Why do we have Christmas villages?

When I was a kid I always wondered about Christmas villages. Granted, I didn't have one & I always wanted one, preferably with a train around it. I just didn't understand exactly what it had to do with Christmas. Couldn't we have a Halloween village?

Apparently the tradition of the Christmas village dates back to the Pennsylvania Dutch. Wikipedia says that they would put nativity scenes under their trees. The nativity scenes grew out of control with little trees, & dirt roads leading to the manager. Sometimes they recreated other bible scenes such as Noah's Ark. This often took up more time than decorating the Christmas tree. I can see how carving two wooden animals of every creature on earth could do that.