From the Desk of Ms. Lit Town

We were honored and thrilled to be featured in a holiday themed segment of the CBS morning news over this past holiday season. Miss it? That's OK... you can check it out here:

An all new video on the Department 56 production process!

In 2020 Department 56 made a really tough decision, something that they hadn’t done in many years – they decided to retire a whole Village, the New England Village which was first introduced in 1987, and in 2021 they retired a second Village, Alpine Village, which had been offered since 1986. Oh, no, you say! Would this be a trend? Was this the start of the end of all Villages? The short answer is “no.” While our artists loved designing...

Over the years we have been asked this question quite a lot? Department 56 is an unusual name for a company, How did you come up with the name for products we have grown to know and love over the years? Where does the name come from? Let’s take a look at the history of our company and how the name came to be. Back in the early 1970s a talented floral designer named Ed Bazinet worked for a Minnesota...

  It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Lynn Maderich. Lynn was part of the Department 56 family and has designed a great number of our Village figurines for over 20 years. Lynn was also a gifted painter in the fine arts and won several awards including many for her favorite subject, horses. She was a perennial winner of Blue Ribbons at our Minnesota State Fair - I think every time I met with her she...

Sit back and take a virtual tour of our Village showroom at the Department 56 offices in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. You'll see the latest in the Original Snow Village, Dickens' Village Series, North Pole Series, and more. Look for some inspiration the next time you decide to setup a Village display at your home.