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A Livingetc report describes how Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have brought renewed attention to Christmas village displays and collectors, including fans of Department 56. The report documents personal accounts of nostalgia, community and harder-to-find secondhand pieces, but provides no audience data or sales figures to measure the trend’s scale.
Social media is giving Christmas village collecting fresh visibility, according to a Livingetc report on Department 56 fans and other creators who post miniature holiday displays online. The report describes a renewed community around the decorations, rooted in nostalgia and personal traditions, while noting that the extent of the trend is not quantified.
The report says Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have helped circulate Christmas village scenes and encouraged a younger generation to create displays. Collectors share miniature buildings and festive settings as seasonal projects, with some assembling collections over many years. Livingetc characterizes the online following as strongly devoted, but offers no platform metrics or survey data to establish how large it is.
Department 56 is a central name in the story. The report traces its Snow Village line to 1976, when Minneapolis florist Bachman’s made six miniature porcelain houses under the name The Original Snow Village. The “Department 56” name came from the company’s numbering system. The article describes the brand as widely recognized among collectors.
Collector Holly Hessler Lubrano, who posts as @villageatrois and lives in Williamsburg, Virginia, told Livingetc she has nearly 300 village pieces, most from Department 56. She began collecting after finding a piece associated with her mother’s wish list in a local secondhand market. Her display is built largely from secondhand finds, gifts and community connections, and she shares it online.
Online Displays Keep Collections in Circulation
The development matters to collectors because social posts can connect people who might otherwise enjoy the hobby privately. Livingetc reports that collectors exchange pieces and memories, and that some pass collections on when they no longer have the space or interest to display them. Online displays give those objects a new audience and can help preserve the stories attached to them.
The report also points to a practical pressure: Hessler Lubrano said she no longer spends as much time hunting for pieces because secondhand prices have risen and finds have become harder to locate. That is her observation, not a market-wide price study. For buyers and sellers, the anecdote suggests that demand may affect the availability and cost of sought-after pieces, though the report does not quantify either.
Beyond collecting, the displays reflect a broader preference for seasonal decoration with personal meaning. The report frames village scenes as a way to bring family memories and a sense of accumulated history into the home, rather than simply adding new decorations each year.
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From Putz Houses to Department 56
Livingetc traces the tradition to 18th-century Europe, where miniature Christmas buildings, known as “putz,” were made from materials such as wood and cardboard. The word derives from the German verb “putzen,” which the report translates as “to decorate” or “to clean.” The custom later traveled to the United States with Moravian immigrants and became part of a retail collectibles market.
Department 56’s 1976 Snow Village release gave the hobby a recognizable commercial line. The report also points to contemporary alternatives, including holiday houses sold by Anthropologie and Fortnum & Mason, showing that the look extends beyond one collectible brand. Its focus, however, is the collectors’ community and the way social platforms have made their displays more visible.
““My mother collected these when I was a kid. So, there’s a real sense of nostalgia.””
— Holly Hessler Lubrano, collector known as @villageatrois, speaking to Livingetc
The Trend’s Scale Remains Unmeasured
The Livingetc report documents individual experiences and visible online activity, but does not provide sales figures, social-media data or survey results. It is not clear how much collecting has grown, whether younger buyers are purchasing more village pieces, or whether the secondhand prices cited by Hessler Lubrano reflect a wider market pattern.
The report also does not include a response from Department 56 to her criticism about support for the resale market. Its account of the brand’s position as a market leader is descriptive, not supported by comparative market data in the article. Further information would be needed to establish the size and commercial effects of the renewed attention.
Collectors Continue Sharing Displays
For now, the visible next step is the annual holiday display season: collectors will continue setting up scenes and posting them across social platforms. Hessler Lubrano said her collection has grown through secondhand purchases and gifts, and that she has met other enthusiasts through sharing her work. The report does not identify a scheduled industry announcement or a specific upcoming milestone.
Whether increased visibility leads to lasting growth in sales, more formal support for resale, or a larger new generation of collectors remains to be seen. Readers interested in the hobby can follow creators’ displays, but should treat claims about rising demand or prices as individual observations unless wider market evidence becomes available.
Key Questions
What is driving renewed attention to Christmas villages?
Livingetc points to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, where collectors share their holiday scenes and connect with other enthusiasts. The report does not quantify how much the platforms have increased participation.
What is Department 56?
It is a seasonal collectibles brand whose Snow Village line began in 1976, when Minneapolis florist Bachman’s produced six miniature porcelain houses. The name came from the department number in the company’s numbering system.
How did the Christmas village tradition begin?
The report traces miniature Christmas houses, called putz, to 18th-century Germany and parts of Central and Eastern Europe. They were made using materials including wood and cardboard before the tradition reached the United States with Moravian immigrants.
Are secondhand Department 56 pieces becoming more expensive?
Collector Holly Hessler Lubrano told Livingetc that prices have risen and sought-after pieces are harder for her to find secondhand. The report does not provide market-wide pricing data, so the extent of any broader price change is unclear.
Source: rss
