Enchanted Village

Papa took the day off and we met Josh, Missy, Johnny, and Ben at the Enchanted Village. The "Village" used to be displayed in the windows of Jordan Marsh in Downtown Boston. After being stored for years, Jordan's bought it. Here is some history:

Once, called the Enchanted Village of St. Nicholas, the holiday display was originally created in 1958. At that time, Jordan Marsh Company commissioned a Bavarian toy maker to create 28 fully decorated holiday scenes with 250 “magically” animated figures.

The Spirit of Boston’s Holidays

Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, Jordan Marsh displayed the Enchanted Village in its Downtown Crossing store. The heart-warming display quickly became an integral part of New England’s seasonal celebrations. Until 1972, when Jordan Marsh closed the display, a trip to The Village was a traditional event.

A Tradition in Jeopardy

The Enchanted Village remained closed from 1972 until its rebirth in 1990. Then, in 1998, when Macy’s purchased Jordan Marsh, 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 move to the Hynes Convention Center. By 2006, Boston stopped displaying The Village altogether. In 2009, the Village was put up for auction.

A Local Custom Continues

Jordan’s Furniture purchased the surviving pieces of the Enchanted Village at auction in May of 2009 and restored the vintage collection to its former glory. The surviving collection includes 59 mechanical figurines and 18 vignettes.

They have fake snow blowing around and Christmas music piped in. It is wonderful! It is too dark to get decent pics in there, but here are 2.

Kate and Johnny