Still burning: 'Zozobra: A Fire That Never Goes Out' explores 100 years of Old Man Gloom

A hybrid of ghost and monster, in the early

days, Zozobra consisted

of a 6-foot tall telephone pole wrapped in muslin stuffed with tumbleweeds. The artist Gustave Baumann created his head.

It was too small.

Today, participants stuff scribbled pieces of paper marking their “glooms” into the monstrous, 50-foot-tall marionette and watch them disappear into the puppet’s burning flames.

Still burning: 'Zozobra: A Fire That Never Goes Out' explores 100 years of Old Man Gloom

Slated for the Friday, Aug. 30, of Labor Day weekend in Santa Fe’s Fort Marcy Park, this fiery farewell to summer represents the release of the city’s pent-up anxieties and gloom and hope for a better future.

In honor of Old Man Gloom’s 100th anniversary, the New Mexico History Museum is showing “Zozobra: A Fire That Never Goes Out.” The exhibition, which runs through Sept. 30, 2025, explores the history of Zozobra, its evolution and impact on the community of Santa Fe.

“The story we try to tell is what it takes to create and sustain a tradition,” said co-curator Hannah Abelbeck. “We try to go beyond ‘Will Shuster had an idea.’ “

Artist William Howard “Will” Shuster, Jr. created the first Zozobra in 1924 as the signature highlight of a private party for Los Cinco Pintores, a group of artists and writers who made their way to New Mexico in the 1920s. He was inspired by Easter Holy Week traditions in the Yaqui Indian communities of Arizona and Mexico, in which an effigy of Judas is led around the village on a donkey and ultimately set alight. Shuster and his friend, E. Dana Johnson, editor of the local newspaper, came up with the name Zozobra, which in Spanish means “anguish, anxiety or gloom.”

They were also mocking the solemn Catholic traditions of the Santa Fe Fiestas. The event commemorates the Spanish reconquest of the City of Holy Faith in 1692.

“In Santa Fe, it seems like the way (Zozobra) was set up and run invites people to collaborate,” Abelbeck said. “I think that’s what keeps it going. I do think it’s that hope of renewal that keeps people coming back year after year. It seems to have taken off very quickly in the 1920s. We think thousands of people may have shown up.”

By 1938, Shuster had tired of the month’s worth of work required to create the scowling beast. But year after year, he was inspired to continue.

“Year after year I find that I can’t let the children down,” he wrote.

“He saw that it had impact,” Abelbeck said.

Since 1926, Zozobra has been burned publicly as part of (or before) the annual Santa Fe Fiestas. In 1964, Shuster transferred sponsorship of the event and rights to Zozobra’s image to the Kiwanis Club. By passing the torch to a community organization, Zozobra was transformed, placing a shared trust for sustaining the tradition while also becoming a major fundraiser for local children’s charities.

Every year, volunteers stuff Zozobra’s body with firecrackers and thousands of “glooms” from New Mexico and across the globe. Glooms are pieces of paper where people write down sorrows, problems and worries that have troubled them during the last year.

Since the beginning, Zozobra has been the subject of numerous innovations, including a moveable jaw and arms, as well as rolling eyes and his guttural, moaning voice.

The objects on view in the “Zozobra: A Fire That Never Goes Out” exhibit include the flaming red fire dancer hat worn by former New York City Ballet dancer and fire dance creator, Jacque Cartier, who performed the role for 37 years; a ceramic koshare-inspired Zozobra figure by the artist Virgil Ortiz, on loan from the Albuquerque Museum; and never-before-seen photographs. Additional objects and ephemera on loan from community members include an original Zozobra burning party invitation, piñatas, candles and Zozobra portraits.