DEPARTMENT 56 VILLAGES

DEPARTMENT 56 VILLAGES

Department 56 builds villages that are more interesting than real cities. And, you can be the City Planner. Just collect and include the shops, buildings, houses and vehicles you would like to have in your fantasy village. You'll almost be able to see people wandering the streets.

After you've read the background of Department 56 and viewed all the samples on this page, you can go to the full collection. We've partnered with Simply Collectible so you can see more of the collection and purchase items to complete a collection or start your collection. Just click on the link at the bottom of the page.

Ever wonder why anyone would name a collectibles line Department 56? I did, so I went in search of the reason and found that it has to do with the origins of this company. In 1976, the first collection was offered by Bachman's, a retail floral company in Minneapolis, MN. Bachman's used a numbering system to identify it's departments. As it happens, the Wholesale Gift Imports Division was Departent 56. This was where the sale of these collectibles began.

Department 56 is located in Eden Prairie, MN. Their original product line was lighted snow villages, but the line has expanded to include over 3000 products. The list below tracks the chronology of these products.

1976 - Six exquisite, lighted buildings known as The Original Snow Village were introduced.
1979 - The Original Snow Village is retired and twelve new buildings are introduced and the first accessory is offered.
1984 - The Heritage Village Collection is in development. The first item offered is The Dickens Village.
1986 - The New England Village and The Alpine Village were added to The Heritage Village Collection. But, the big news was the introduction of Snowbabies.
1987 - The Heritage Village Collection is growing as Christmas In The City and Little Town of Bethlehem are offered.
1988 - The company now has 56 million in sales and a 150,000 sq. ft. warehouse.
1990 - Santa Claus joins Department 56 with the introduction of The North Pole Series to The Heritage Village.
1991 - June 25 at 5:55, the new company headquarters opens at One Village Plaza in Eden Prairie, MN.
1992 - Forstmann Little purchases Department 56.
1993 - Initial offering of Department 56 stock on the New York Stock Exchange as "DFS".
1994 - Here comes The Disney Park Village Series and Snowbunnies.
1995 - First successful marketing program known as Home For The Holidays is launched.
1996 - Department 56 gets a website.
1997 - The 10th Aniversary of Snowbabies. The Snowbabies Friendship Club and The Classic Ornament Series are introduced.
1998 - Season's Bay a late 19th century resort town is shown. It's the first year round village. Elf Land is offered as a part of the North Pole Series
1999 - First ever corporate retail store is opened at Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. Several village pieces introduced at the same time.

Department 56 retires and then offers new products each year. They say the key to their success is the combination of processes - a great idea, design, sculpting, hand-painting, detailing and packaging.

Visit the wonderful world of Department 56 by clicking on the link below.

Find Dept. 56 Villages at SimplyCollectible.com

Big Ben

Aldeburgh Music Box Shop

Steens Maple House

Tanning The Maples

Harley Davidson Manufacuturing

North Pole Village

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