Byers’ Carolers Brighten Christmas

by Robert Mitchell

The distinctive and appealing Salvation Army line of Christmas figurines produced by Byers’ Choice Ltd. are handcrafted right here in the USA Eastern Territory.

Each figure, featuring an open-mouthed caroler in midsong, is produced not somewhere far overseas but at the company’s sprawling factory in Chalfont, Pa., about an hour north of Philadelphia in Bucks County. Byers’ Choice has put out Salvation Army figurines since 1992, said Jake Byers, who is the grandson of the company’s founders and handles marketing.

“Every year we roll out a new set of a Salvation Army family,” he said. “Those designs change every year. We have a subset of our collectors who look forward to the new Salvation Army pieces every year and expanding their collections in their homes.

“It is a really special tradition. There’s not a lot of handmade, American-made Christmas products on the market anymore, so we feel very lucky to be able to carry that on.”

The 2025 version includes a family of four playing musical instruments around the traditional red Christmas kettle; a young girl holds a red Salvation Army bell. Characters from past years gave out food and drink, or coffee and donuts, and were even depicted reading the War Cry magazine.

“Those designs change every year because we have collectors so excited to expand their Salvation Army collection,” Byers said. “They have their own little village of Salvation Army people doing different things around the Christmas season.”

Each one is special

Byers said the company sells 1,500 to 2,000 Salvation Army figurines a year (about 500 per family member), though that number fluctuates given that it’s a collector-driven market. Sales and actual input from customers determine what figurines get made.

“People will call in and ask for certain things like the boy with a cornet,” he said. “We’ll often get enough calls on specific pieces or characters where we get the input that OK, it’s time to bring this character back.”

Byers’ Choice has 50 employees, including 40 artisans who make the heads in clay molds before they are hand-painted. Fabrics for the outfits are cut in-house, and the artisans individually dress the figures. The production process can all be seen from an observation deck at the 88,000-square-foot factory in Chalfont.

The factory also includes offices, the production floor, and a gift shop and Christmas museum decorated with village scenes.

Byers’ Choice produces 50,000 to 60,000 figures a year overall, and like those in the Salvation Army line, the designs are constantly refreshed. The company introduces 50 to 70 new pieces a year.

“We’re constantly innovating and changing, and you never know what’s going to be available when,” Byers said. “Once it’s sold out, because it’s a handmade product, we can’t always make more.”

Byers said the figures are individually unique, and the faces often evoke an emotional connection from customers.

“I think the face really tells a lot of the story,” he said. “You can look at two figures, and they won’t look exactly alike. People will see their family members in a figure, whether it’s an aunt, an uncle, a son, a daughter or grandparent, and people will think of their own family member. The figures themselves just have so much character.”

From humble beginnings

During a 1999 interview with The Salvation Army’s Priority! magazine, Jake Byers’ grandfather and the company’s co-founder, Robert Byers Sr., sounded a similar theme.

“Singing carols and praising God is what we’re supposed to be doing. These figures are doing that all the time,” he said with tears in his eyes. “I think subconsciously people recognize that great joy comes to you when you sing in church, or you sing a Christmas carol. You’re touching a chord of harmony with your Maker.

“That’s the part of the figurine story I like the most. It’s a happy product and it makes people feel good. There aren’t many products in the marketplace that make people feel good. This touches their souls somehow.”

Robert Byers Sr. and his wife, Joyce, started the company in 1978, but it actually began much earlier.

Joyce Byers was an amateur artist with a degree in fashion design who was not happy with the Christmas products she saw in local stores. She started making carolers at her kitchen table in 1965 and gave away many of her early creations as gifts. By the early 1970s, she had introduced the figures in local stores, and they sold quickly.

The family had converted a garage into a workshop by 1978. Byers’ Choice moved into its current facility, which sits on 26 acres, in 1994.

The connection continues

Jake Byers said his grandmother still works 40 hours a week and is “intimately involved” in the day-to-day operation of Byers’ Choice, including designing many of the figurines.

Robert Byers Sr., who died in 2020, was a “massive proponent” of The Salvation Army, his grandson said. He served on the advisory boards for the national Salvation Army and the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Division.

Byers’ Choice got involved with The Salvation Army when the company was asked to create a figurine to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the iconic red kettle, which began in 1891. Robert Byers Sr. didn’t think the company would sell many of the figurines and might not even make back the design cost, but Byers’ Choice sold 25,000 in just two years.

“My grandfather’s biggest ethos as a business owner who had reached some success was how important it was to give back and to be involved in the community,” Byers said. “That’s something that he instilled not only in the business but in our family.”

The Byers Foundation, which started in 1986, gives 20 percent of the company’s profits each year to charitable organizations, including more than $2.5 million to The Salvation Army.

“Over the years, The Salvation Army just kind of captured his heart as an organization,” Byers said. “He really felt emotionally connected to them, and our family has felt that as well. It’s carried on over generations and is a commitment that is really important to the business and the family. It started with my grandfather and continues to drive the company culture today.”