Pages

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

We Went for Muffins

We went for blueberry muffins last week (more on this later) and to see a unique village called The Enchanted Village which can only be visited at this very special time of year. It's inside a furniture warehouse in Avon, MA, and admission is free. 
As if that wasn't a special treat in itself, we were welcomed by a trio of singing penguins. This wasn't our first time visit as we first visited five years ago. As with most things, the village was shut down for several holiday seasons during the pandemic.
In 8,000 square feet of yuletide scenes, The Enchanted Village has 18 vignettes of all young children, 59 mechanical figurines total. It's only open to the public from late November until January 1 in Avon, MA. After that, it's set-up is closed to the public until the next holiday season.
Here's the backstory . . . This village was originally named the Enchanted Village of St. Nicolas, and was created in 1958 when Boston-based department store, Jordan Marsh, commissioned a Bavarian toy maker to create 28 fully decorated holiday scenes with 250 magically animated figures. 
The figures were depictions of life-size children in a quaint recreation of a Victorian-era village during the Christmas season in a simpler time, without the hustle of today. Assorted scenes show children wrapped in scarves and wearing warm clothing, as they are working in stores, trimming trees, delivering presents, selling newspapers, playing in a band.
At its peak, the display consumed an entire floor of Boston's first department store founded in the 1860s. Scenes were also spotlighted in the store's display windows. Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, the Enchanted Village was displayed in the flagship store. A trip to see the village became a New England tradition, until Jordan Marsh closed the display in 1972. 
In the early 1990s, the display was briefly returned, but Jordan Marsh closed in 1998 after being purchased by the Macy's chain of department stores. The new owners had no interest in the village and sold it  to the City of Boston which used it as a City Hall Plaza display until 2006. The city stopped displaying the village when the cost became too great and in 2009 put it up for auction. Unfortunately, not all of the figures had survived during the years.
That's when Jordan's Furniture (no relation) another Massachusetts-based retailer, came to its rescue. Its president and CEO Eliot Tatelman remembered traveling from his Newton, MA, home to see the village. Based on those childhood memories, he purchased the surviving pieces of the vintage mannequin display from the city of Boston at auction for $140,000, and had the remaining collection restored to its former glory. 
When Tatelman bought the Enchanted Village, it included only 21 original facades/rooms, and approximately 80 figures. Many parts had been lost including an 8-set Lionel train electric train that previously was a central part of the display.
Everything now on display is original with no added facades or figures. According to Tatelman, shown in the above display, his team updated the mechanicals and refurbished (not replaced) all the original facial features, original hair, and all the original clothes on the mannequins. 
About Those Muffins . . . The holiday village wasn't the only attraction at Boston's Jordan Marsh department store, it's where a blueberry muffin became a top-seller.

Muffins from a department store weren't that unusual years ago when, like many similar grand department stores of that era, Jordan Marsh had an on-site cafe/bakery. It served shoppers sweet treats and the ever-popular cake-like blueberry muffins were topped with crunchy sugar crystals.

Their popularity continued despite the store's closing. In 1998, the store's head baker, John Pupek, who had been baking at Marsh's since 1961, opened a Brockton, MA, bakery called (ready or not) the Jordan Marsh Muffin Co. It turned out thousands of blueberry muffins weekly, closing in 2004 when Pupek retired. He later sold the recipe to Montilio’s Baking Company in Boston which now provides pre-baked and packaged muffins to Jordan's Furniture at the Avon, MA location.
These treats are seasonal, just like the Enchanted Village. They're available for single purchase or in one of these six-packs, which we purchased — the cost was $13.
If you're not in the area, and a blueberry muffin aficionado, you can order an 8-pack with free shipping, but the price is way more $$$, even with 2 more included. 

23 comments:

Barbara Rogers said...

How delightful to see these restored maniquins. Love the penguins...especially with you! And I've had those muffins, somewhere. So good!

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Thank you for the interesting history info. Fun place to visit.

I remember shopping at Jordan Marsh.
Grover Cronins in Waltham had a similar holiday display that folks visited. It was a tradition to go there as a family. As I recall, the display wasn't always the same.

gigi-hawaii said...

That's a lot of muffins and a bargain for $13. Enjoy! Love the exhibit and you are lucky to be able to cross state lines without taking a plane as we in Hawaii would have to do.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Good to hear that the Enchanted Village has survived - along with those blueberry muffins. Wishing you a Happy Christmas!

MadSnapper said...

Hubby and I both love blueberry muffins! And he would not want to walk through this but I would love to and would probably spend several hours because there's just so much to look at. It's quite amazing

Sandra said...

This is truly a treasure! It's simply beautiful.

Sandi said...

😊 those muffins look fabulous, well worth the exorbitant cost!

Marcia said...

That's way too much money to spend on muffins. Glad you got some cheaper. Looks like an interesting spot to visit some yuletide.

photowannabe said...

Those figures are quite amazing. The facial features are beautiful. I can't believe that the place is free either...That's amazing in this day and age.
Wish I could see it. I know I would be a "MadSnapper" too.
Blueberry muffins...yum...
Sue

Emma Springfield said...

This looks like my kind of place!

Bijoux said...

I knew right away when I began reading that the Enchanted Village must have been a department store display. All of our department stores had those back in the day. They were magical and a favorite memory for so many. It’s where we would go see Santa as well.

Rita said...

Reminds me of when we were kids! Every year Dayton's department store in downtown Minneapolis had windows with displays all around the building. Families came down at night to go around--window to window--to see the moving displays. I love the theme of these! And a visit to Santa was up on the top floor. What fun to see! :)

Ludwig said...

Thank you for taking me along. I can almost taste the muffins. Happy holidays to you!

Anvilcloud said...

It looks … um … enchanting.

Polly said...

mmm those muffins look delicious. The Enchanted Village looks just that, enchanting, my kind of place. I love the singing penguins. The vignettes are brilliant, they look so life like.

Vee said...

Very interesting. I know nothing about the Enchanted Village, but Jordan Marsh Blueberry muffins are fantastic. 🫐

Lowcarb team member said...

What a great place to visit, it must have been fun to see singing penguins.
Love the photograph of the both of you.

Merry Christmas Wishes.

All the best Jan

Eggs In My Pocket said...

oh my goodness.........everything looks so festive and cheerful!
Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a blessed new year!

Rob Lenihan said...


That Christmas display is fantastic! And what an incredible story. I'm so glad that at least some of those figures survived.

Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas to you and yours!

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Miriam makes a very good blueberry muffin. In fact she made a batch yesterday and delivery was right to the plate. With mid morning coffee there is nothing better. All the best for the holidays, Beatrice and a very happy New Year. David

LL Cool Joe said...

Looks like a magical place to visit and those muffins sure look good!

William Kendall said...

Quite a collection!

baili said...

while reading your post above my heart got bit heavy but this sharing made me smile :) thank you for sharing your remarkable visit to this delightful unique city my friend .i truly enjoyed the each single glimpse and loved learning how this city moved hand to hand until now when someone took great care of it .
beautiful idea and so nicely displayed !