Did the UK ever succumb to the 90s US craze for Christmas villages?

[Swalwey]

I’m British and live in the UK but was born and grew up in North America. In the 1990s my parents, along with many others, got swept up by the fashion for Christmas villages - little painted ceramic houses produced by Department 56 (I know Lemax was another brand) that lit up from the inside. They have lots of characters/figurines and lots of different themes - New England, Dickens, North Pole and so on. It was quite obviously a gimmick, sold as ‘collectors’ items’ but mass produced and as far as I know never gained any value.

My DF always liked toys, so one of the villages he created had a train track - complete with tunnel - and a stream of running water. It was spectacular but it made everyone need to pee 😂. One year I replaced all the characters with the Simpsons, he was very miffed.

They bought so many of them that they rotated their display year on year and when they died, my 3 siblings and I each had to take heaps of them and had enough to create multiple villages of our own.

My DCs were only little when my parents passed away, and the Christmas village is part of their heritage, so it’s important to them that we have our own Xmas village every year. But OMG the hassle - storing it, setting it up, putting it away. On the one hand this brings back lovely memories of my crazy folks, but on the other it reminds me of how they spent so much money on crap, useless things, when I was struggling as a student, barely able to eat and they never gave me anything because all their spare money went on buying these silly houses.

So this got me wondering whether they were ever a thing over here? Anyone else has Xmas village memories, or is it just me? None of my UK friends had them growing up.🤷🏼‍♀️

I've never heard of them

ive not heard of them but oddly habe a little Harry Potter shop thing that lights up from the inside and adore it - I’d love a little Christmas village

I've seen them in a garden centre for the past few years, but not (I think) with the collecting aspect. Maybe I missed that, but didn't look too closely as they were much too elaborate (and big) for me to consider buying one. Try Googling for UK.

We had a couple of those villages, I’ve still got a few of those houses. my mum loves them and so do I.

My parents had a collection of light up Christmas houses in the early 2000's - more of a hamlet than a village! I remember there were big displays of them in garden centres and they would buy a new one each year.

We had them! I've looked for the ones we used to have (maybe Woolworths sold them?) but have never came across them. We were relatively poor and I remember they cost a bit back then too. We only had maybe 6 buildings and used cotton wool as the snowy scenery.

Yes we used to get new ones at the garden centre every year and make scenes, but my parents were big into Christmas. I don't recall many of my friends having them. My parents still have 3 or 4 on display now but not the 15-20 they used to have.

It sounds like something that would have been sold on QVC.

I think things like that, that takes up lots of space dont really take off in the UK or Europe in general as most houses tend to be older and smaller.

Garden centres round here stock a lot of the lemax stuff. A few have pretty impressive winter village set ups in the shop. I've never known anyone own any or seen any in anyone's house but presumably people are buying them if shops continue to sell them.

My parents had one, with a church. It was made of china. That was in 1965 though.

The Range sell that kind of stuff. One friend of mine has ton of that stuff - I don’t know how she has the patience to set up the display each year!

Here you go!

I love these! I would love to get them but they’re pretty expensive and I’d want a full village display straight away. When I have a lotto win I’m having a whole room full.

TBF DD helps a lot with all the characters. But I still get to do all the grunt work. And worry that anyone visiting thinks I’m a nutter

We have some. We buy one new item per year (Lemax) and fully plan in our dotage to have a whole village with train and snowy slopes!
Have a garden centre near us which has the most amazing display of them.
Not a village but my parents had a little rotating skating pond and a carousel and still get them out every Christmas.

What, like a Diagon Alley shop, lit up? I want one.

@Firestorms these are lovely, but

Oh yeah DPs also had the skating pond!

Yes, I've got a Department 56 village. I bought it from a friend's in the 90s as she had so many houses and figures that she'd run out of room! Love it, it's nicer than the stuff you see in garden centres these days as the pieces are more detailed and beautifully painted. Setting it up is part of our family Christmas traditions.

They've got them at our local garden centre. My friend inherited one with a little train going round a track and I got one with a revolving glittery christmas tree. I saw one with sledging children going down a slope. I don't plan on buying more though. One's enough for me.

My favourite pieces are the lamp lighter with his ladder and the carol singers outside the church

Nope. I used to collect whimsies though!

Is that your village, OP?! It's making me slightly hyperventilate with the claustrophobia of it all. I can see why it might be more of a burden than a blessing.

(Whatever you do, don't say Beetlejuice three times)

They probably cost a lot more now than they did before so hopefully your parents were able to sell the rest that they don’t use anymore.

Don't know many people that would have room for those. Wasn't there a series of things called Liiliput villages though? Individual houses and cottages?