The Carving Bench
Rocking horses, pull-along ducks, jointed soldiers
Lime and beech, worked green so the grain stays soft. Every horse gets a real horsehair tail and a saddle stitched from offcuts of the upholstery bench.
The North Pole · Workshop
Santa's Workshop
Mind the shavings. Everything in the village is made in this room.
The door is heavy and the heat hits you first — two iron stoves going hard, lanterns swinging on the beams, and the whole length of the room stacked with work half done. A rocking horse waits on its side for a tail. There are shavings up to your ankles by the carving bench, and nobody has swept them since about 1870.
The Paint Line
Nutcrackers, spinning tops, dolls' faces
Six coats, and the sixth is the only one anybody ever notices. The nutcrackers are painted last because the gold has to go on when the stove is at its hottest.
The Tin Shop
Wind-up engines, clockwork mice, biscuit tins
Sheet tin, a foot press, and a tray of springs nobody is allowed to touch. Everything made here has to run the whole length of the bench before it's boxed.
The Doll House Room
Houses, shopfronts, whole small streets
The most patient bench in the building. Real glass in the windows, real hinges on the doors, and a lamp in the hall of every single one.
The Soft Bench
Bears, reindeer, snowmen, and one very large rabbit
Wool stuffing, glass eyes, and a scarf on anything with a neck. The rabbit was a mistake in the pattern and has been made every year since.
The Wrapping Room
Paper, ribbon, string, labels
Where it all ends up. Corners folded, ribbon curled with the back of a scissor blade, and the label written in the good ink.
Once it leaves this room it goes to one of three places.