“Pip: The Mouse Before Christmas” has returned to its whimsical stage for another run of vintage seasonal fun.

With Pennsylvania and the United States experiencing a spike in coronavirus (COVID-19) confirmed cases, the little guy is performing at Grand Plaza, the former site of Hess’s Department Store, where it all began, Ninth and Hamilton streets, Allentown, and where the show must go on through Dec. 31.

After the iconic Allentown department store closed, puppets, animatronics, props and stage found a home at the Liberty Bell Museum, Allentown, where the holiday show has been going on since 2003.

While still produced by the Liberty Bell Museum, Pip’s venue was moved to Grand Plaza because of COVID-19 protocol of face masks and social distancing.

The stage is set up inside the storefront of a former Mexican restaurant.

“Just like Pip’s first years at Hess’s, the show will be performed in one of the building’s large windows, with the socially-distanced audience outside on the Grand Plaza,” says Liberty Bell Museum Manager Stephanie Burke.

In 2019, the former PPL Plaza was renamed to pay tribute to the Grand Central Hotel which preceded Hess’s at that location.

Pip and his holiday puppet show, created by Dr. George Creegan, premiered at Hess’s in 1962.

For the first several years, holiday shoppers and their children could view the local spectacle by standing outside a large display window.

Later, performances were moved inside the building where the audience could stay warm while being entertained.

Goodwill donations from the public for the production are welcome. “It’s the donations that keep Pip in cheese,” quips Burke.

“This is such a not normal year,” Burke says. “We wanted to provide a little ‘normal’ at Christmastime. This is one of Allentown’s big Christmas traditions.”

Burke credited “Pip The Mouse” Technical Director Patrick Vance for suggesting they bring Pip back to the place of his earliest performances.

“I was one of those kids with my nose pressed against the glass,” says Vance. He also realized his childhood dream of being behind the stage someday.

Although Pip is providing entertainment up the street from his usual home, there is still much to see at the Liberty Bell Museum in Zion’s United Church of Christ, 622 W. Hamilton St., Allentown. The “Liberty Bell Church” is where the Liberty Bell is purported to have been hidden during the Revolutionary War.

The Liberty Bell is said to have been transported from Philadelphia to the church where it was hidden from the British and saved from being melted into cannonballs. The museum commemorates the story with a permanent exhibit.

The museum is observing the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Medals, badges, uniforms and other touchstones of the Greatest Generation are on display in the lobby. Most of these items can be traced to local veterans of the global conflict.

Christmas 1945 is remembered in the museum’s gallery with holiday greeting cards and postcards sent and received by Lehigh Valley folks. Vintage comic book and magazine covers from that memorable year accompany the cards.

Since Pennsylvania’s 18th-century German settlers brought with them the custom of decorating cut evergreens indoors, a tree with traditional hand-made Pennsylvania-Dutch decorations is part of the museum’s annual holiday tree exhibit.

Because of the uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no train display this year.

Admission to the Liberty Bell Museum is by appointment only because of COVID-19 protocol. Reservations are not required for the puppet show.

“Pip: The Mouse Before Christmas,” Grand Plaza show times: noon, 12:30, 1, 1:30, 2, 2:30, 3, 3:30 p.m. Fridays - Sundays; 1, 1:30, 2, 2:30 p.m. Christmas Eve; 1, 1:30, 2, 2:30 p.m. New Year’s Eve. Closed Christmas Day.

Liberty Bell Museum Gallery hours: noon - 4 p.m. Monday - Saturday, and noon - 4 p.m. second Sunday. libertybellmuseum.org; 610-435-4232. Closed Christmas Day.