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ENLARGE
Kay McMahon — with her Christmas village display in her Old Tunnel Road apartment living room in Grass Valley.
“I'm a toy freak,” said Kay McMahon, gesturing to the sprawling porcelain village that fills her Grass Valley living room.
“All of the people have a story,” McMahon said, pointing to tiny nuns having a snowball fight and a hermit chopping wood who encounters a surprise lady caller.
And not far away, Mrs. Claus welcomes visitors with gingerbread and painted smiles to a tiny Victorian Christmas.
“It's a small town,” McMahon said. “Everyone knows everyone else, and they're all friendly.”
Does she see any parallels between her miniature world and the community she lives in?
“Of course!” McMahon said. “It's not just like Grass Valley, it is Grass Valley — to me.”
McMahon began her collection in 1968 when she inherited what was then a small village from her grandmother. Those pieces now form miniature Placerville and North San Juan, cozy neighbors for McMahon's Grass Valley centerpiece.
The toys served as beacons of hope in an otherwise turbulent childhood.
“My sister and I had a difficult home life (growing up). My grandma's house was a refuge,” McMahon said.
McMahon, now 68, shares an exceptionally close bond with her sister and neighbor, Gayle Gibson. She struggles with crippling pain from fibromyalgia, neuropathy in her feet and irreparable nerve damage to her back as reminders of a lifetime of hard work.
Despite her pain, she dedicates two full weeks to setting up her Victorian hamlets, where the pain melts into seasonal joy.
“It takes me away. It's the same as dancing or listening to music. It's an escape, definitely.”
She said with a smile, “Everyone tells me it's two weeks of work. I tell them it's two weeks of play.”
Looking around her apartment, the 6-foot-by-10-foot village is just one suggestion of McMahon's love of play. An intricately adorned Christmas tree compliments poinsettias encased in glass and shelves of wind-up toys.
“And those are only the Christmas ones,” McMahon grinned.
Even when the decorations come down in January, the 60 square feet the village occupies are reclaimed by her own sort of Santa's workshop: A table where she crafts doll houses, inspired by the fully furnished toy her father built for her in 1945.
Her current project? A tiny, 13-room Victorian mansion.
“I'm building my dream house. Others can fall by the wayside, but this one I'll definitely keep in the family,” McMahon said.
Though she spends time housing dolls, McMahon never liked them.
“When I was little, I played with boys' toys, like electric trains. Next year I'll have one going through the village — I'm so excited!” she said.
With an affection for all things Victorian that harks to her grandmother, McMahon will carry on her jolly spirit through the new year.
“I'm not crazy. It's just my passion.”
With a wry smile, she added, “Well, maybe I'm just a little bit eccentric.”
Contact Ed Wright, a senior at Bear River High School, at intern@theunion.com or (530) 477-4811.
“All of the people have a story,” McMahon said, pointing to tiny nuns having a snowball fight and a hermit chopping wood who encounters a surprise lady caller.
And not far away, Mrs. Claus welcomes visitors with gingerbread and painted smiles to a tiny Victorian Christmas.
“It's a small town,” McMahon said. “Everyone knows everyone else, and they're all friendly.”
Does she see any parallels between her miniature world and the community she lives in?
“Of course!” McMahon said. “It's not just like Grass Valley, it is Grass Valley — to me.”
McMahon began her collection in 1968 when she inherited what was then a small village from her grandmother. Those pieces now form miniature Placerville and North San Juan, cozy neighbors for McMahon's Grass Valley centerpiece.
The toys served as beacons of hope in an otherwise turbulent childhood.
“My sister and I had a difficult home life (growing up). My grandma's house was a refuge,” McMahon said.
McMahon, now 68, shares an exceptionally close bond with her sister and neighbor, Gayle Gibson. She struggles with crippling pain from fibromyalgia, neuropathy in her feet and irreparable nerve damage to her back as reminders of a lifetime of hard work.
Despite her pain, she dedicates two full weeks to setting up her Victorian hamlets, where the pain melts into seasonal joy.
“It takes me away. It's the same as dancing or listening to music. It's an escape, definitely.”
She said with a smile, “Everyone tells me it's two weeks of work. I tell them it's two weeks of play.”
Looking around her apartment, the 6-foot-by-10-foot village is just one suggestion of McMahon's love of play. An intricately adorned Christmas tree compliments poinsettias encased in glass and shelves of wind-up toys.
“And those are only the Christmas ones,” McMahon grinned.
Even when the decorations come down in January, the 60 square feet the village occupies are reclaimed by her own sort of Santa's workshop: A table where she crafts doll houses, inspired by the fully furnished toy her father built for her in 1945.
Her current project? A tiny, 13-room Victorian mansion.
“I'm building my dream house. Others can fall by the wayside, but this one I'll definitely keep in the family,” McMahon said.
Though she spends time housing dolls, McMahon never liked them.
“When I was little, I played with boys' toys, like electric trains. Next year I'll have one going through the village — I'm so excited!” she said.
With an affection for all things Victorian that harks to her grandmother, McMahon will carry on her jolly spirit through the new year.
“I'm not crazy. It's just my passion.”
With a wry smile, she added, “Well, maybe I'm just a little bit eccentric.”
Contact Ed Wright, a senior at Bear River High School, at intern@theunion.com or (530) 477-4811.
