This being the start of the final weekend before Christmas, I thought that it might be fun to show off some items generally considered part of seasonal displays by many families and often at least peripherally associated with our hobby: the classic Christmas Village.
I know a few such were seen in the recent thread devoted to the trains around the Christmas tree. However, I would speculate that there are likely many, many more to be seen particular among the older hobbyists here, where mounting such displays were often an old family tradition. I know from visiting the homes of those in my operating group over the past few weeks that most of them (or their wives) have set up rather elaborate such displays either under the tree, or on a nearby table.
I am aware that there are a number of companies that offer "themed" ceramic buildings for such villages, providing for a wide diversity of items to illustrate. That said, would readers care to post images of their Christmas, or Snow Villages, particularly a favorite individual unusual, unique, or vintage building? The idea is not so far removed from our usual layout images on WPF that we can't have some fun with this. If you do post an image please indentify the maker and for any very old, or rare examples, how about the year and place they were made (often some were imported), if known?
I'll start this off with an image of the Dept. 56 structure that adorns the top of my entertainment center this Christmas. It's intended to replicate 3159 W. 11th Street in Cleveland, OH, the home of Ralphie from the epic holiday tale, "A Christmas Story", my favorite movie. Look for the "Leg Lamp" in the front window! I created a small diorama for it to sit on; mimicking the home's surrounding property seen in the film.
CNJ831
Cool thread. I will snap some pics of what I have around the tree while my wife recovers a bit with a nap(suffered a broken back a week and a half ago). Most is department 55 from kohls but a few are from Lowes. Not as elaborate as the original poster but this is only the second year for the village. Back in a few with pics;
alco's forever!!!!! Majoring in HO scale Minorig in O scale:)
That is a good looking display set up ...
We have somewhat of that type, the only difference being that we set up under the tree. What we have here is a typical scene that I've seen in our neighbourhood...guy trying to rouse someone in the house to come out and help him with the tree...which he put inside the car...don't ask why he did this--it just happened
House in question is a Lemax with a Corgi model BMW325i (Made in Gt. Britain) in front.
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
OK, we have shoved the trains out of the way. My Christmas layout consists of 11 structures, all from the same collection; "Thomas Kinkade's Village Christmas". I actually inherited the structures from my father, who had no room to take them with him when he moved out of his condo and into an assisted living facility. The layout is 4 x 6. I vary the placement of the structures every year, this is the set up for this year. From left to right, we start with the view down "West Street".
Acoss the front of the layout is Depot Street.
And this is Church Street on the other side of the layout, looking toward the Christmas Tree Sales lot.
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
These are very creative. Love the leg lamp. It's a major award!
- Harry
Major award, thats great! "fraageelay, must be french"
Jon
Sometime ago I started to collect and display during the Christmas season "Dicken's Village" by Department 56. We now use both the living and dining rooms. Can you spell "obsession." we do enjoy it, but I must admit the house looks kind of barren and desolate when everything gets packed away in January. By the way, the wife collects "Halloween Village', so that display, almost as large, is up during October.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
My wife has a number of the Dickens Village pieces, and I would love to build a semi-serious scale model railroad with it. I have some On30 (actually Oe) trains which will work okay. They are European models instead of English, but NOBODY who sees it would know the difference, and the time period is about right.
The hard part is finding Victorian era O scale (or S scale) figures. If anyone knows a source, please let me know.
BTW, I realize the Dickens Village structures are caricatures (I call it selective compression:-) and not scale models, but they do have a certain charm for some people, including me. Unfortunately, the figures and some accessories are so grossly oversized, they detract from the effect.
These are some great photos, and perfect since I've just started building something like this.