Department 56 Collectibles
Department 56 Collectibles Store
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Department Menu
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Alpine Village Accessories 12
Alpine Village Houses 6
American Pride 10
Animated Accessories 10
Books - Videos - Software 4
Brite Lite Accessories 1
Christmas In The City Acc. 31
Christmas In The City 20
Dickens Village Accessories 36
Dickens Village Houses 25
Heritage Village Accessories 16
Heritage Village Ornaments 1
Historical Landmark Series 1
Hot Properties 6
Legendary Ballpark Series 8
Lighting Accessories 25
Literary Classics 1
Little Town of Bethlehem 31
Lullababies 17
Mill Creek Series 17
Monopoly City Lights 2
New England Village Accessories 23
New England Village 16
North Pole Village Accessories 41
North Pole Village Houses 23
Seasons Bay Accessories 2
Snow And Ground Coverings 20
Snow Village Accessories 57
Snow Village Easter 4
Snow Village Halloween 50
Snow Village Houses 33
Snow Village Licensed 2
Snow Village Ornaments 1
Snow Village Vehicles 17
Snowbabies 12 Days Of Christmas 10
Snowbabies A Baby For Every Day 7
Snowbabies Display Accessories 3
Snowbabies Figurines 61
Snowbabies Guest Collection 17
Snowbabies Hinged Boxes 7
Snowbabies Lets Pretend 19
Snowbabies On The Farm 24
Snowbabies Ornaments 20
Snowbabies Starlight Games 22
Snowbabies The Gift Of Christmas 14
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Collectible Department 56
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The Tradition of Department 56 Collectibles
Ultimately, the tradition of displaying a Christmas village under the tree derives from German Nativity scenes. It had become the custom among members of the Moravian church in Germany to display a Nativity scene that incorporated aspects of the entire Christmas story. This display was called a Putz, after the German word for decorating. When the Moravians immigrated to America in the early 18th century, they brought their traditions with them. In time, the Putz evolved into a scene of the entire Village surrounding the Christmas story, incorporating scenes of everyday life. Eventually the houses of the Village changed from attempting to depict ancient Bethlehem to depicting a modern village, emphasizing the timeless nature of the Gospel. The neighbors of the Moravians in America took up the custom of displaying a village under the tree, but the emphasis changed from telling the Christmas story to depicting a village celebrating Christmas.
The first name in Village houses and accessories today is Department 56 Inc. This company began its life as the gift import department of Bachman's, an important floral company in Minneapolis. Department 56 introduced it's first village line, the Original Snow Village, in 1976. According to company legend, the decision to introduce lighted village houses came about after a group of friends who worked for Bachman's where inspired by a distant view of the small town where they had just shared a quite holiday dinner. From there, the company eventually separated from Bachman's, and grew into the corporation it is today.
Department 56's Snowbabies have their ultimate origin in small figures of the Christ child that where made in Germany as cake decorations for Epiphany. The traditional snowsuit worn by Snowbabies seems to have been suggested by those worn by Admiral Peary and Doctor Cook in their polar explorations. Not long after the exploration of the North Pole, German manufactures began making holiday figures of small children wearing snowsuits, for both the German and American markets. The name Snowbaby may be based on the name Ah-poo Mic-kaninny, or Snow Baby, given to Peary's daughter by the Greenland Eskimos. Snowbaby figures were marketed throughout the twentieth century, but waned in popularity after World War II.
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