Dickens Village
Virginia Williams couldn’t stop herself.
From the houses to the trees, to the tiny people, Williams’ purchases proved it takes a shopper to build a village. When construction was completed, Williams had herself a Dickens Village as beautifully crafted as a Charles Dickens’ novel.
“Children just stand around in awe and adults go ga-ga,” Williams said from her South Hill living room, days after carefully assembling her grandiose display for this year’s holiday season.
Arranged on a 13-foot-by-5-foot plywood table built by her husband, Wilho, Williams’ hamlet has 61 lighted buildings, 151 people, 89 trees, street lamps and dozens of other accessories and snow-capped mountains. A working electric train circles through the center of town.
“There are also four dead people,” said Williams, directing her pointer to the cemetery’s tombstones.
Although there were no mountains anywhere near Victorian England (or modern-day for that matter), Williams said she likes the way her mountain backdrop frames the village. A white tablecloth and skirting cover all the electrical cords and outlets kept underneath the table.
Introduced in 1984, pieces for the village were inspired by Charles Dickens classic novels, like “A Chrismas Carol,” “Oliver Twist,” “Nicholas Nickleby,” “David Copperfield” and “Great Expectations.”
A mother of three children and grandmother of five, Williams didn’t initially set out to become the Trump of Dickens Villages. However, she admits, while shopping at the now-closed Carols and Carousels in Lincoln Heights, she always had her eye on the Dickens Village, made by Department 56.
She started by buying a church about 15 years ago.
“And then it kept growing,” Williams said.
Her pieces range in price from very affordable to as pricy as the $195 Kensington Palace. All her buildings have been retired by Department 56.
Williams said although she was disappointed when Carols and Carousels closed a few years back, it may have been the best thing for her. When the store closed, Williams ceased construction on her Dickens Village.
She knows there are other places, such as Hallmark Cards or the Internet, where Department 56 merchandise is sold, but her village already takes up a big chunk of landscape in her living room. It also takes about a week to get every miniature hay bail and train track in place.
When 2005 rolls around, it won’t be long before Williams packs up Dickens Village for another season.
“Some people say, ‘Oh, Virginia, you should leave it up all year,’ ” Williams said.