They are widely known for their lit Christmas villages but also make and sell ornaments and Snowbabies. While the focus seems to be Christmas, they have plenty of fun items for Halloween and Autumn. They are a popular company that offers holiday decor with lighting and authentically styled pieces. They are well-known for holiday villages and historical buildings on a scaled-down version suitable for decoration. You can also avoid the fright and focus on more traditional items such as the pieces that make up their Autumn Village.
Collect them all or design your own set by selecting pieces that celebrate the traditions of autumn. In , they added a host of new pieces under an array of themes that feature well-known icons such as the Chrysler Building or the re-enactment of the American Gothic painting.
For the holidays, add their Skate Party, which is complete with an ice rink. There is also a selection of holiday Snowbabies too. If you are into collections, they offer limited edition pieces.
For , only 2, pieces of each item is manufactured. Their limited edition pieces are excellent ways to make your village unique. Some pieces are made for a specific village, but all are limited. The fun is designed for people of all ages, and their new villages include a 56 Street Brewery Village, including a Craft Beer building. Some pieces are made for existing sets while others are boxed sets.
The list of new for is long and worthy of checking out. The pieces or sets are lovely as gifts, even if you are given yourself a present.
The list of themes is equally long, and there is something here for everyone. Each building is lit so that it is enjoyable at all times. The buildings come with lights pre-installed, and replacement parts are available should a bulb burnout.
You can buy replacement lighting kits, which can then be added to your DIY village. Designed by Village artist Tom Bates. This highly detailed New York building is destined to become a favorite. Whoo hoo!
With a worldwide viewing audience of over million weekly, "The Simpsons" will celebrate their 25th anniversary in in grand style. Department 56 will join in the celebration with the introduction of a colorful ceramic Village series that will include the Simpsons' house, Springfield Elementary School and the Kwik-E-Mart. Several hand-painted accessory sets of the familiar Simpson characters will round out the scene.
A sure fire hit for fans of the s classic Christmas movie. Snowbabies artist, Kristi Jensen Pierro continues to thrill collectors with her new addition to Snowbabies "Christmas Memories". This classic and beautifully design retro line was designed by Department 56 artist Paul Lundberg.
Seuss collections. The Department 56 Villages have maintained their place as number one in the gold standard of lighted Villages. There were also several key accessories offered to complete the display — Olaf, Sven, Kristoff, Oaken and Anna!
The artists of Department 56 continue to look at industry trends and seek out new ideas to create the most innovative giftware items in the industry and as we enter our 40th anniversary year, plan to strive to be the leader we have always been.
To celebrate this milestone anniversary, our creative team has designed a number of special pieces that represent the most iconic designs for each collection. Licensed merchandise continues to be strong for Department 56 with the most recognized companies appearing with high quality and sought after products — Harley-Davidson, Disney, Fisher Price, Hasbro, Peanuts, Grinch, Dairy Queen and the newest, Girl Scouts.
In addition, the employees of Department 56 will give back to their community with forty hours of service in gratitude for our community supporting this company for the last 40 years. Our talents will work with the handicapped, the disadvantaged and children of the area.
Licensed products continue to play a major role in the popularity of Department 56 products. And a whole group of seasonal Santas continue to delight collectors of the "Possible Dreams.
Setting up a Village has become a tradition that is passed down by many families. We have introduced boxed sets that include a lit building made of highly detailed resin, an appropriately sized, coordinating accessory, a bag of snow and a tree.
Village artist, Paul Lundberg has captured the spirit of Hogwarts and the magic of everything that happens there in the highly detailed resin pieces that grace this collection. Each piece come straight from the pages of J. Each figurine is hand sculpted with unique facial expressions and poses, personality and sometimes, humor — no two Santas are the same!
Collectors have embraced many new pieces for their Villages this year, including the popular licensed series and standard classics. These are a must for gift exchanges and hostess gifts. Artist Kristi Jensen Pierro continues to come up with appropriate ways to make our little snow people an endearing part of the holidays. Seuss F. The company behind the villages. Bachman was named president and vice-chairman.
