Southampton - Once again, in honor of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and the Winter Solstice, the Southampton Historical Museum and Research Center has dressed up Rogers Mansion for all, but with a particular eye for children. How else to explain the colorful decorations and emphasis on food, especially goodies? This year, as part of its annual celebration of holiday customs around the world, the Museum has turned over its room displays to the Western European countries of England, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain, while also highlighting Croatian, Russian, Jewish, Latino, Shinnecock and African-American traditions - all populations with presence on the East End,

Hellenic Dancers represent the traditions of Greece. Photos by Tom Edmonds

The Museum supplied the trees and display bases, but, as Executive Director Tom Edmonds points out, the different cultural groups were invited to bring their own objets d'art and ornaments, thus turning community residents into curators.

Children have always been central in these celebrations, notes schools liaison Laurie Collins. Younger grades come in for Teddy Bear Teas, and, as Program Director Lynn Egan adds, older youngsters learn about other countries in a way that ties in with New York State Social Studies standards and dual language curricula.

As visitors will see, Christmas celebrations in some countries start early. In Spain, Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), a big family night, seems pretty quiet and domestic compared with the public festival of Immaculata, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8. And children have to wait for gifts until Epiphany, Jan. 6, the date that pays homage to the arrival of the gift-bearing Three Kings. Colorful manger scenes are everywhere throughout the mansion, reflecting native traditions.

In England, Dec. 26 brings together Feast Day for St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and Boxing Day, a reminder that Dec. 25 was a working day for servants. Kids, do you know what a "charlady" is? The next day, however, servants were given boxes of leftovers, a custom that also gave rise to poor boxes in churches.

In Ireland, Nollaig Shona welcomes visitors to all 12 days of Christmas and to an appreciation of the familiar song as a way of learning the catechism. Kids and non-kids, did you know that "two turtle doves" refers to the Old and New Testament, while "ten lords a-leaping" is meant to signify the Ten Commandments?

A table set for Kwanza.

On to Italy, where an impressive creppo (wooden frame pyramid-shaped "Tree of Light" several feet high) dominates a display that reflects the merger of pagan rites and Christian customs. Saturnalia, visitors learn, joins the Solstice winter fest ("birth of the unconquered sun") and the birth of the Christ child. Girls, did you know about La Befana, a kind of female Santa who delivers presents to the shoes of children who are good?

In Greece, where the singing of kalanda (carols) is rewarded with fruit and coins, letters are written not to Santa but to parents and placed under the father's plate after Christmas dinner. And folks called Christine, Chris or Emannuel, be on the lookout for special visits that day.

In the nearby Eastern European Room, visitors learn about the Polish Oplatek (blessed Christmas wafer), the eating of which precedes Wigilia (Christmas Eve meal), however, don't over do it because celebrations go on for three nights. In Russia Christmas Eve dinner is meatless but festive, with caroling and a procession that wends around the local church. In Croatia, a large branch sometimes replaces a tree, and tradition has it that families used to gather under a table to sit on hay for dinner and orahnjacas (rolls filled with fruits and nuts).

A representation of an English Christmas mantle.

In Peru, Christmas seems more like New Year's with toasts, champagne and panneton (cake mixed with nuts and raisins). In Colombia festivities start on Dec. 8, with streets and villages often lined in lights. Costa Rica boasts supper after Midnight Mass with - what else - tamales, while in Paraguay a main attraction during the hot Christmas season is clerico, a cooling mixed-fruit drink. Mexico also starts celebrations early (Dec. 16) with Posadas (the Inns), a door-to-door honoring of the arduous journey Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem, reenacted now with pleading songs and sweet rewards.

In an adjacent room, a Hanukkah display features an attractive menorah, a nine-branch candelabrum, one candle for each festival day, honoring the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (2nd century, BCE) and the miracle whereby oil for one day lasted for eight. Of particular interest is an explanation of how the dreidel became significant and became a children's game. Nearby, Kwanzaa (Swahili for first fruits) introduces visitors to a colorful and inspirational celebration of African heritage, started in 1966, and originally designed as a harvest thanksgiving but that now covers seven days that celebrate humanist values and cultural principles.

Upstairs, Steve Marciw's charming folk art greets visitors - local scenes rendered in colorful acrylic on wood and hand-crafted, painted children's-size "poplar" sleds. Nearby, in the huge bay window, "Christmas With the Shinnecock Nation" features shells, figures in wood and felt, leather pouches, cornhusks, feathers and bone ornaments distributed among dried leaves surrounding a tree.

 • The exhibit runs through Jan. 3. Call 631-283-2494 for further information. The Southampton Historical Museum is located at 17 Meeting House Lane, Southampton.