Notes on Hawthorne Village® from Family Christmas Online^TM

Some time after the introduction of Dept. 56's Snow Village®, the folks who run the Bradford Exchange introduced the Hawthorne Village® line of collectible villages. Most of the villages resemble the Dept. 56 Heritage Village Collection® series in several ways, including similar subject matter (at first), similar scales, and similar finishes. Though the earliest villages seemed to be mostly porcelain, some of the later villages depend more on resin. Resin structures usually allow more fine detail to be shown. They also rely on painted-on finishes (rather than the "glazed-in" finishes of most Dept. 56® buildings).

The Hawthorne Village collections that have been introduced in the last several years tend to draw inspiration from

• The work of popular artists like Thomas Kinkade or Norman Rockwell, or
• From classic shows like It's a Wonderful Life or Mayberry, RFD or
• From classic American brand names like John Deere®, or Coca Cola®, or
• Other examples of American icons, too numerous to mention.

Unlike Dept. 56, which tends to produce dozens of individual items for about a half-dozen "series," Hawthorne Village tends to produce about a half-dozen items each for dozens of "collections." The following table shows samples from several different collections.

From the Thomas Kinkade Lamplight Village® (current)	From	From the Poor Richard's Colonial America collection (1996)

From the John Deere® collection (current)	From the Coca Cola® series (current)

Hawthorne Village® has also contracted Bachmann to produce On30 trains to go with their towns. Frequently, Hawthorne Village will start a "collection" featuring some popular theme, such as a Thomas Kinkade® painting. Then they will introduce a train that also features the same theme.

As examples, the Thomas Kinkade® paintings that inspired one of their most popular village collections are also featured on their most popular On30 train set. The photo to the right shows reader Larry Farnsworth's Thomas Kinkade®/Hawthorne Village® village and train. This train is almost identical to the Dept. 56 #52710 train (which is no longer made), except for the paint job. However, as you can see in the "thumbnail" picture of other trains below, some of the other trains are very different (especially once you get past the locomotive).

The Subscription Plan

How many issues are in each collection? At least four. But for very popular sets, Hawthorne Village may keep issuing new pieces as long as new orders for the sets keep coming in. You can cancel the subscription whenever you want, and even get your money back on pieces you've already bought up to a year later, so you're not really "stuck" buying things you don't want. In fact, I get many more contacts from readers looking to complete a collection than from folks looking to sell or return something they don't want.

"Super Sets" = In late 2008, Hawthorne Village® made it possible to buy the first three "issues" of some of its most popular trains and towns all at once, so you could have at least enough of the town to set out or at least enough of the train to run. Several of those trains and towns are still available that way.

Hawthorne Village Scales

If you click on this photo of some of the "Lamplight Village" accessories, you will see that the people are well-detailed but small. In fact, the little painter, who looks a bit larger than the other figures, probably came from a different set - sorry I get my accesories mixed up sometimes.

Hawthorne Village Keeps Growing

Nowadays it's all I can do to list the most popular collections, but I try to keep on top of it. Here are a few of the pages we maintain.

• Hawthorne Village Trains - This was the first page we posted in 2004. Many trains have come and gone since then, but a few of the most possible are still available.

• Thomas Kinkade-Inspired Trains and Towns - Hawthorne Village brings the art of Thomas Kinade into three dimensions. This page features Hawthorne Village's most popular train collection and village.

• Other Holiday Villages - I started this page because Hawthorne Village started adding new collections faster than I could put up individual pages for them. Includes collections inspired by "The Andy Griffith Show," It's a Wonderful Life, classic 50's business designs including the Golden Arches and Sinclair dinosaur icons, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, M.I. Hummel, and many more.

• Trains and Villages for Every Season - Hawthorne Village trains and towns for St. Patricks' day, July Fourth, and many more holidays.

• John Deere Villages - Towns and accessories inspired by the American heartland and John Deere's classic "look and feel."

• Coca Cola Trains and Accessories - Train and town collections inspired by the classic Coca Cola Christmas art of the mid-1900s.

• Halloween Trains and Towns - Halloween trains and towns inspired by imagery from M&Ms®, John Deere®, "The Simpsons®," the Disney® Villains, Pirates of the Carribean®, Nightmare before Christmas®, "Winnie the Poo®," and many other sources, from the creepy to just-plain-fun, including a brand-new collection inspired by the classic song "Moster Rock."

Conclusion

In the meantime, try to keep the family involved in any decisions about season trains or towns - that's the way the tradition started over a century ago, and the best way to keep it, not only alive, but also healthy. :-)

And contact us with any questions or suggestions you have in the meantime.

Paul and Shelia Race

www.familychristmasonline.com