A Background History of Department 56 Villages

Way back in 1971, an elderly St. Louis potter, who created and sold ceramic items that he had made in his garage, visited Bachmann's Florist in Minneapolis.  As a demo piece, he brought in a cookie jar shaped like a Victorian house and presented it to Ed Bazinet.  Ed was a giftware buyer for Bachmann's Florist and asked the potter to modify the cookie jar by cutting out the windows and inserting a light so that it could function as a nightlight.  He wanted it to glow like a real house.  Bazinet was pleased with the potter's outcome and many lighted houses were soon to follow.

Now known as the 'Original Snow Village', which was comprised of 6 different houses,  these pieces initially sold for between $150 and $200 and became an instant hit.  (Not known to many, Snow Village houses were originally made of ceramic, not porcelain, and continue to be made of ceramic to this day, just as in the originals.)  Production became overwhelming for the St. Louis potter, so Bazinet moved production to Taiwan.  This is when the line was aptly named Department 56, the number assigned to this division at Bachmann's Florist.

In 1984, Dicken's Village, and English Villages based on the classic "Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, was introduced.  These accessories and houses are made of fine porcelain which lends itself to depicting finer details.  Other Village Collections were soon to follow to include:

• New England Village
• Alpine Village
• Christmas in the City
• Snow Village Halloween
• North Pole Village
• Disney Parks Village
• Snow Frost Village
• Downton Abbey Department 56 Village (a 2014 debut)

Although Department 56 has produced several thousand different Villages and accessories, they have always enforced high-quality standards.  Each and every collectible figurine comes in a protective fitted styrofoam container and a printed cardboard sleeve. On the bottom of each house, Department 56 is sure to include the name of the piece and the year that it was copyrighted.  It is interesting to note that these dates are usually the year before their actual introduction.  Dept 56 Village pieces are constantly retired at the end of each year which causes even more of a demand by D56 collectors.

Department 56, now represented by Enesco, continues to create and produce collectible villages and figurines.  Their Snow Village Halloween series is extremely popular and this year they are introducing a Downton Abbey Collection, which is sure to be an instant hit with collectors.