Visit to Michigan: Frankenmuth

Flew to Michigan on the red eye, then drove North from Detroit. Stopped along the way in Frankenmuth (“Michigan’s Little Bavaria”). First stop was Bronners, the world’s largest year-round Christmas store.

Greeting you at the entryway are these herald angels. No doubt intended as part of a Christmas theme, but also forshadowing the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the end of the world, and the general resurrection of the dead for final judgement. Or just holiday decor.

On the way in, you pass a large Christmas ornament with a portrait of the late Wally Bronner, founder. This is approximately four feet in diameter.

There are other pictures. This is an earlier (1967) portrait, hailing him as “Originator and Manager.” Rendered in the socialist realist style of the time, it incorporates a holiday color theme.

A huge variety of Christmas ornaments beckons, from the conventional expressions of familial love:

To fast food items:

And even the B-2 Spirit bomber. America’s nuclear-capable intercontinental stealth bomber will ensure a secure holiday for your tree, deterring any international threat:

There’s something for everyone.

And up in the corners and rafters, more images of Wally. Here he smiles down on the Holy Family:

And this appears to be Wally, dressed as Santa, worshiping the Christ Child. I made one inquiry with the staff about the theology, but the person I asked said she’d never noticed it (It’s about 7 feet wide…).

We had some custom ornaments made for family members. Here a member of the painting staff personalizes ornaments while we wait.

And we bid farewell to Bronners: