A Redneck Wonderglobe!

•May 26, 2008 • 17 Comments

A Redneck Wonderglobe, you will understand what I mean when you have read through the bottom of this post.

I have found a great place where you can find some interesting snow globes for sale. This first picture is of one of the snow globes that they have listed. This is of Wizard of Oz when the tornado ‘twister’ came and took Dorothy’s house. You can check out this picture closer by clicking HERE.

Wizard of Oz Tornado Water Globe

Here is another one I found on the same site: Click HERE for closer picture. This one would fit well in my home. We have cats, but no fish. It is cute and different.

Kitty with Goldfish Water Globe

Next, here is a cute Disney snow globe: Click HERE for closer picture. This Disney Christmas image with the additional globes on the train are very creative. It looks like Tinkerbell might be in the larger globe… maybe she moves around it, hmmm???

There are so many fun and unique designs for snow globes. I personally like the ones that have multiple globes like the one in the picutre directly above. What would be really great is if it was musical and when the music played, the cars would go around the larger globe as it all lights up. Oh, just dreaming. lol.

I am beginning to find more and more unique globes online. Maybe I will try to make one myself, thought it certainly would not be as elaborate as some of these. It would probably be a snow globe that Jeff Foxworthy would be proud to call “A Redneck Wonderglobe”. lol.

Pictures of my collection Part IV

•May 24, 2008 • 8 Comments

Here are another two pictures of my collection. As you can see, the first picture has very small globes, but they are some of the more unique ones that I own. The four that are sitting atop of large crafted bases have a surprise inside when you flip the globe part over and I will show what they hide in a later post. The two cross globes are just a couple from a larger group. That group has every birthstone in it. There is a golden angel globe in the center front and a Santa Clause with a globe in the back center. I will add close ups later. None of these in the first picture are musical.

In the second picture, below, you can see two winter scenes and a snowman with a belly globe on the right. The colorful tea pot in the back is not a globe, but it is fun to look at. I will share close ups in a later post. The snow globe in the center is the only musical one in this picture.

Thank you for coming and viewing more of my snow globe collection. I hope to add more pictures as well as close ups in the near future and I hope that you will come back to see them.

Pictures of my collection Part III

•May 23, 2008 • Leave a Comment

Here is the third part of my snow globe collection. In the first picture, you can see three medium sized winter scenes and two small Mickey Mouse christmas scenes.  The three in the back are all musical globes but the two small ones in the front are not.

In the second picture, below, are four other snow globes that I have. All four of these are musical and three of them have additional pieces which sit ontop of the globes. I will have closer pictures of these in a later post. The two larger ones on the sides are of Christmas scenes and the middle one on the left side is of Noah’s Ark, while the middle one on the right is of Sleeping Beauty dancing with the animals in the forest.

I hope that you have enjoyed looking at some more of my collection. I hope to add more pictures soon. Again, if you come across any snow globes that you would like to share, please leave me a comment, with a link, and I will make sure to add them, to your credit.

Pictures of my collection Part II

•May 21, 2008 • Leave a Comment

Below, you can see two more pictures from my collection. In the first picture, the two on the sides are musical and the large one in the middle is not. In the second picture, all three are musical.

I really love the one in the middle (below) because it is so colorful. When you move the elves at the bottom around on their spinning floor, it begins to play it’s music. This one also has a battery opporated button that lights up the globe and is fun to see in the dark.

I wonder if they make snow globes that instead of playing music, they tell a story??? Hmmm… That would be fun for a kid. I would love one to do that and light up with multi-colored glitter, so that it sparkles with different colors in the light. I wonder what the most elaborate snow globe out there is. If I find one that is so great, I will share it with you… If you find one, please share it here with me.

 

The First Photos Of My Collection…

•May 20, 2008 • Leave a Comment

Here are the first photos of my collection:

I was finally able to upload my pictures. I have had a lot of trouble figuring out why my camera wouldn’t load to my computer… then I realized that it didn’t have enough battery strength to process the information… so I charged it, and what do you know??? It worked! Go figure, doh!

