Enchanted Village

A couple of weeks ago we went to a Massachusetts furniture store see what was once called the Enchanted Village of St. Nicolas. At the entrance to the display, Bing Crosby's version of White Christmas plays and every few minutes it snows a lot of bubbles.

This display was originally created in 1958 when the Jordan Marsh Company, Boston-based retailer, commissioned a Bavarian toy maker to create 28 fully decorated holiday scenes with 250 "magically" animated figures, all of which were depictions of children.

Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, Jordan Marsh displayed the Enchanted Village in its Downtown Crossing store in Boston, MA. A trip to see the village quickly became a part of many New Englanders seasonal celebrations until 1972 when Jordan Marsh closed the display. 

The Enchanted Village remained closed from 1972 until its rebirth in 1990. When Macy's purchased Jordan Marsh in 1998, the village was sold to the City of Boston for a City Hall Plaza display.

In 2003, a lack of funding forced the village to be relocated to the Hynes Convention Center. By 2006, Boston stopped displaying the village which was put up for auction.

Massachusetts-based Jordan's Furniture purchased the surviving pieces of the Enchanted Village at auction in May 2009 and then restored the vintage collection to its former glory.

The village is now on permanent display in the retailer's Avon, MA location. It's open during the holiday season with free admission.

This was the first time we visited the Enchanted Village and we considered it among the best free holiday exhibits we've seen in many years. It's open until just after the new year. After that, the part of the warehouse where it's set-up is closed to the public until the next holiday season.