Friday, December 28, 2018

The Illustrated History of the Snowman Holiday Displays

We've gathered a few of the images sent to us by folks spotting our latest book being displayed. If you see a display and would like to send us a picture - Please do - as would love to see it!

 

In the window at Shakespeare & Co Bookstore, NYC #Shakespeare&Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On display in a Barnes & Noble, New Albany, Ohio #barnesandnoble


photo © Julie Hill Barton 2018
























As seen in an NYC design studio...

photo © Keiko Hasegawa  2018


























On display in another Barnes & Noble, but this time in Los Angeles, CA

photo © TStone 2018























photo © TStone 2018 


























 

In Stroudburg, PA at the Monroe County Historical Association, Stroud Mansion @MonroeHistoryPA




 

 

 


 

photo © TStone 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you see a display of our book, and would like to send us a picture - Please do! as would love to share and post it :)

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Macy's Herald Square New York City rolls out the Snowman for the Holiday Season

Once again we find the snowman (or in this case, snowgirl) becoming a spokesperson for the holiday season. 

 

Meet Sunny the Snowpal, the mascot for Macy's "Believe in the Wonder of Giving" 2018 holiday theme.

Sunny the Snowpal on display on the main floor of Macy's Herald Square. Photos by T. Stone



















According to CBS Station, WUSA9, the store's holiday window theme centers on Sunny the Snowpal, a space-age snowgirl who helps her friends and makes sure Santa's sleigh travels safely on New Years Eve.






















You can read more about how the artist Roya Sullivan came up with the idea of Sunny the cosmonaut Snowpal, here at the WUSA9 news site.

If you have the chance to visit the store in New York City, you will 
be greeted by multiple displays of Sunny, including a large scale version - 
that is ready for your Instagram selfie.


The Wonder of Giving Sunny can by yours for $20.00

Sunny is "selfie-ready" for her closeup here on the main floor in Herald Square.

Sunny the snowpal in space - starring in the Macy's windows on 6th Avenue.






Thursday, December 13, 2018

Our NEW Snowman is book is here!

Today's Snowman is proud to announce it's NEW book, "The Illustrated History of the Snowman" by Globe Pequot Press. 
You can read more about the book, at the publishers website here




Bob Eckstein and a frosty friend at the Freedom Tower in New York City.

Photo by cartoonist @KenKrimstein. In the Freedom Tower on our way to the @Newyorker. Shirt by @TrevorCrafts

































 

 

Bob Eckstein talks about the book on this Pennsylvania TV News interview on WBRE/WYOU.

WBRE/WYOU TV: https://www.pahomepage.com/news/the-history-of-the-snowman/1638853003

 














We will be posting more snowman news as the year goes on... stay tuned for more snowy updates.








Wednesday, February 10, 2016

A Schenectady Snowman from 2009

David G. from Schenectady shared with us his "blast from the past" snowman montage featuring his young friend and a snowman.


Devin, pictured below, was almost 3 years old at the time of these photos. David explained his "snowman model" to Devin as:
  • Hands-on attention to detail
  • Pride in a job well done
  • "No more pictures!" (he was jealous of the attention his grandma was giving the photographer)
  • Lament, four days later, on the ephemeral nature of snowmen
  • Channeling the Schnectady - Sentinel Snowmen at the Gates
    [see the Today's Snowman posting of February 8, 2016 for more about this story] 
Thank you David for the snowy photos. David also wrote this very interesting post on the Suns Along the Mohawk blog about the Stockade Snowmen, and this past weekend's Schenectady's Stockade "Snowman At The Gates" Celebration, with an additional follow up article on the blog, "have we learned the lessons of the 1690 Schenectady Massacre?"

Photos by David Giacalone
Devlin and his snowman, photo by David Giacalone

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Schenectady's Stockade "Snowman At The Gates" Celebration Feb 8, 2016

Although there may be no snow on the ground for the Stockade "Celebration of the Snowman - A Celebration of the 1690 Massacre", Schenectady is still celebrating with many snowmen in the area at Riverside Park, from 4:00-6pm.

Lighted "sentinel" snowman at home of Stockade Association President
Carol DeLaMater, 20 Washington Ave.

The story of how the Snowman became the guardians at the fort's gate, which became known as the Schenectady Massacre of 1690, is told here by Samuel Maurice, from this month's "The Stockade Spy" Newsletter:

The eighth of this February marks the 326th anniversary of the Schenectady Massacre, a dark day in Schenectady's History to be remembered for the total destruction of the area's first settlement carried out by a troop of over 100 Frenchmen accompanied by 96 Algonquin Indians. Two French military officers, De Montet and Monsieur de Saint Helene lead the skirmish in retaliation against Dutch and English settlers for the Lachine Massacre in Quebec,Can­ada, occurring earlier that year.

Sixty residents were killed in Schenectady that wintry night... and sixty residents were spared and captured, including 20 Mohawk Indians. Hundreds of other survivors succumbed to the cold, and died shorty thereafter.

