Central Park Winter Garden Christmas Bazaar

There is hardly anything better in the genre of Tyrolean singing than what we are presented with here. The simple, sometimes cheerful, sometimes sad music is however always performed with warmth and authentic feeling, and this is done with perfection. The zither player of the group is a true virtuoso. His trills, his staccato, and flageolet sounds are played with such beauty and purity as rarely heard, and at the same time he plays with surprising strength and fullness. Among the yodel singers are some that are extraordinary.

“In addition to the numerous attractions congregated together in this beautiful garden a new feature was introduced last night by the managers, Messrs. Gosche and Schindler, in the person of Marietta Zanfretta, a tight rope phenomenon; Theodore Zanfretta, a gymnast and pantomimist; Master George, an eight year old ditto, and a troupe of trained canines. The fair and bazaar were crowded last night by the children of Santa Claus.”

The entertainments are varied and good.  The sale of Christmas presents is brisk.

“One of the attractions here is a band of Tyrolean singers, who ‘jodle’ delightfully. It is numerically and otherwise the best company we have had in America. The Tyrolean music is ingenious in construction and melodious. .  . . The Diorama and the ‘Punch and Judy’ are capital features for the youngsters, and the orchestra is, of course, a source of constant pleasure.”

“One by one the institutions of the old world are being ingrafted upon the customs of the new. The novelty last imported is the Christmas Bazaar, now in progress, as we write, at the Central Park Garden. Its character is only partially disclosed by its name, for in addition to the Bazaar proper, there are orchestral concerts, vocal performances, automatic exhibitions, puppet shows, feats of strength, in fact, everything that can be devised, imagined or invented, for the amusement of the public. There has certainly been a very great change in this country since the time when the 4th of July and ‘Training Day’ were the only popularly indulged diversions.”