A couple of other ideas: When the couple go into the store when they first come into town, the wife comments that there is just one bare bulb lighting the room. Could this be a reference to how many of the xmas villages people have are lit by small bulbs inside the buildings to make them light up? Also, at one point they hear carolers singing and assume everyone is at a Christmas concert but they can never find the source of the music. Perhaps it was music playing in the room at the parent's house where the tiny town was on display.