Located at 309 Elm St. next to the Christmas Store, "Traditions and Treasures" is an easy to find, popular shopping stop. From the outside you wonder what could possibly be in there, but step through the door and you’re quickly transported back to the 1800’s! All around you, it’s Christmas! In the first room the shelves are packed with Department 56 village homes -- many of them lighted in displays similar to what you might put up at home. The effect calms your spirit quickly and the worries of the outside world slip away. I love creating and setting up Christmas villages each year so I wanted to own every single thing I saw! (See picture below.) The individual pieces are highly detailed and can be lighted from the inside. They range in price from $40 to $125. There is a tremendous variety available at Traditions and Treasures -- all kinds of homes, barns, shops, churches, a railroad station and accessories like trees and small figures to match the size of the houses. Actually this is probably the largest collection of Department 56 buildings I’ve ever seen. They even have an area where they are selling some of the buildings that have been discontinued for this year.
In addition to Dept. 56 , this store carries Seraphim Angels ($20-$175), Snowbabies ($15-$125), the wonderful Nativities by Fontanini in many sizes (including a good variety of stables), Millennium Collections, Porcelain Hinge Boxes and Jan Hagara Sculptures. This last set of items will soon be no more as the sculptor died this year. As you can see, the store specializes in collectibles.
The store is housed in one of the oldest buildings in Kimmswick, the Arnold House. It was built in 1865. The hours for the store are Tues-Fri. 10-4, Sat. 10-5 and Sun 11-5. The shop is closed on Monday along with the rest of Kimmswick. The contact phone number for this store is 636-464-0091.