So, I can now share with you some of my snow globes. I was unable to finish taking pictures of all of my snow globes, but I will soon. Also, the pictures I will show here now, are of them how they are arranged in my office. Later, I will take individual pictures so that you can get a clear and detailed picture… with that, I will also give you the stories behind the ones that have them. Enjoy the view!

3.2 Snow Globes of my collection (below)

These are all musical

3.2 [one is lurking behind the wisemen & the camel] Snow Globes from my collection (below)

The one on the left and the middle are musical

I have many more to share with you, but I wanted to get two of my favorite pictures up for now. I hope that you will enjoy my collection and grow in admiration of the beauty and craftmanship that these wonderful displays can have.

Video: A Sea Of Glass Domes

•May 19, 2008 • Leave a Comment

I came across this video of a little girl named Stephanie who has recorded her snow globe collection for the world to see. This video was adorable… she has soooo many and some of them are really quite unique. Please watch and see:

Here is another video that she did with a little more detail of “all” of her snow globes. It just excites me to go out and get some more 🙂 .

An Online Wonderland

•May 18, 2008 • Leave a Comment

I want to share with you some intricate pleasures that I found online, tell me what you think.

These are some unique snow globes that I found online recently. I thought that I would share them with you here. The first one is of the Nativity: The tallness and intricate detail is gorgeous to admire. Click here for Source

The second one is a silver disney globe ontop of a piano. I appologize for the stretched look, but the original picture was very small. I just love snow globes that are a little different than the regular ones you can purchase at a souvenir shop… though I do have some of those too. Click here for Source

 The third one is a giant habitable snow globe created by Sears in NY. When I came across this one, I just had to add it to my site. I wish that I could have been there to see it. “Inside a couple chats, wraps presents, hangs decorations, makes snacks and other general holiday activities…” for more Click here for Source

 I wonder how many snow globe collectors there are??? It is funny because I really wasn’t aware that I collected them until I got to about 30 snow globes or so. Doh! Well, I hope that you enjoy the pics and subscribe to see more as I post them.

The Last Snow-Globe Repairmen

•May 17, 2008 • 42 Comments

I found the following article, which I am including with excerpts below. I was not aware that it was so difficult to find someone to repair your snow globe. I wanted to post this article incase others who love collecting snow globes, came by and also were not aware of this man.  

I have one snow globe, a small one that my mother-in-law gave us, that had the glass part broken by one of our cats. This is why, now, I keep them in my office at home with the door shut. I suppose to a cat, it is like watching fish swim in a fish tank… just too irresistable not to touch.

I am still trying to work on getting my pictures to upload from my camera… my computer just doesn’t seem to want to see that there are pictures there to be uploaded. Once I do, then I will share my snow globes with you. So, for now, please enjoy this article and check back again to see my collection. 

The Last Snow-Globe Repairmen

Click here for Source article

 Click here to view a larger image. Click here to view a larger image. Click here to view a larger image. 

 

Small piles of debris sit in a neat row on the counter. Once-tidy scenes under glass just a shake away from a magical blizzard are now no more than rubble. In one pile, a miniature pink fairy lay like a fallen soldier in the snow atop a black base; in another, tiny pieces of broken birds and snowmen. Some bases are disemboweled, their musical movements yanked out and set to the side…

…He reaches behind him into a recently arrived box from Oregon and pulls out a letter. “You know, every one comes with a letter,” says Heibel, 74. “I get the most wonderful letters.”

Each tells a story:

“My father was a pilot in the war…”

“My sister gave this to me…”

“It’s part of my dead son’s collection…”

“My mother’s wedding present 50 years ago…”

Many are confessionals about how the snow globes ended up here.

“Most of the time they’re dropped,” Heibel says.

He grabs a shattered hummingbird.

“I can’t remember what happened here, but I’m supposed to replace the broken bird with something similar,” he says. With twinkling eyes and a mischievous grin, he holds up a perfect duplicate.