Headquarters were established in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Appealing to collectors of Christmas decor, the new company's first offerings centered on its Original Snow Village Collection, which was introduced in The Original Snow Village comprised small, hand-painted, ceramic pieces nostalgically recollecting small-town American winter scenes. Some of the little buildings and houses featured miniature electric lights inside, the wires for which were meant to be hidden underneath blankets of plastic snow.
The unique design and quality of each piece in the Village series appealed to customers, who spotted them in gift and department stores and began acquiring them to recreate entire miniature villages in their homes. Over the next seven years, the popularity of Department 56 gift items increased steadily, and in , the company was formally incorporated as Department 56, being owned and operated by Bachman Holdings and ed bazinet international, inc.
That year, the company introduced a variation on its Snow Village theme: the Heritage Village Collection. The first pieces in this collection became known as the Dickens Village and comprised porcelain homes, buildings, and accessories for recreating a Victorian Christmas village. Porcelain, as opposed to ceramic, allowed for greater detail, and porcelain's translucence gave a warmer visual effect to the pieces when lit. Moreover, Department 56 obtained a license from the Dickens estate to use the famous Charles Dickens signature initials on some of the products.
With the addition of finer detail and quality, the collectibility of Department 56 products rose dramatically. The year was an important one for new product introduction at Department That year, two new series were added to the Heritage Village Collection: the New England Village with such pieces as covered bridges, town halls, and sleighs, recalling winter scenes in rural American towns and the Alpine Village with farmhouses, churches, and clock towers reminiscent of hamlets in the Swiss Alps.
Another important introduction in was that of the Snowbabies. Snowbabies were figurines of toddlers bundled in fuzzy-looking snowsuits; they were made entirely of porcelain bisque, which was also hand-applied onto the little snowsuits, creating the impression that snow crystals had fallen on the babies as they played outdoors in the snow.
The Snowbabies series reportedly took six years for designers Kristi Jensen Pierro and Bill Kirchner to perfect, and the concept could be traced back to the late s. Although some collectors disagree on their origin, two theories have emerged. One is that the concept originated with explorer Admiral Robert Peary and his wife Josephine. The couple, residing in Greenland in , had a daughter, whom the Eskimos referred to as "Ad-Poo-Mickaninny," or "snow baby," because of her white skin.
The child was named after an Eskimo woman friend, who made the baby a one-piece snowsuit. Josephine Peary later wrote two children's books about a snow baby, and, as an adult, daughter Marie Peary published an autobiography in entitled The Snowbaby's Own Story.
Others, however, trace the snow baby to 19th-century Germany, where "tannenbaumkonfekt"--small dolls made from sugar, flour, and a gum thickener--were a popular holiday decoration. The candy figurines became so popular that commercial confectioners could not keep up with the demand. One confectioner reportedly commissioned a German company to create "snow babies" out of hand-whipped bisque, and other German manufacturers were quick to adapt the designs.
The bisque figurines remained popular in Germany through the s. Department 56 Snowbabies represented considerable craftsmanship and labor on the part of the company's overseas manufacturers. Each design was transformed into a clay model, from which several molds were cast. The final production mold was then filled by hand with a hand-blended mixture of clay and water.
All accessories, such as backpacks, wings, and stars were then attached to the dried, hardened figurine by hand, as were the fine grains of bisque known as snow crystals. Finally, facial features and coloring were applied by hand to each figurine. The popularity of the Snowbabies later prompted Department 56 to publish a hardbound book featuring poetry and stories on the adventures of the Snowbabies.
From to , Department 56 focused primarily on expanding designs and production within their popular collections. Toward that end, it began issuing specialized pieces that would appeal to the vocations and hobbies of consumers. For example, the company introduced a vet and pet shop model for pet owners and veterinarians, a bank or brokerage house for those with financial interests, and a post office that might appeal to mail carriers.
Moreover, the Snowbabies collection was expanded to include tree ornaments, picture frames, music boxes, and water globes featuring the popular characters. Snowbabies also became available in pewter.
Finally, the company enhanced the Heritage Village Collection first offering the Christmas in the City and Little Town of Bethlehem series of collectibles in and the North Pole series in and introduced such new lines of collectibles as Mercury Glass tree ornaments, Winter Silhouette figurines, and Merry Makers porcelain monk figures.
Department 56 relied on independently owned foreign manufacturers, located primarily in the Pacific Rim, for the manufacture of their collectibles.
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