Scroll down for a brief history of Department 56 and links to purchase all village series houses and accessories.
Village Display Tips
Follow these 5 simple tips to turn your collection of Department 56 lighted houses into a charming Christmas display.
Christmas in the City
Dept 56 Christmas in the City brings the spirit of Christmas out of the small towns and into the hustle and bustle of the big city.
Dickens Village
The Department 56 Dicken’s Village is the embodiemnt of the Holiday spirit and joyous atmosphere of Victorian England. Many pieces were inspired by the classic novels Oliver Twist, Nicholal Nickleby, David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol.
North Pole Series
The Department 56 North Pole series takes a whimsical look at the life of Santa and Mrs Claus and what it takes to make that one magical journey happen every year. Filled with fanciful factories and fun loving elves, the North Pole steps out of your childhood dreams and into reality.
Department 56 has remained the gold standard for lighted villages for over 30 years.
No other manufacturer has such a high quailty and diverse selelction of lighted village buildings and accessories. Whether you’re looking for the Department 56 Dickens Village, Dept 56 North Pole Series, Department 56 Christmas in the City, or any of the other Heritage Village series, when you purchase a Dept 56 Christmas village lighted ceramic building, you’re getting the highest quality product that will infuse your home with the Christmas spirit for years to come.
Your Department 56 village display may never get as large as this (or maybe it already is), but here are two stunning Dicken’s Village and North Pole series displays.
Sure, Department 56 makes the highest quality lighted villages available (click on the appropriate link for pricing information on the series you’re interested in), but did you ever wonder why Department 56?
Welcome to Stillwater
One Christmas, a group of friends planned to celebrate the Holiday with a quiet dinner in Stillwater Minnesota, a peaceful village along the St Croix river. Decorated for the holidays and coated with a fresh blanket of snow, this idyllic and picturesque village captivated the friends. As they dined in a peaceful country inn, the charm of the street lights sparkling on the freshly fallen snow evoked an evening of wonderful Christmas memories. It was this delightful storytelling and cheerful memories that were the inspiration for recreating this scene with a lighted Christmas village.
Over 30 years ago, Bachman’s, a premiere retail florist in Minneapolis, used a numbering system to identify each of its departments. The wholesale gift division was Department 56.
A few years later, the dream was brought to life when, in 1976, Department 56 introduced a series of six hand-painted, ceramic buildings.
These original buildings were to bvecome the foundation of the original Snow Village Series.
The Rest (as they say) is History
1979 – Original Snow Village designs retired and 12 new buildings introduced. First Village accessories.
The Dicken’s Village Series® released (seven nostalgic shops and a church from Victorian England). First village in The Heritage Village Collection®.
The World of Snowbabies™ figurines are introduced.
1987 – Christmas in the City® and the Little Town of Bethlehem™ added to the Heritage Village Collection.
1990 – The North Pole Series™ is added to The Heritage Village Collection.
1994 – Introduction of The Disney Parks Village Series™ and Snowbunnies®.
1997 – The Classic Ornament Series introduced.
1998 – Seasons Bay™, the first year-round village, representing a late 19th-century American resort town.
Elf Land™, an extension of the North Pole Series™, is introduced.
Snow Village Halloween introduced (did you know that Halloween is the second most celebrated holiday in the United States?).
2001 – Special and Limited Edition pieces are designed to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of The Original Snow Village®
2005 – A new mid-tier Village series, “A Christmas Story” is sold exclusively through Sears Department stores.
2007 – 20th anniversary of the cosmopolitan inspired Christmas in the City.
2008 – The 10th Anniversary of the Snow Village Halloween introduces the next in their ongoing train series, ‘Haunted Rails Engine and Coal Car’.
Bookmarked your site. Thank you for sharing. Definitely worth the time away from my classwork.