“I had it…”

…”For years, I bought the leftovers of the San Francisco Music Box Company,” he explains. The company, which has since filed bankruptcy, had offered customers a lifetime warranty on their snow globes and music boxes. When they broke or stopped working, customers could return them for new ones. “I got all the returns,” Heibel says. The collection supplies the figures, scenery and movements to fix the pieces. He uses water that is specially treated and sanitized so it doesn’t turn green…

…Heibel is one of the last snow-globe repairmen in the country. His busy time runs through January because snow globes received as presents get broken, sometimes by visiting grandchildren.

“Snow globes aren’t toys, but it’s nearly impossible not to touch them,” he says.

A Wonderland and the History Behind It

•May 15, 2008 • Leave a Comment

I think what has captivated me the most, is the magical world that movies portray that intrigues the childlike imagination. It allows me to dream of a different place that is beautiful and beyond corruption. I never knew of the history of the snow globe until I looked it up and found what is listed below.

The wonderment of creativity, which seems to defy logic in the fact that it (the image, the liquid, the ‘snow’, etc.) can coexist together… When I would gaze at my collection, I would be in amazement of how it could be created without causing a massive mess. It is like an advanced puzzle that only a genius could figure out, yet, only the wild and vivid imagination could admire.

To see the full background ofsnow globes, please check out Wikipedia info: click here Below is what Wikipedia has to say about the History:

Precisely when the first snow globe, also called a waterglobe or snowdome, was made remains unclear, but they appear to date from France during the early 1800s. They may have appeared as a successor to the glass paperweight, which became popular a few years earlier. Snow globes appeared at the Paris Universal Expo in 1878, and by 1879, at least five companies were producing snow globes and selling them throughout Europe.

A girl shaking a snow globe.

A girl shaking a snow globe.

 In 1889, a snow globe containing a model of the newly built Eiffel Tower was produced to commemorate the International Exposition in Paris, which marked the centenary of the French Revolution. This globe quickly became a favourite souvenir for attendees.

Snow globes became popular in England during the Victorian era and, in the early 1920s, crossed the Atlantic to the United States of America where they became a popular collectors item. Many of these globes were produced by Atlas Crystal Works, which had factories in Germany and America.

In the United States, the first snow globe-related patent was granted in 1927 to Joseph Garaja of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1929, Garaja convinced Novelty Pool Ornaments to manufacture a fish version underwater.

In America, during the 1940s, snow globes were often used for advertising. In Europe, during the 1940s and 1950s, religious snow globes were common gifts for Catholic children. Snow globes have appeared in a number of film scenes, the most famous of which is the opening of the 1941 classic Citizen Kane.

In the 1950s the globes, which were previously of glass construction, became available in plastic. Currently, there are many different types of snow globes available. These globes are produced by a number of countries and range from the mass produced versions of Hong Kong and China to the finely crafted types still produced in West Germany. Snow globes feature diverse scenes, ranging from the typical holiday souvenirs to more eclectic collectibles featuring Christmas scenes, Disney characters, popular icons, animals, military figures, historical scenes, etc. Snow globes have even been used for election campaigns.

So, there you have it… the History of my fascination!

My Snowglobe Reality

•May 15, 2008 • Leave a Comment

This site is dedicated to my love and collection of snowglobes. I have obtained the above picture here. I will be posting pictures of the snowglobes that I have and others that I have seen. I hope that you will share your pictures of snowglobes with me here as well.

I began collecting snowglobes when I got married. I found a musical carousel horse one day and thought I might collect those, but I just couldn’t get into that… then I found a snowglobe and that was that. I began to see snowglobes that were so unique and detailed that I just wanted to stare at them.

My husband began giving them to me as gifts, then we began looking for them at garage sales (because they can get very expensive). I have found some really great deals at garage sales and thrift stores. I have gotten some real finds for just a $1.00 – you can’t beat that unless it is free.

Anyway, I hope that you will enjoy my snowglobes as much as I do. Thank you for coming by and please let me know what you think with each picture.

If you would like to find out more about me, you can go to my Truthoughts Today blog. If you would like to see my more serious posts, you can visit my Truthoughts Introspection and Beyond blog. I look forward to seeing you there.