'As a pastor we read those Scriptures over and over, then when somebody comes along with a show-and-tell story like this, man it's terrific!' said Gayle Brooks, a Baptist minister from Cotter, Ark.

Some of the children have children of their own. In stained glass and in oil murals, Butcher's chapel walls tell stories from the Old and New Testaments in the same sentimental, childlike fashion that, according to a 1993 Wall Street Journal article, has made his figurines bigger sellers than Hummels.Īll the figures in the murals except one _ guess Who? _ are children. 'This makes three times I've been here, and I can't go in that chapel without crying,' said Jean Dunn, from Savannah. 71A, traveled down the country road and stepped through the carved wooden doors into Sam Butcher's masterpiece.

Since it opened to the public about six years ago, about 3-million people have turned off U.S. The chapel is evidently something for which Americans are mighty hungry, too. 'A store can't just go into Precious Moments: It takes a couple of years to get approved.' 'And you have to be an approved dealer,' she said. Shirley Talarico at Shirley's Hallmark in Memphis, Tenn., describes the Precious Moments line as 'almost a necessity' for a shop like hers. 'I could have bought it for $17 at the time.' 'I had one in my hand in 1980 that I didn't buy that's now worth $843,' said Richard White, whose wife Faye has about 500 pieces. The secondary market for Precious Moments collectibles is brisk, as well.Ībout once a year, when Enesco retires a few Precious Moments pieces from active production, a selling frenzy is set off. More than 500,000 people belong to the Precious Moments Collectors and Birthday Clubs, according to Kristin Vitek, a spokeswoman for the Enesco Corp., which produces the figurines in Asia. There are more than 1,000 pieces in the collection. Sold for an average of $35, the figurines alone, not counting other Precious Moments products, generate approximately $200-million in annual sales. The Precious Moments collectibles in the gift shop are not.

Precious moments joplin