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Ok, actually, they introduced it in May 2009, back when fans were dismayed about the flurry of home runs being hit in the stadium due to the mysterious "right porch jet stream". Now, as the Yankees have celebrated a 27th World Championship trophy, it just may shine a little spotlight on this piece, recreating the facade of the new stadium. I happened to pick up the classic Yankees Stadium piece a while back, after quite a long search. I suspect it will become even scarcer now. Here are pictures of the two stadiums:

The History Channel 's comprehensive website has dedicated an entire section to " Christmas ". It's a good read, and a great reference for those of us who like to delve into the particulars about Christmas events, trivia, specifics and traditions. Pages within this section include videos on " Santa Claus ", " Christmas Trees ", and the " History of Christmas ". Other content includes a page focusing on " Christmas Around the World ", " The Christmas Truce of 1914 ", as well as quite a bit else.

A friend on Facebook posted a link about a play he saw in Hartford on Friday night. I've personally seen the wonderful version of " A Christmas Carol" at the Hartford Stage , but I had never even heard of this. By the description, it seems like a very touching version. From the Facebook event page: In Ebeneeza: A Hartford Holiday Carol , HartBeat Ensemble tells a local story of the old miser’s path to rediscovering humanity. Set in present day Greater Hartford, Ebeneeza seeks to provide some current answers to the classic question of Dickens’ enduring morality play; how does a heart become so hardened...read more about " Ebeneeza ", brought to you by the HartBeat Ensemble . Upcoming dates: The Mark Twain House & Museum: (FREE!) Friday, December 11th at 7:30 PM Saturday, December 12th at 7:30 PM Sunday, December 13th at 2:00 PM The West Indian Social Club: (FREE!) Friday, December 18th Saturday, December 19th at 7:30 PM Playhouse on Park: $20, $15 for Seniors

Brian Jones, owner of the "A Christmas Story" house, and http://www.redriderleglamps.com , let me know that he's just posted the new artist renditions of new pieces for Department 56's "A Christmas Story" series. He added that "All three of this year's new pieces revolve around the police that come to help Flick get unstuck from the flag pole.  The police car in particular should allow collectors to complete the flag pole scene.  I also have listed to exclusive re-releases for this season: The Perfect Tree and The Santa Float.  I expect to have all these in stock in late September or earlier October." Exciting news!

Will Enesco Save  Department 56 ?  - Written by Kristin Singhasemanon of the Satin Button After only three months at the helm, it is still early to assess how Enesco’s ownership will impact Department 56 in the long run.  The good news, of course, is that  Dept. 56  was rescued from the struggling  Lenox  before going under altogether.  From a retailer’s perspective, I was happy to hear that Enesco would be the new owner.  Enesco has been a leader in the gift industry for many years.  They have built a solid foundation from which they are rapidly expanding – let’s just hope they’re not expanding  too  rapidly. Department 56 was not the only company to be acquired by Enesco this year.  They have also added giftware lines Charming Tails, Gund®, Boyds®, Our Name is Mud®, Country Artists®, Bob Olszewski’s Gallery of Light™, My Soul’s Window™, and The Potter’s Shed™ by Michael Macone.  Whew!  That is quite a list.  Some are very popular and well-known, while others are less widely-known bra

Robert Zemeckis' Epic 3-D version of "A Christmas Carol" starring Jim Carrey in the title role, won't be hitting your local theatres until November 6th, 2009, but you'll be able to start feeling the experience when the special "A Christmas Carol" train tours train stations around the country. The "A Christmas Carol" train tour's train schedule is available on the official website. It's hard not to be excited about this version after reading a recent review of the upcoming Disney IMAX trailer from Hollywood Outbreak : "We had the chance to sit in on a twenty minute presentation of scenes from the upcoming holiday film DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL in IMAX 3-D and can only say that, visually, it is nothing short of AMAZING. Directed by ROBERT ZEMECKIS (THE POLAR EXPRESS) and starring JIM CARREY, COLIN FIRTH and GARY OLDMAN, this is one very cool holiday present." Inevitably, comparisons will be made and expectations set for this f

Father's Day this year had many special moments, including finally getting my hands on the new 2009 Department 56 catalog. There were a few items we saw which caught our attention, one of them being the inclusion of "A Christmas Story" in the catalog. We'll definitely be looking to add the accessory where Ralphie is sliding down the slope when visiting Santa Claus. That looks like a classic. Rachael, Liam and I also visited an independent coffee roaster in Bethel, CT: The owner of Redding Roasters , Bill O'Keefe, was very gracious and accomodating.

