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Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"Harley-Davidson Manufacturing,"
#54948 |
The Harley-Davidson brand has come a long way from Milwaukee in 1903, when William Harley and Arthur Davidson decided to attach a motor to a bicycle. By 2010 the company had revenues of $4.86 billion, and supports 1400 active clubs of around half a million Harley riders. But that is only half the story, the business and financial part. The other half the story is just as interesting.
Harley-Davidson Manufacturing
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Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"Harley-Davidson Fat Boy and Softail"
#54900 |
The Harley-Davidson motorcycle has also become one of the most potent iconic images of the past half century. For some lucky people, a Harley can conjure up some wonderful memories; for many of us, it is just a symbol imbued with strong feelings that are a part of our culture. When we see a Harley we feel a sense of strength, individuality, and freedom....a sense we will live forever. Wind in my hair. Endless road ahead. No wonder we find Harley buildings in our Christmas village displays!
Department 56 - Snow Village "Harley-davidson Fat Boy & Softail"
This dream-like image of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe on a Harley sums up many of these feelings. And when you think about it, it is not a feeling based on logic. James Dean never even met Marilyn Monroe. James Dean died very young in a crash, but not on a Harley. Marilyn Monroe also died young, and as Elton John sang, "(Her) candle burned out long before, (Her) legend ever did." And, actually, the Harley's right side is shown in the picture, not the left, as it should. This is not reality. This is iconic, and the Harley is absolutely necessary to the image.
So I have put together a list of the 10 most interesting people who have owned a Harley, based on their iconic strength, individuality, and adventure. When you add Harley Christmas buildings and accessories to your miniature village, you can remember these images!
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Brigitte Bardot,
Image from
bikematchmaking.com
(which I do not use.) |
NUMBER 10:
Brigitte Bardot: Actress, vocalist, model, and animal activist. Simon de Beauvoir, a French philosopher and intellectual, said that Brigitte Bardot was the first and most liberated woman of post-war France. She was not only a star in 47 films and several theater productions, but recorded 80 songs. Brigitte Bardot liked a Harley so much that she titled one of her first songs "Harley Davidson," and you can watch her sing it here, though you have to understand French, and you may be disappointed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3IOZ0NbrVs
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Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Ready for the Road," #58907 |
To the left is a picture of how Brigitte Bardot would look if she wore pants when she rode a Harley.
Department 56 Ready for the Road! Harley Davidson
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| Add caption |
NUMBER 9:
Ann Richards: Prominent Democrat and former Treasurer and Governor of Texas. For her 60th birthday, Ann Richards said in an interview that she wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle. Well, Harley-Davidson heard about it, and shipped her one! So when Texas Monthly wanted to do a cover story on her, the magazines's artistic director D. J. Stout came up with the idea of her on a Harley. "I had an image in my head of Ann, the feisty grandmother governor, decked out in all-white leathers--to match her famous white bouffant hairdo--straddling a hog. Ann Richards on a Harley seemed to me to be the perfect metaphor for capturing her salty wit and irreverent personality. It was an image that summed up all those things that people loved about her."
Stout and Richards were unable to get a mutually convenient photo session, so she suggested Stout "photoshop" her head onto another person aboard the Harley. Stout did, and they shared many laughs over the picture.
http://observatory.designobserver.com/feature/remembering-ann-richards/4757/
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Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Harley-Davidson Detailing, Parts, & Service,"
#59214 |
NUMBER 8:
Jay Leno: Stand-up comedian, host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and automobile collector. Jay Leno famously owns about 200 vehicles, including around 100 cars. Much of his spare time is spent working with on mechanical issues and visiting other car collections, in addition to writing reviews of sports cars and humorous articles about all issues automotive. He obviously buys parts from the Dept. 56 shop shown above.
Dept 56 Harley Davidson Detailing Parts and Service
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Jay Leno and the 2005 Harley auctioned
off to raise money for the Harley-Davidson Foundation Tsunami Relief Fund.
Image from www.cycleconnections.com. |
Leno and Harley-Davidson teamed up to auction off a "hog" to raise money for Tsunami relief when the deadly waves hit Southeast Asia in 2005. Harley-Davidson donated a white 2005 Road King, and Leno arranged to have 60 celebrities sign the bike. Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Cosby, Kiefer Sutherland, and Donald Trump were among those on the star-studded list who participated. The winning bidder was David P. Steiner, CEO of Waste Management, Inc., who paid $801,100 toward the relief effort.
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Malcom Forbes's
Harley-Davidson Hot Air Balloon,
Forbes is in the gondola.
Image from www.corbisimages.com. |
NUMBER 7:
Malcom Forbes: New Jersey State Senator, publisher of "Forbes Magazine," Faberge Egg collector. Malcom Forbes was very wealthy when he became a motorcycle enthusiast later in life. He founded a club called the Capitalist Tools, and hosted meetings and tours at his New Jersey estate. He not only collected motorcycles, but was instrumental in the political maneuvering to pass legislation to allow motorcycles on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. For all of this, in 1999 he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, OH.
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Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"A Harley-Davidson Holiday," #54898 |
Malcom Forbes gave Elizabeth Taylor a Harley called the Purple Passion, because he said it reminded him or her beautiful eyes. And Elizabeth Taylor gave her husband Larry Fortensky a Harley in 1992 for Christmas!
