Department 56

In my first blog post, I mentioned a line of ceramic buildings from Department 56 . These buildings were what started it all for me. It was the beginning of my fascination with dolls and all things miniature. As a student (meaning no money), I admired them and gazed upon all the intricate details of the village settings in store displays. I took delight in all the little scenes that were created in the groupings of little people among the snowy landscape. I coveted them like I had never coveted anything before.

Today I will go into more detail about my Department 56 collection. Not only do I own various building that light up from within, but I also have many accessories from the Department 56 line that help create a miniature city decorated for the Christmas holiday season. These accessories include people such as city sidewalk shoppers, a vehicle wrapped up in a ribbon bow, street lamps that actually light up, many types of trees and other landscape greenery, and powdery snow.

Department 56 features several series of villages. Alpine Village Series, Dickens’ Village Series, New England Village Series, and North Pole Series are the names of a few of the collections. The series that I love and collect is called Christmas in the City. I have also added a few things from some of the other series but Christmas in the City has been my main focus. Do I need to explain why I chose this particular collection? I think the name says it all. Christmas is that magical time when we dress up buildings and trees in lights and colorful ornaments. It contains those moments when the fresh white powdery snow blankets everything in the city. It also encompasses the excitement of kids looking forward to the magical day.

Speaking of magic, I would like to share some of my favorite pieces from my collection and describe some of the details that make them so enjoyable.

Here is an overview picture of my village display:

This is my own personal photograph of my collection.

In the front row, from left to right, there is a corner bookstore, old-fashioned style house, and frozen pond complete with skaters. There is a car wrapped in gold ribbon that is tied up in a bow directly in front of the house. It looks like someone will be receiving an extravagant present for Christmas. In the back row of buildings, from left to right, there is a school, coffee shop, and toy store. All of these buildings are set on brick patterned streets with various types of city people interspersed among them. The people include shoppers carrying bags, a businessman carrying a briefcase and newspaper, a man walking his similarly dressed dog, and a family watching the skaters go through their paces. There is also an assortment of busy city workers such as a policeman, a group of tree trimmers, and street food vendors.

My favorite building is Jenny’s Corner Book Shop.  Here is a close-up picture:

My own personal photograph.

There is an amazing amount of detail. A building solely devoted to books is wonderful in itself, but the various features of this particular one are really fun to look at. As a whole, the shop is very colorful and is decorated with Christmas greenery. Set within the main front door, a smaller children’s door is halfway open. On the sidewalk out in front, there are shelves holding a colorful assortment of tiny books. Hanging from the building are a store sign in the shape of a book and a birdcage. All of the windows have partial openings in them to allow the light produced from a single internal light bulb to be visible. However, to me, the piece de resistance is what lies at the back corner of this shop: there is a wrought spiral iron staircase.

Another building with great features is Scottie’s Toy Shop. Here are two pictures:

My own personal photograph.

My own personal photograph.

 

 

 

Once again, this building is very colorful. The brick and window awnings are in rich tones of burgundy and blue. The shop is festively decorated with Christmas wreathes and other trimming. All of the windows have partial openings to permit light from within to be visible. There are two very cool features that come with this toy shop. The first feature is that the wrought iron bay window front is opened and contains sculpted miniature toys. There is a toy soldier, beach ball, teddy bear, and rocking horse. These miniature details are amazing. The second feature that I want to point out can be seen standing in front of the shop. It is a horse ride for children. It is beautifully painted with red, yellow, and green harness and saddle. The horse stand contains a spring coil so that the horse can bounce up and down just like a real children’s ride.

I could go on and on about the details of numerous other pieces in this collection. I have only mainly described the buildings but the people and other accessories have their own charming characteristics. I hope this close-up look has shown some of the reasons why I chose to collect from the ceramic village pieces of the Department 56 line of products.