White border around photogaph. Depicted in photo is a closeup of the front of the City and County Building in preparation for installing the Christmas decorations. Two men on the scaffolding across the front. Two men on ground, one of whom is John Malpiede.
See History Colorado MSS.02595 Beverley Christine and john Malpiede files for additional information and related materials. See also the book Italy in Colorado.
From Italy in Colorado by Alias Zahller:
Malpiede
John Malpiede
Born in 1891, John Malpiede grew up in north Denver with his parents Joseph and Gerarda Malpiede. An altar boy at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the son of a vegetable gardener, he married Mary Palmasano in 1909 and went to work as the electrician for the city of Denver. In 1919, John decorated Denver’s Civic Center for the first time in the city’s history. At first, only the evergreen trees were decorated—at a cost of about $200. The public response was overwhelming, and from there the project grew. Evergreen boughs were added to lamp posts, then a lit Christmas tree was placed in front of the State Capitol, and in 1926 John persuaded Mayor Stapleton to let him decorate the exterior of City Hall (today’s City and County Building) with a $400 budget. In 1938, the Christmas lights became an official project of the City and County of Denver.
For twenty-nine years John improved his exhibit by adding more garland one year, new bulbs another, and additional figures, flowers, and even paintings the next. When he retired in 1956, the display included an eighty-five-foot artificial tree, hand-made reindeer, candles, and giant poinsettias, 25,000 bulbs, seventeen miles of electrical wiring, and twelve tons of evergreen boughs at a cost of $30,000.
Since 1985, the Keep the Lights Foundation has raised the roughly $100,000 needed to display, maintain, and dismantle the lights each year. Since 1996, about half a million people every year see the elaborate display of lights begun by John Malpiede.
John and Mary Malpiede had one child, a daughter named Geraldine. John passed away in Denver in 1976.
1. The Malpiede family, c. 1892. Giuseppe Malpiede at left, John Malpiede (baby), Mike Malpiede (behind baby), and Gerarda Malpiede. CIAPA Collection. Courtesy Beverly Christine. PCCLI5709
2. City and County Building with holiday lights, c. 1950. CIAPA Collection. Gift of Beverly Christine. PCCLI5615