Dept 56

Department 56 Since there are so many beautiful things all over the world, it is no wondering that many people become collectors. They usually collect things that occupy a special place in their hearts or are some rare objects. With the ages passing, many rare objects usually retire from the market or just simply are destroyed and the collectors are the only ones who still own it. This is the case with many of the Department 56 products, as well. Some manufactured products are not produced any more and those who bought them earlier are the lucky ones to have them. Many people became collectors of Department 56 products, so let’s see what is behind the existence and development of this company. This company is a manufacturer of giftware and ornaments, Holiday collectibles, Snowbabies and Christmas Village collections. These products became really popular through the years and nobody does them better than Department 56. The idea to make these was born on a Christmas evening. With this celebrations occasion some friends were invited at dinner to an inn which was in a quiet and small town on the river bank. How they were going to the dinner and were crossing the town, they saw all the old-fashioned, small and decorated houses. The village was so beautiful thanks to the decorations because of the Christmas celebration. Everything in that town made them feel like in a fairytale; the lights were as fairies, were sparkled and glowed amid the white and fresh snow. This amazing view made their entire evening and at the dinner they were talking always about what they had just seen. What this little, old-fashioned and decorated village did is that it made them remember the Christmas celebrations spent earlier in their childhoods. The Christmas celebration memories with all the vision that the town had brought back made them realize what a good opportunity this could be for a business. This is what the idea to make Christmas villages was born. In 1976 the idea started to turn to reality. The Department 56 introduced six ceramic and hand-painted buildings. This is how this brand was made known, first of all thanks to the “Snow Village” collections. All the houses are dated and named on their bottom and the date shows the day when the copyright was set for that certain product. These first ceramic buildings were the Gabled Cottage, the Mountain Lodge and the Inn. With the years this collection became richer and richer, and at the moment it consists of more than 225 pieces. The company had a huge success whit these villages, because they had the same effect on people as on the owners. Many even became collectors of these villages. Department 56, since the introduction of its first products, it became the leading importer, designer and also distributor of giftware and collectibles. It is known all over the world for its lighted and handcrafted villages, which for the company’s product line are seen as a cornerstone. In order to create the products as close to reality as possible, the company made these collectibles of porcelain and all of them are hand-crafted. The villages usually are made up of a church, shops and homes reminiscent of picturesque and historical cities and towns. To complete the villages and make them more perfect, there are hundreds and hundreds of detailed and carefully made accessories used, as well. Through the year the company’s image was related to tradition and nostalgia since creative and also contemporary are the world that we can describe the designs of the Department 56 products. Many people purchase them with the purpose to create a touching and also distinctive, creative style in their homes that can be easily used to inspire gift-giving and decorating traditions. With such a good and great effect on people, it is no wondering that people have whole collections of Department 56 collectibles. With the snow villages and some other products that will be mentioned later Department 56 became known, but let’s see how the name was invented. In 1976, at the beginning, Department 56 was started as member section of Bachman’s, which was a retail company occupied with flowers. In order to identify the departments found here, it used a system with numbers. The Wholesale Gift Imports Division was assigned the name Department 56 and this how the company’s name became this. It is headquartered in MN, Eden Prairie. Over the years they introduced several other products, as the Snowbabies, home decorative and holiday product lines. In 1993 te New York Stock Exchange entered in the company’s life, when it was listed on it under the “DFS” symbol. Now the company is trading under the “LNX” symbol because in 2005 they purchased from Brown-Forman the Lenox and due to this the company’s name was changed into Lenox Group Inc. The Department 56 company became very successful over the years and since it was born, gained much popularity in the industry thank to its products that are not one of a kind at all.