Snow Village / XMas

I first started collecting Dept 56 houses back in 1985 when I saw the first ones at a JC Penney when I was living in Phoenix, AZ. The attraction was immediate and all I could think was how neat it would be to collect enough of them to have a snow village. But at $30 a piece they seemed too pricey so I passed on buying any. However, back in the day when everything for Christmas would go on sale for half price on the 26th, I went back and purchased whatever they had left.

As more and more houses were added, "real estate" space started becoming more of a premium so I slowed the purchase of houses. But businesses, on the other hand, could be placed side-by-side so that part of the collection soon caught up. And necessarily every year the setup changed, but even in the years when I had purchased little, the layout would be whatever I felt both looked right and worked electrically. There is a maze of electrical wires beneath the setup. If you're wondering, I rely on an X-10 system to turn on and off the village as I use several electrical outlets.

For the most part, the houses and businesses are part of Dept. 56's Snow Village collection with a couple of downtown pieces from their Christmas in the City. I have a number of Dicken's Village pieces, but they're only displayed in some years and not as a part of the main village. But the figurines are another matter. Like many other collectors who build large villages, I find the figurines for the Snow Village completely out of scale. Some of these people at scale are 15 feet tall! So I use the figurines of the other Dept. 56 collections which are actually made of porcelain. The scale is a much better fit. But I do not limit myself to genuine Dept 56 figurines. Many other collections have appeared with figurines in the same proportions. 

The Galleries

Dept 56 Snow Village Gallery

Pictures of various years of my Snow Village.

Dept 56 Snow Village Gallery II

Pictures of my Snow Village now displayed on shelves.