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Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Harley-Davidson City Dealership,
#59202 |
Elizabeth Taylor might have purchased the Harley-Davidson at the dealership on the left.
NUMBERS 5 and 6:
Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda: Actors in "Easy Rider". "Easy Rider" is an iconic movie about two bikers who travel through the south in the 1960's exploring the dark issues of this generation, drugs, alienation, intolerance, and violence. The film won a host of awards and the accolades of an entire generation. Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda not only assumed the lead roles, but they also wrote it the movie, conjunction with Terry Souther, and Fonda produced and Hopper directed.
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Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"America's Finest," #58998 |
Harley-Davison frames and engines from four former police officer bikes were used to create the two bikes for the main characters, plus two back-ups. Fonda and others designed and had the bikes "chopper-built" for the film. One "Captain America" bike was demolished in the final scene. It was later rebuilt and was sold at auction. The other three bikes were stole and never recovered, though numerous replicas have been made.
Department 56 Christmas in the City America's Finest 58998
"Easy Rider" is 88th on the list of the American Film Institute's List of 100 Years, 100 Movies. In 1998 it was added to the US National Film Registry, having been designated as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
NUMBER 4:
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Body builder, actor, Governor of California.
In the hit movie, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," released by Tri Star Pictures in 1991, the Governator rode a Harley-Davidson Softail Fatboy. Schwarzenegger plays a Terminator, a liquid metal shape-shifting T-1000 who defends humans in their attempt to prevent Judgement Day, when machines would begin to exterminate humanity. The film's visual effects, using computer-generated imagery, were very influential, and the movie won four Academy awards for technical feats. At the time, it was the most expensive movie ever made, but it also became the highest-grossing film of 1991. After the filming, Mario Kassar, the producer, kept the Terminator's bike in his personal collection, until he sold it to a private collector, who held it until it came into the collection of the Hollywood Star Cars Museum.
http://www.starcarstn.com/T2_Harley.html
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Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
1930 Harley-Davidon VL W/Sidecar,"
#59409 |
Fifteen years later Schwarzenegger was involved in a minor accident in his sidecar-equipped Harley, and was facing a citation for driving without a valid motorcycle license. Fortunately for him, a loophole in California law allowed riders of a sidecar-equipped bike to have a valid car license, which Schwarzenegger did.
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Elvis Presley on his
Harley-Davidson.
Image from
http://photos.elvispresley.com.au/1950s_2.html |
NUMBER 3:
Elvis Presley: Singer and Actor. If you want to know how much Elvis loved Harleys, consider this: To commemorate what would have been Elvis' 75th birthday, the Harley-Davidson Museum mounted a special exhibit! Paraphernalia in the show included one of his bikes, a bill of sale, registration papers, insurance application, and a number of historic photos loaned from Graceland Museum.
http://onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/harleymuseumelvisexhibit.html
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Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Shop,"
#54886 |
Elvis loved flashy costumes, Gibson guitars, and Harleys. He bought his first hog in the 1950, before he even signed his first record deal. Just after he turned 21, and just days after recording "Hearbreak Hotel," his first hit, he bought a KH Harley. Harley-Davidson Museum employee Jim Fricke has said that he has seen photographs of Elvis on 8-10 different bikes.
Dept 56 Harley Davidson Motorcycle Shop
Elvis rode Harleys in several films, including "Roustabout," a 1964 film in which he plays Charlie, a rider who sings at whopping malls, and takes a part-time carnival job to pay for repairs of his bike. Presley also appeared on a Harley in "Viva Las Vegas," Clambake, and "Stay Away Joe."
http://onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/harleymuseumelvisexhibit.html
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Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"Patrolling the Road,"
#54971 |
NUMBER 2:
All Public Safety Officers . In Detroit in 1908 Harley-Davidson sold the first motorcycle to a police force for metropolitan use. By the 1920's, over 3000 police departments and agencies used the Hog. The tradition continues today. In 2010, according to the Harley Davidson representative I spoke with, the company sold approximately 2700 hogs to police and other public service departments worldwide. In fact, the Los Angeles Police Department has 400 HD motorcycle units, Rio de Janeiro has 46, and Milwaukee has 57.
Dept 56 Patrolling the Road Harley Davidson
This monument, "The Warning" by Eric Richards, commemorates the heroism of two police officers, Thornton Edwards (on the left on an Indian) and Stanley Baker (on the right on a Harley.) The two were on duty on March 12, 1928 during the second worst disaster in the State of California's history. The St. Francis Dam, 36 miles upstream from Santa Clarita, collapsed around midnight, releasing 52 billion gallons of water.
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Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"A New HarleyDavidson,"
#4020224 |
For three hours Thornton and Baker rode through the town of Santa Paula, which was on the path of the flood, notifying and evacuating residents. Though 470 people died in the disaster, because of the heroic actions of Edwards and Baker, few of the victims were from Santa Paula. These are just two of Many officers mounted on motorcycles that have rendered profound service to our communities.
The Original Snow Village from Department 56 A New ?56 Harley-Davidson® KH
http://www.motofoto.cc/Police_Motorcycles.htm
NUMBER 1--THE MOST ICONIC USER OF A HARLEY-DAVIDSON:
SANTA CLAUS
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| Dept. 56, North Pole, "A Happy Harley Day," #56706 |
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