armstrong's into a store similar to Marshall Field's (now Macy's) in Chicago. Former employees believe the set was purchased in New York.

Those who shopped in Downtown Cedar Rapids from 1959 to 2007 remember well the nativity scene and all the Christmas window displays the downtown stores arranged annually. In January of 1991, Armstrong's Department Store went out of business. By July of 1991, the Armstrong's Nativity scene was purchased by Smulekoff's Furniture, who would continue to showcase the community's Christmas landmark for the next 16 years in their store windows.

Christmas 2007 was the last time Smulekoff's Furniture displayed the nativity set, as the devastating flood of 2008 completely submerged the plaster set, which was stored in a specially-created wooden crate in Smulekoff's basement. When clean-up in the basement level began, the set was still in the crate but obviously needed major clean-up. Most pieces had taken some bumps in the flood, and all the plaster pieces were weakened from so much time sitting in water. Unfortunately, Joseph had collapsed into three sections and was missing a lot of plaster.

Thank you to all those who made this restoration possible: Smulekoff's Furniture for donating the Armstrong-Smulekoff Nativity and providing the transportation for the camel; custom boxes donated by International Paper & Ted DeMoe, Cedar Rapids; fabric for the display donated by Wallpapers Etc & Roger and Sandy O'Quinn, Beaumont, Texas; Mark Stouffer-Hunter & The History Center staff for assistance in researching this nativity set's history; Dale Nordby and his crew for building the scene backdrop; and the many volunteers who put 230 hours of labor into the cleaning and restoration process.