The massacre comprises one of many battles and skir­mishes that took place within the first colonies and Canada, known by historians as the Beaver Wars, a precur­sor to the French and Indian War. Many legends and wives tales surround the massacre... Some, such as the ride of Simon Schermerhorn, possess more historical validity while others, like the tale of the Old Squaw or the Snowman Sentinels that failed to protect the village, remain subject to skepticism and speculation.

As the tall tale dictates, Fort Orange, a predominantly English settlement at the time, warned Dutch neigh­bors, Schenectady, of the impending threat of French attack and offered their settlement troops to keep guard while the residents slept. The prideful Dutchmen of Schenectady thumbed their noses at their English counterparts and built snowmen sentinels at their gates in a mocking demonstration of their attitudes toward the English and their officious ways. Ironically enough, the massacre would have never taken place if the French invaders did not come upon a wide open gate guarded by two snowmen holding sticks as muskets.

It seems that the Stockade Association attributes the story of the sentinel snowmen, as a "tall tale." We heard from David Giacalone who told us:

"It's Bob's [Eckstein] version of the event from History of the Snowman that I believe is far more accurate. The assigned sentinels might not have built the snowmen thinking they would fool the French and Indians, but they definitely did abandon their posts, and there were very likely to be snowmen near the entry gates, given the number of children living in the Stockade in need of winter entertainment." 

David's website, Snowmen at the Gates, will discuss local Schenectady issues, uses the "Attack of Schenectady" image from the North Wind Picture Archives as it's masthead. David recently sent us this information regarding the New Mission Statement for the site:

With the Rivers Casino at Mohawk Harbor now a certainty for Schenectady, it's time for this weblog to again broaden its focus. We will still be "working to protect our community from casino-made problems," but we will also be monitoring City and County government in general, along with self-proclaimed public interest or action groups, to see whether our public and private "watchdogs" are in fact protecting our community or instead shirking their duties.

Our name "SNOWMEN AT THE GATES" refers to the legendary snowmen left to guard the open stockade gate of the little village of Schenectady on February 8, 1690, while the appointed sentries had a tankard at the tavern. That dereliction of duty allowed a group of French and Indian warriors to enter the stockade, burn down the village, and massacre or kidnap its residents.


Thank you David for all the Schenectady information. You can read more about the Snowman Festival and Stockade Association at their website, historicstockade.com, and if anyone is in the area - please stop on by for some snowmen activities!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

2016 Snowmagedon Brings On the Snowmen

The snowstorm of January 2016 brought with it many snowmen and here are few from around New York City...


Photo by Gail Eisen © 2016


Photo by Gail Eisen © 2016

Photo by Gail Eisen © 2016

Photo by Gail Eisen © 2016

Photo by Gail Eisen © 2016

 

 

 


Photo by Gail Eisen © 2016

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Meet Frosty, a Giant Snowman from Minnesota

In Carlton County, a very very large Frosty the Snowman is standing 22 feet, 6 inches high.

 

Roger Tillman poses for a photo with Frosty, the giant snowman he constructed at his home near Kettle River in Carlton County.


(Photo courtesy of Roger Tillman)

Tillman built Frosty in his field and drivers will see signs beginning on Highway 73 directing them to the mammoth snowman.

“Just drive in and take a picture. Everybody’s welcome,” he said.

Frosty is built using snow from Tillman’s 3-acre field. Each layer is created with a wooden snow fence forming a circle, and when he has it filled and packed down, he moves to the next layer. Although he builds it mostly by himself, he does get some help from friends and family.

“It’s all done with a front-end loader that I built 45 years ago, a shovel and a lot of handwork,” he said.  He created his first over-sized snowman 26 years ago. “I had time on my hands in winter and lots of snow in those days."

You can see more of this story at The Grand Forks Herald, on line.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Christmas 2015... No Snow on the Ground, but Snowman Abound

Although there was no snow on the ground for xmas 2015 in Long Island, New York, there still seemed to be plenty of snowmen out on display.

Here are a few from the local area....

All photos by Tamar Stone © 2015





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thursday, December 10, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens... and the Snowman is there!

Let's face it, our frosty guy is never one to let a trend pass without becoming part of it, and the new Star Wars movie is no exception, as we can see here.

Photo by Tamar Stone © 2015
We have to agree - the Holiday Spirit is strong this holiday inspired display.

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Thursday, December 3, 2015

Snowmen at the White House for the Holidays

The White House is decking the halls with 70,000 ornaments, a 500-pound gingerbread house, 2 yarn dogs... and 56 "Snow-people." 

Each snow-person represents 1 of the 567 states and territories in the U.S.


Below, A member of the Secret Service Uniform Division walks though the snowman display outside the East Colonnade of the White House in Washington.

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, US News & World Report

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




These snowmen have already been showing up around the web and it is expected that the images will multiply as the season goes on ;)

https://twitter.com/JudyKurtz/status/672118183294345216/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
photo by Jody Kurtz:   https://twitter.com/JudyKurtz

Photo: http://mashable.com/2015/12/02/white-house-holiday-snowmen/#Lxs4Azo3okqt

Follow Me on Pinterest  ...and of course, come take a look at what were are pinning on The Today's Snowman Pinterest Board!

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Another Fall Snowman Sighting...

Nice to see the local pumpkins dressing up for Halloween

 

 
























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