Boston selling Historic Enchanted Village

BOSTON, June 16 (UPI) -- Boston's 8,000-square-foot Historic Enchanted Village is to be auctioned in entirety with mechanical children and a waving Santa Claus, city officials said.

The village was handcrafted by a Bavarian toymaker in the 1940s for Jordan Marsh department store and displayed each holiday season to hundreds of thousands of people over the years, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday.

Seeing the village for the first time as a child, state Rep. Brian Wallace of South Boston said he was "overwhelmed by the majesty of it, like the first time I saw Fenway Park."

Ownership of the display was transferred to the city in 1998 when Macy's bought Jordan Marsh. The city stopped displaying the village in 2006 as crowds and sponsors dwindled.

Thursday, the village and its presents, ribbons, wreaths and mechanical dolls -- all in good condition -- are to be auctioned from a warehouse in South Boston, possibly to a mall, exhibition center or theme park, city officials said.