Established in 1994, Trillium Village Collectors Club is one of Canada's oldest Department 56 collector clubs.  We are based in Toronto but have club members all over the province of Ontario.

The objective of our club is to provide a meeting place for club members to share the joy and excitement of their hobbies and to share display ideas featuring their favourite collectibles.  All collectors and retailers of Department 56 Village and Holiday products are welcome to join the club.  Club membership also includes an informative newsletter mailed physically or electronically to each club member every other month.  Membership form is available for download on the "About Us" page.

Trillium Village Collectors Club is a not-for-profit organization.  Although we appreciate support from our retailer members, the club is not affiliated with any Department 56 retailers.

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November 7, 2010

Hereafter … Charles Dickens and Department 56



It is quite uncommon nowadays to see references of Charles Dickens in contemporary Hollywood motion pictures.

Usually around Christmas time is when we can catch different adaptations of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on TV.  The story about an old bitter miser called Ebenezer Scrooge, taken on a journey of redemption when visited by 3 spirits on Christmas eve, has been a true classic enjoyed by many.   Over the years, there has been at least a dozen silver screen adaptations based on this famous Dickens’ novel.   The most oft talked about and beloved black-and-white version starred Alastair Sim in 1951.  Even the popular Muppet Show characters of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy (plus others) made their own version called “The Muppet Christmas Carol” in 1992.  The last movie version of  “A Christmas Carol” was a 3D IMAX animation in 2009 with the Canadian comedian Jim Carrey performing the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to see Charles Dickens’ connection with the movie “Hereafter”, the latest “supernatural” drama directed by Clint Eastwood, an actor who is most famous for his portrayals in spaghetti westerns in the 60s and “Go ahead, make my day” Dirty Harry movies in the 70s.  In Hereafter the movie, not only a portrait of Charles Dickens appeared, the Charles Dickens Museum in London, England was also used in a couple of scenes.  I found it interesting how Peter Morgan, the British screenwriter for the movie, used Charles Dickens as a plot device to bring all the main characters together near the end of the movie.

And speaking of hereafter, Department 56 has just announced its 2010 retirement lists for its SB Humpty Dumptycollectible line of products (and a discontinued list for its non-collectibles).  The Village retirement list as expected is composed of items from all of its active village series and the Snowbabies retirement list, on the other hand, contains items including (but not limited to) those with Humpty Dumpty (right) and Little Miss Muffet making their guest appearances.   Visit Department 56’s web site to see all details.

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