Candy Cane Lane

It took a little bit roaming around West Allis to pinpoint, but at last I located the neighborhood along Oklahoma Avenue between 92nd to 96th Street and kicked another item off my unintended bucketlist.  Candy Cane Lane (running now through Dec. 27 6-9 p.m. daily) started in earnest in 1985 and has grown to be a cute fundraiser for the MACC Fund that gets all sorts of local celebrity and business employees to stand out in the cold soliciting donations.  I do have to say, the little deluxe playhouse that MSOE students built for the raffle is pretty keen.

In previous years, even before the technology of LED and blow-up statues caught up to the low-culture realm of multi-colored Christmas lights and plastic Santa’s, the four-block area was ablaze with over-the-top displays.

This year, it seems the recession was demurred some of the neighbors, and a good half of the houses are dark.  Another fraction of that have overt displays of lit plastic nativity scenes and signs reminding “the reason for the season” without any further spectacular.

Nonetheless, what struck me trolling up and down the streets was the sense of tableau when viewing the architecture and displays straight on.  On their own, these houses often reflect a different time in our culture, the same way we can drive through Brewers Hill and witness another historic way of life frozen in time.  As a bit of proof, I’m offering this simple phrasing of the holidays in images.

Imagine you are seeing them in a modern art gallery somewhere.  Hell, as long as this is my fantasy, imagine you’re at the Guggenheim.

Merry Christmas to all.

The Candy Cane Lane Gallery can be viewed below, or it looks best in full-view on black seen here.