The History Of Department 56 Holiday Villages

If you were starting a company to produce ceramic replicas of idealized houses for different historical and fictitious settings what would you name it? I´m sure Department 56 is not the first phrase that comes to your mind; so how did it come to theirs? Let´s find out.

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, charm of the street lights sparkling on the freshly fallen snow evoked an evening of wonderful Christmas memories. The storytelling and memories 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. The dream was brought to life when, in 1976, Department 56 introduced a series of six hand-painted, ceramic buildings. These premiere buildings were the foundation of the original Snow Village Series, and the rest is history.

Currently headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Department 56 is a leader in the giftware, collectibles and holiday decorating industry. They are best known for their hand-crafted lighted villages and Snowbabies^TM figurines.

Some important dates in the history of Department 56 include:

1976 - Department 56 introduces of six charming, lighted, ceramic buildings. The Original Snow Village®.
1979 - Original Snow Village designs retired and 12 new buildings introduced. First Village accessories.
1984 - The Dicken´s Village Series® released (seven nostalgic shops and a church from Victorian England). First village in The Heritage Village Collection®.
1986 - The Heritage Village Collection expanded to include The New England Village Series and The Alpine Village Series® and The World of Snowbabies^TM figurines are introduced.
1987 - Christmas in the City® and the Little Town of Bethlehem^TM added to the Heritage Village Collection.
1990 - The North Pole Series^TM is added to The Heritage Village Collection.
1994 - Introduction of The Disney Parks Village Series^TM and Snowbunnies®.
1997 - The Classic Ornament Series introduced.
1998 - Seasons Bay^TM, the first year-round village, representing a late 19th-century American resort town.
Elf Land^TM, an extension of the North Pole Series^TM, is introduced. Also, 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.

Today, the Department 56 villages are a treasure of holiday memories that span a variety of times, places and your imagination.

I´m Mark and every year for Christmas, my family & I put together a village display featuring the Department 56 North Pole Village Series buildings and accessories. The scene is completed with a string of lights and a fresh coat of buffalo snow. To find out more, visit our Department 56 Villages blog.

The History Of Department 56 Holiday Villages - Holidays in 2012 / 2013