Department 56 Christmas Villages

Collecting and Building Dept 56 Christmas Village Displays

Being the husband of a Department 56 collector, (and because I love my wife) I will not be writing anything that could be considered a complaint about the work involved with “assisting” in setting up one of these Christmas villages. I will tell you husbands, if your wives are considering embarking on a journey into the world of Department 56 be prepared. You will need lots of power tools and a degree in electrical engineering should they ever arrive at a state which is commonly considered a “collector.”

This state, of what I call Christmas insanity, at our house begins before Thanksgiving when I am designated to rearrange all the furniture, which includes the “PITA job” {Pain In The ( ! ) job} of relocating and reconfiguring the satellite and audio/video cabling for all the entertainment equipment, you know, the Amplifier, stereo, DVD player, satelite reciever, VCR, surround sound system and a crap load of wires. 

I might also add that the “chosen” display area is never the same, so its not like I can just move the stuff from one place and then back each year. This year I had to move the furniture twice because the couch was too close to the “traffic path” and you couldn’t see the antique desk, (hell I could see it, I moved it there…without tripping over the couch I might add) apparently my Feng Shui was off the compass.

This portion of the job must be completed before Thanksgiving Day,.......FOOTBALL. 

And so it, (the Christmas Season), begins.

Decorating for Christmas did not used to be this way. When I first met my wife she had two or three of these cute little porcelain lighted houses that she had received as gifts. I noted, (my first mistake) that of all of her Christmas decorations, these Department 56 houses were seemingly her most prized possessions. Somewhere in the house they would be prominently displayed, and not just sitting on a shelf. They would be carefully arranged around some type of craft made pond with trees and toy reindeer, all set atop white flocking with plastic snow.

So being the wonderful guy I am, I decided to buy her a new piece each year, (mistake number two), that was in 1994. Since then I have gotten quite an education in Department 56 lore, collecting and most especially the importance of retired pieces. Now these little houses typically sell, depending upon the size, configuration and village association, for anywhere between $45.00 and $130.00 as demonstrated to the right. (yes, it’s a knick knack)

Once a particular piece is “retired,” the sale price takes on a whole different aspect in profit margin theory. And that’s a whole other hub, but for our purposes here "retired" means they just dont make'em anymore.

I might also at this juncture remind you that I really love my wife, a lot. Because if you did the math, you might be thinking okay he’s writing about 18 pieces, and you ordinarily would be correct. Two or three to start, adding one piece per year for 15 years that’s about 18, no big deal, well no, not including accessories, figurines, trees, ponds, lighted street lamps and I could go on and on, my wife, the collector, now enjoys more than three times that number. All of which are now “retired” pieces, I don’t even want to think about their value, but I do know how much I spent encouraging this “hobby."

Did I happen to mention there are also seven Christmas trees in our house? Yes I said "in" and only one of them is under four feet tall. The other six trees are, well, taller. So you can begin to see where this is headed. It should also be noted the number of trees above does not include the lighted trees in the bathroom, on the bar, or the revovling tree in the center of the village. So the real number is ten lighted christmas trees in the house, but I have been informed, (by my Wife) that any tree under 3 feet tall does not count.

Now I’m not sure were these Christmas rules come from, but apparently I unknowingly have been breaking the metaphysical laws of the Christmas Season for quite a while. Silly me, believing that only one tree per household was enough. So now, because I love my wife, I redefine the uses of Ohm’s Law to get enough power throughout the house to drive the 40+ some strings of lights woven on these trees.

The most elaborate Christmas Village set up was a multi-tiered, (this is where the power tools come in guys), landscape of about 200 square feet of village taking up about one half of a 16 ft x 33 ft living room. The base of the “landscape” is a combination of eight hand-built platforms of varying heights and shapes. Remember the electrical engineering degree? Underneath is a “network” 13 something extension cords, most of which I customized, since a normal extension cord is not exactly designed for the uses my wife devises in her “arrangements.” She has a degree, but it's in, "I know he'll do it."

It takes five different switches to turn on all these lighted beauties, including two late additions that my son has to crawl under the tables to turn on. All in all there are about 50 or so items that require power. Not including (gulp) what I have added. I must divulge, not wanting to be left out as a collector of sorts, I joined the party, with electric trains, 5 sets this year. Hell, I already got all the tools.

And yes, I also must admit, once it’s finally finished, which will most likely be New Years Eve, (Yes I know I said New Years, that’s the point), it really looks great. Just in time to take down. I expect, following this publishing, the county will require me to pull a permit before construction begins next year.

But guys, this is a great way to ask Santa for all those power tools… or your wife for that other thing you have been wanting.

Below I am going to post a series of pictures that reflect…the urban expansion of the North Pole and it’s subsidiary suburb of a New England Village. Major expansion began in 2001 but for our purposes here, which is to demonstrate the progression from normal collector to levels of insanity attaining the Christmas level, the pictures below are from 2007 through 2010 and this year’s still, (as of this publishing) incomplete construction. Also included below are a few snapshots of the Department 56 display at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, which I have been informed is apparently a concept design model for next year and too which my wife believes, I am to equal. Let's just forget Disney has a team of imagineers, artists and craftsmen, unlimited resources and all damn year to get it done.

But then again.......I love my wife......I just keep saying it over and over and over......

Great you made it all the way down here. Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

If you are wondering, which items are the most valuable to Department 56 collectors. In this collection take a look at pictures 15 and 17 from the slide show, you will see a set of seven houses. If you look closely (use the zoom feature) you will see each house has a wreath with a letter in the center. Each letter is the initial of the establishment. This wreath decoration, in the North Pole Series, was only made once. These pieces were introduced beginning in May 1991 through December of 1992 in limited production runs and were retired by 1996 with the exception of one which was retired in 1999.

The Pieces Are:

Neenee's Dolls & Toys

Orley's Bell & Harness Supply

Rimpy's Bakery

Tassy's Mittens

Hassel's Wollies

Post Office

Obbie's Books

Letrinka's Candy

Elfie's Sleds & Skates

When arranged in the correct order the initials inside the wreathes spell

NORTH POLE.

Individually to the collector that is missing one or more of the letters, their value is skyrocketing. The value of a full set, according to some dealers, is in the thousands of dollars, though to my little collector these pieces are priceless.

Well, Christmas season 2011 has rolled around and construction again begins. Early this year because of an influx of expected travelers from the frozen North. The County, as expected, has denied our request for permitting so the North Pole’s urban sprawl is under a temporary expansion moratorium. This year’s display occupies a very conservative amount of floor space compared to other years, granting a bit more living space and a thankful reduction in the power bill given that there is only landscape for just one set of trains, Though the other sets will be located around some of the "seven" Christmas trees. The pictures are below.

To read other articles by Readytoescape related to Christmas and the Holidays click the links below. For a review of all Readytoescape's work published on Hubpages click here.

The Santa Suit – Part One

The Santa Suit – Part Two

The Holidays in Florida

WANT TO BE A COLLECTOR?

And you have enjoyed my Writing, you might be interested in reading my New Novel

THE SHOPKEEPER

Check the video below. (for the full effect, let it load completely, turn up the volume)

To get my new 5 Star rated Thriller Novel ‘The Shopkeeper’ just released in trade paperback click here

If you prefer E-book click here to download the book in any digital format.

Sometimes I have to wonder where I found the time to write.