© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Central Standard

With Every Snowy Holiday In Sugar Creek, This Couple Helps The Past Come Back To Life

Andrea Tudhope
/
KCUR 89.3
Stan and Barbara Salva, with their dog Parnell, in their old home in Sugar Creek, Missouri

Out in Sugar Creek, Missouri, on top of a snowy hill, there are three houses with a long history. Every year around this time, that history comes to life, with the help of Stan and Barbara Salva. 

Stan was born and raised in Sugar Creek, and he spent a long stint as the town's mayor. Barbara has lived there since they married 50 years ago, but she's absorbed the history of the place "like a sponge."

Nearly 100 years ago, four sisters lived in four houses on top of that same hill. They were craftswomen, well-known for their dolls. They started out with an elf-like figure called the "troll."

Credit Andrea Tudhope / KCUR 89.3
/
KCUR 89.3

According to Barbara, they drew inspiration from dolls made by the Simpich family, modeled on the characters from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Credit Andrea Tudhope / KCUR 89.3
/
KCUR 89.3

"These [Simpich dolls] predate any other Christmas dolls that are out there on the market right now," Barbara says.

Barbara first saw the sisters' dolls during an open house on the hill. She was 22, with three children. At $25 a set, she couldn't afford it. 

Credit Andrea Tudhope / KCUR 89.3
/
KCUR 89.3

Years later, the sisters grew old and moved on, a few passed away, and the houses went on the market. The Salvas bought the property, and with it, began collecting the dolls and the stories of the place.

"Every Christmas, the sisters had this big party," Stan says. "Initially, it was a Yule log party, where they would hide a Yule log out in the woods somewhere and people would go find it. That's how the whole thing started. When we came we decided we'd continue to have the party."

Credit Andrea Tuhdope / KCUR 89.3
/
KCUR 89.3

They brought their own traditions to the table — Barbara crafts individualized displays for the dolls on her mantle and shelves, and Stan whips up the infamous "Salva punch." With nearly 10 different kinds of alcohol, it's lethal, but magic — Stan says drink as much as you want, you'll never get a hangover. 

Like those four sisters, the Salvas kept family close. In the two remaining houses on the hill, two of their sons have raised families of their own. 

Credit Andrea Tudhope / KCUR 89.3
/
KCUR 89.3

From the little window in their house, all of Kansas City looks small. Outside you can see for miles. And inside, over that infamous, lethal Salva punch, you can see for generations. 

Editor's note: A previous version of this story misstated the origin of the Dickens' caroler dolls. 

Andrea Tudhope is a reporter and producer for KCUR 89.3. You can reach her at andreat@kcur.org.

Tags
Andrea Tudhope is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Kansas City, Missouri. She is currently coordinating producer for America Amplified, a national public media community engagement initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.