One Christmas, a group of friends planned to celebrate the Holiday with a quiet dinner in StillwaterMinnesota, a peaceful village along the St Croix river. Decorated for the holidays and coated with a fresh blanket of snow, this idyllic and picturesque village captivated the friends. As they dined in a peaceful country inn, charm of the street lights sparkling on the freshly fallen snow evoked an evening of wonderful Christmas memories. The storytelling and memories were the inspiration for recreating this scene with a lighted Christmas village.
Over 30 years ago, Bachman's, a premiere retail florist in Minneapolis, used a numbering system to identify each of its departments. The wholesale gift division was Department 56.
The dream was brought to life when, in 1976, Department 56 introduced a series of six hand-painted, ceramic buildings. These premiere buildings were the foundation of the original Snow Village Series, and the rest is history.
Currently headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Department 56 is a leader in the giftware, collectibles and holiday decorating industry. They are best known for their hand-crafted lighted villages and Snowbabies™ figurines.
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