Marguerite Hoxie Sullivan, '68, MA '71, doesn't duck the word "obsession." To expand her collection of crèches, she has navigated the back alleys of Bangkok until arriving at a factory where she could obtain one of the Christian Nativity scenes in the style of Thai architecture. She also has two made in a Belize prison shop; another one from Colombia is made of tagua (ivory) nuts.
At Stanford's last check-in, her Washington, D.C., home was the repository for 348 crèches from more than 100 countries. They generally go on display throughout the house from December through February, becoming a bit of a neighborhood phenomenon. Then it takes three days to pack the Bethlehem tableaux away. "My end game is age," says Sullivan, 66, foreseeing a time when the work of collecting smothers the compulsion of it. Regardless, she talks longingly about the treasure nests she has not yet combed, such as Germany's renowned Christmas markets.
Raised in Palo Alto and now 40 years in the nation's capital, Sullivan and her husband, Roger, '67, as well as daughters Sarah, '99, MA '00, and Leah, '02, have been relentless international travelers for work, education and pleasure. A crèche found was often a crèche fetched. What started in 1976 with a crèche from Sears grew to include favorites such as a Nativity scene depicted across ceramic thimbles from Spain, and one set within a small section of hollowed trunk from an olive tree that once grew in Bethlehem.
Mike Antonucci is a senior writer at Stanford.
