The British Version Of “The Griswolds”
Who knew that “The Griswolds” exist in Great Britain as well as the fictional suburban Chicago we’ve always thought? Let me explain. “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” was the third (and IMHO, best) in the “Vacation” series of movies. No one ever captured “that guy in the neighborhood at Christmas” like Chevy Chase’s Clark W. Griswold.
Well, in real life, cross the pond and in England you’ll find brothers Lee and Paul Brailsford. For almost 30 years now, they’ve created a Christmas sensation out of their mother’s home that has raised a ton of cash for charity. In a tradition the brothers began in 1994, their homage to Christmas takes 6 weekends to put up and three days to take down. And those aren’t even the impressive numbers. Get a load of these. The display required 200,000m of cabling and costs £10,000 ($12,100 US). It will be illuminated for six hours per day for 31 days (186 hours). What will all this get you as far as visual assault on your sense of sight? Well, visitors to the home are greeted by 70 light-up figures (including Santas and snowmen), 30 sets of rope lights, 10 sets of twinkling icicles, 50 rope-light shapes, trains, elves, soldiers and a light-up nativity on a specially built stage.
So, these two dudes HAVE to be independently wealthy to pull this kind of thing together, right? No, they’re just entrepreneurial and charitable. Nineteen local companies have been recruited to contribute to the spectacle to offset the cost of putting it on as well as providing equipment for the switch on. What? No garage switchbox like Clark G. has?! <g>. Also, the Brailsford family charges admission and donates the money raised to a children’s hospital. Tens of thousands of dollars have been gifted to this great cause to date.
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