Memorial Day of 2009, like all memorial days, makes me think of those who have passed. Not only in my own life, but all of those whom I have never heard the names of or have never seen video footage of. The ones who passed with incredible silence. All those who have passed without gracing the cover of People or Entertainment Weekly, whose name did not make it onto a memorial wall, who hadn't ever logged onto Facebook or Twitter. This Memorial Day I am thinking of the people who have been taken without warning, or taken early, or taken when they were supposed to have gone. Of course I am thinking of those who died in the midst of conflict, or who died in honor. Even those who have died in disgrace or fear deserve to be remembered. On this and all future Memorial Days let us remember all that have passed, and pray that their next journey is one of comfort, redemption and joy.

Enesco, Inc. , out of Illinois, has successfully completed the acquisition of our beloved Department 56 company. Enesco is the current owner of other well known specialty giftware lines such as Boyd's, Gund, Beatrix Potter, Jim Shore, and the also recently acquired Charming Tails. Enesco itself is also recently out of bankruptcy. Enesco hired 75 of the Dept 56 staffers, but it is unknown what will come out of this purchase creatively. Enesco was quoted as saying “Department 56’s stable of core brands, enormously talented pool of individuals, expansive retail footprint and reputation are much-coveted assets in the gift industry.”   Enesco, LLC, is a global leader in the giftware and home and garden décor industries. Serving more than 44,000 customers worldwide, Enesco distributes products to a wide variety of specialty card and gift retailers, home décor boutiques, mass-market chains and direct mail retailers. With subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Hong Kong, E

In a news article I found on the St. Paul Business Journal , a former Dept. 56 executive has launched his own giftware company. From the article: "David Dewey, who helped develop the hand-crafted lighted villages and other lines that made Department 56 famous, started One Hundred 80 degrees in January 2008 with Tennessee -based designer Stephen Brown. The new giftware business already had more than $1 million in orders from retailers this year, more than triple the $300,000 in orders it had at the same time in 2008. This year, Dewey believes he’s on track to more than double the $2 million in revenue he had in 2008. Such growth is an achievement in an industry that has been taking a beating as Americans concerned about their pocketbooks turn away from discretionary spending." There is no product information available from their company website , but you can read some extended biographies on the founders. It looks like they will have a Christmas line, Halloween line and Glitt

I recently came across a post about a company called " Mini Things " - headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and featuring the hand-crafted work of sisters Jean Lawnsdale and Lottie Clinedinst. Mini Things specializes in hand-crafted miniatures for Department 56 and other lit village displays, dollhouse miniatures as well as miniature gift items to display alone or for use in shadow boxes. Welcome to Mini Things headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The company formerly known as Jean’s Mini Things consists of two sisters—Jean Lawnsdale of Hanover, Pennsylvania and Lottie Clinedinst of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Items produced include: * dollhouse miniatures * miniature gift items * Doll Houses * Lit Villages * Room Boxes * People * Animals * Plants and Landscaping * Cafe Tables

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Blog posts here have been infrequent as of late, but it's not been due to lack of thought about the blog. It's also not because of lost interest in collecting villages, or because Department 56 has had trouble selling their luxury gift items. The main reason has been time management, or lack thereof. New responsibilities and a failure to adopt all of my old to-dos into the new, expanded list of to-dos. As part of a belated new year's resolution, I've come up with some ideas for the new direction of this blog: * Take on a brand new identity - we're going to become http://www.theholidaypost.com -- kind of a play on words, expanded topics, more diverse content, more interaction from our community of readers. * Adding a list of "featured collectibles" - unique holiday items which can be test releases for companies who may not be willing to produce a large quantity out of the gate, especially during this tight economy. * More original work from our audience: p