Blanca Cinco began collecting more than 40 years ago
Published in the Nov. 26 – Dec. 9, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Robert Airoldi
Photo by Robert Airoldi
Several of Blanca Cinco’s nativity scenes. Her collection of more than 500 will be on display at St. Catherine Church the last weekend of November.
Blanca Cinca bought her first nativity scene more than 40 years ago. Little did she know then that small purchase would turn into a hobby that has seen her amass more than 500 of the scenes that represent the infant Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
“It happened by accident,” she said of the beginning of her collection. “When we were first married we went through some financial hardships but it’s a tradition in our culture to have a nativity scene.”
She saw one that was broken and bought it at a good price. So after that Christmas, she was shopping and saw a beautiful scene from Germany with a windmill but it was $500 and too expensive.
“As days went by the price kept dropping,” she said. “I finally got it for $49.99 because it too had a piece broken.”
Her husband fixed it and that’s how she learned about the American tradition of merchants putting items on sale after Christmas.
“I was new to the country and didn’t know about that,” she said.
Now, Cinco, 66, will display the more than 500 scenes she’s collected over the years that includes about 130 Christmas ornaments, in the O’Donnell Parish Center at St. Catherine Church.
The 66-year-old married mother of a son and daughter and grandmother of two, lives in the Santa Teresa area of South San Jose. She attends St. Catherine and volunteers as well.
“I’ve been very active with St. Vincent de Paul helping needy people in economic trouble,” she said.
Slowly, her collection began to grow. She had 10, then 20, then 30 and then friends started buying them for her.
“All of a sudden I’ve got hundreds of them,” she said. She stopped buying them a few years ago but the collection was still increasing because people will call her and give her a scene.
“People donate them because they know I’ll take good care of it,” she said.
She has scenes from the Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Guatemala, Germany, Russia, France, Italy, Africa and one she bought in Switzerland made of bee wax when she and husband traveled there.
She said she couldn’t find one when she was in China, but ironically many purchased in the United States were made in China.
When the collection was still small and manageable, she’d set them up around her house.
“I put them everywhere but the bathroom,” she said. “Then friends asked why I didn’t show them.”
“It’s a cool way to remind people of the real reason behind Christmas and that’s why I put them on display,” she said.
They help people imagine what they’ve never seen.
Her first display was at the Our Lady of Peace Church of Latter-day Saints in Mountain View, and the Sunnyvale Museum.
She and her family and friends spend all night Friday setting them all up and then all night Sunday taking them down and packing them up, ready for the next show.
“It’s something as a family we enjoy every year,” she said.
The smallest one includes a baby Jesus that measures just 1/4-inch, while the largest baby measures 18 inches. The one from Kenya, Africa is made of banana leaves.
“It gives me a lot of pleasure,” she said. “It’s a lot of work but very satisfying to share with people.”
