The Christmas season, as commercialized as its become, also is a time to create fond memories or to indulge in a bit of nostalgia remembering your own childhood and passing on the stories and memories to another generation.
For Kay Emmons, displaying her Christmas Village collection is like a trip down memory lane, and she also uses the display to create memories with her own children and grandchildren. Emmons has a growing Christmas Village collection of close to 100 pieces.
Emmons said when she was a little girl, she and her family would travel to Goldsmith’s, a former department store in Memphis, to see its Christmas Village.
“They would have a Christmas showcase every year. It was in downtown Memphis, next to the river. And they would have villages and animated animals and characters, like of like the Kilmichael Square, but it was inside. And, that used to fascinate me,” Emmons said. “And, when I got old enough, I decided I would buy me some. I’d buy some here or there. I’d find them at an Estate Sale because they can get expensive.”
Emmons said she has three different series – New England, Snow Village and her favorite one, the North Pole -- all made by Department 56.
“I love the North Pole. The colors are so vibrant, it’s very red and very green and very bright,” Emmons said.
She said Department 56 is known for its ceramics.
“It’s a company that produces ceramics, like the ceramic angels they have are very detailed. Like in one series, there’s the Scrooge house where a younger Scrooge lives, and you can see people dancing. It’s very detailed all the way down to the door bell and the vines growing on the house. It’s perfect,” she said.
For her, it’s a trip down memory lane. Emmons said Christmas is her favorite time of the year.
“I get to relive a lot of childhood memories. Christmas is about the love of family and the love of Christ. It’s about reliving and creating childhood memories and being together,” she said.
Emmons said she not only gets to relive her own memories but make memories with her children and now her grandchildren.
She said at one time, there was a train set that went through the village but she hasn’t gotten it out and put it on display recently. But, she hopes to get more trains as well.
“I do it for the enjoyment. I love putting them up. It puts the focus on the Christmas season for me. It can get lost in all the hustle and bustle. I start putting them up right after Thanksgiving, but it’s taking me longer this year.”
She said she takes them down and packs them carefully, since they’re not in the original packaging. “Sometimes the chimneys will break and I have to do a little repair work,” Emmons said
She said the display has about 100 houses to it, and it takes time to put them all up. “It takes about a week. I managed to put them all up this year. It’s very tedious and tiring, and I like to take my time, rest and go back to it. But I love to do it, and I enjoy it. And, I get to share it with my grandboys. They really enjoy it. They’re not quite ready to put them up, but they did help put up the tree and they enjoy it too,” Emmons said.
