Accessories for the "Chrysler Building."
Debuting alongside the building in 2013 will be three distinct accessories. Bates wasn’t involved in creating those, but he is an unabashed admirer of them. “There are three different designs that our collectors will find all equally appealing. You have your steelworkers heading home after a long day on the job, yet still having a smile on their faces. Second, is a young woman photographer taking photos from a street corner. This piece was inspired by Margaret Bourke-White, a famous photographer of the era. And yet, maybe my favorite is the architect William Van Alen dressed up as the Chrysler Building for a grand belle ball just after the grand opening!” he reveals. Taking a vacation to New York City is still a pipe dream for Bates, but it would have to be a family-friendly jaunt. Married for 14 years to his “wonderful wife, Traci,” the couple both works full-time, leaving them just enough time to cheer on their two
children from the sidelines. “We have a daughter, Isabella, who is 11, and a son, Isaiah, who is 10. Our schedules are very busy and our kids play sports year-round. It’s hard to find time for anything else but being a full-time chaperone. Still, I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love it!” In his younger days, Tom got some of the travel bug out of his system when he journeyed to England. His time there serves as the bedrock for much of what he accomplishes as a Department 56 building designer: “I think my travel to London was my first eye-opener to the amazing architecture of the world. The history behind such buildings as Saint Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, for example, are truly amazing. To imagine how buildings as grand as these could be designed and built so long ago is incredible and inspiring. In many ways, Bates still marvels at how he found his way to this company and to this very comfortable, very compelling niche.
Among Bates’ earliest drawing recollections is his father’s caricature of a witch. Perhaps that memory helped to spark his handiwork on Halloween Village’s “Be Witching Costume Shop,” one of his favorite undertakings.
“When I look back, I remember so many people trying to get me to take classes on architecture and computers while I was in school. I wouldn’t because I felt I was going to be a painter. Now, using computers and drafting architectural designs, that’s my job, and it’s one I love so much,” he asserts. “No matter the event I go to for Department 56, the collectors are always wonderful, energetic people with a passion for the Villages. I always come back home energized by their excitement for the work we do!” This face-to-face mingling is like being a Broadway superstar and a worldrenowned, big-city real-estate developer rolled into one — a combination Tom Bates wouldn’t have any other way. u
june/july 2013
VILLAGE D-LIGHTS
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