Department 56

One Christmas evening, a group of friends set off to enjoy a dinner of celebration at a small country inn nestled in a quiet river town. As they rounded a bend in the road, they saw the small, old-fashioned village decorated for the holidays. The lights, like fairies, glowed and sparkled amid the freshly fallen snow. All evening, the conversation was full of Christmas memories and the visions the tiny town had evoked. Amidst the jovial banter and magical memories, the idea for a lighted Christmas village was born. That spark of an idea became a reality when, in 1976, a series of six hand-painted, ceramic buildings were introduced.

Department 56 began at Bachman's, a premiere retail florist in Minneapolis. Bachman's used a numbering system to identify each of the store's departments. The number assigned to the wholesale gift imports division was, you guessed it, 56. The rest is history.

Now headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Department 56 has become a leader in the giftware, collectibles and holiday decorating industry and is best known for hand-crafted lighted villages, Snowbabies™ figurines, and an extensive line of holiday and home decorative products offering over 3,000 current items.

For your shopping convenience, these products are catalogued into categories: Villages, Snowbabies, Seasonal (Special Occasions and Holidays), and Decorational (Year-Round Decorating). For a closer look, just click on a product line below.