Live Nativity about to begin. Paul Goldfinger photo. Dec 4, 2021.
There was music in the Great Auditorium and in the Grove from the founding of this town. Around the turn of the last century (ie 1890-1900) wax recordings were made in the Great Auditorium—-about 130 years ago. This is what it sounded like:
“A Shelter in the Time of Storm” by Ira Stankey. These recordings won a Grammy Award. Click on the link below
I am always amused how portrayals of biblical people so often have them wearing 19th century Arab dress. The Victorians imagined the Arabs to have a lifestyle similar to that of Bible times. The European Jews of the period had adopted more or less western styles that were not deemed worthy as models.
The ancient reality was that cloth was very expensive —it had to be handwoven (gasp!) Few could afford the flowing robes seen on stained glass windows and modern Bible films, and the hems were often knee-length.
In the 1880s, Ocean Grove was treated to presentations of the von Finkelstein family, European Protestants raised in Jerusalem. Informative lectures were given, but members of the group made a splash by walking the streets of Ocean Grove in Arab dress.