Christmas Village

Opening November 13 | Memory Lane

The Christmas Village exhibition features items from the Customs House Museum’s collection.

This large collection of porcelain pieces was assembled by Jimmy and Sue Drye of Clarksville and donated to the Museum by their children in their honor.

Christmas villages originated from miniature Nativity and Noah’s Ark scenes in 18th-century Germany, evolving into elaborate “Putz” displays around the Christmas tree by the Moravian church. The German word putz means decoration, finery, or trappings. With respect to Christmas decor, it refers to elaborate decorations that Germans, and those of German descent in America, would set up beneath their Christmas trees.

Retailers like F.W. Woolworth introduced German cardboard houses to America in the late 1800s, which were later produced in Japan. The hobby was revolutionized in the 1970s by Department 56, which created highly detailed ceramic villages that became popular collectibles and fueled the modern tradition of building expansive, themed holiday displays.