A Department 56 A Story

Department 56 is a company that manufactures gift items. On this site it concerns those lovely lighted porcelain houses you see in many stores, especially during the Christmas season. These houses have become a real collectible.

The craze began with the "Snow Village" collection of six houses in 1976. Each house is named and dated on the bottom. The date is the date of copy- right, not the date of issue. Snow Village began with the Mountain Lodge, Gabled Cottage and the Inn and are made of CERAMIC. The collection consists of over 225 pieces, including accessories.

The "Heritage Village" Collection actually consists of several different villages and then some sub-collections within each village. It all started with the PORCELAIN Dickens Village in 1984 of quaint houses depicting the time of Charles Dickens and relates to the stories that he wrote. It has such pieces as The Cottage of Bob Cratchit & Tiny Tim, The Old Curiosity Shop, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield and Oliver Twist.

The "New England Village" started in 1986 and depicts the buildings and people of the New England area with its many churches, such as the Old North Church in Boston, lighthouses and the farm areas amongst its prize collection.

The "Alpine Village" also started in 1986 and is still pretty small with not many buildings in the entire collection. Only two are now retired. It consists of such buildings as Josef Engel Farmhouse, Bessor Bierkeller, Grist Mill and the St. Nicholas Kirche Church.

The "Christmas in the City" collection started in 1987 and is set in the 30's and 40's and consists of such pieces as the Palace Theatre, Toy Shop & Pet Store, Ritz Hotel, Dorothy's Dress Shop, Wongs, and a rare limited edition - St. Mark's Church.

The "North Pole" is the newest collection starting in 1990 and is probably the hottest collection at this time. It consists of Santa's Workshop, the Reindeer Barn, Elf Bunkhouse, Neenee's Doll & Toy Shop and North Pole Post Office.

The "Little Town of Bethlehem" was issued in 1987 and is a set of twelve pieces.

Each Village consists of numerous houses and shops along with a number of accessory pieces for each of the villages. Each year new building and accessories are introduced. Retirement of different pieces each year causes their value to increase tremendously.

Some collectors collect strictly because they love them, some because they relate to some of the buildings and others because they have a PASSION for them. Still others collect for their increased value, profit and/or for all of the reasons stated.

Some on this BB collect Snowbabies, Waterglobes, Music Boxes and almost anything that is manufactured by Department 56.