A snow globe can give you a white Christmas even when the forecast outside is mostly rain. Shake a traditional water-filled globe, and a tiny village gets another snowfall.
Early documented snow globes were curiosities and souvenirs, with scenes that had little to do with Christmas. The familiar holiday versions are one branch of that history.
Before Santa, a man with an umbrella
A report on the 1878 Paris Universal Exhibition describes hollow glass balls containing water, a man holding an umbrella, and white powder that fell like snow when inverted.
An Eiffel Tower globe from the 1889 Paris exhibition also survives in the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass collection. A famous landmark could fit on a shelf, with its own weather.
The Vienna story began with a lighting experiment
Around 1900, Vienna surgical-instrument maker Erwin Perzy I was trying to improve lighting for operating rooms.
He experimented with materials inside a water-filled glass sphere. One attempt involved semolina, whose pale grains drifted down through the water like snow. The lighting experiment had produced something rather pleasant to watch.
Perzy combined the snowy effect with a miniature church and developed the globes into a business. His family helped establish a lasting snow-globe tradition in Vienna, although the earlier Paris examples predate his work.
It is an enjoyable change of direction: begin with a practical problem in a workshop, then find yourself making miniature winter scenes.
How Christmas became part of the scene
For the Perzy business, a clear Christmas milestone came in 1955. Erwin Perzy II brought three designs to the Nuremberg toy fair: a Christmas tree, a snowman and Santa Claus. According to the family’s account, these models helped expand their Christmas business and distribution through American department stores.
A snowy cottage already looks comfortable beside a Christmas tree. You can enjoy the white rooftops without having to clear the driveway.
Looking closely is part of the pleasure, too. There might be a small window behind a tree, or a scarf you missed while the snow was moving. Once everything settles, you find yourself examining the scene again.
The snow globe also fits comfortably alongside other decorations with unexpected histories, including how nutcrackers became Christmas decorations.
Choosing a scene that feels like your family
A landmark globe can recall a trip. A snowman family gives familiar people a place among the Christmas decorations.
Our personalized family snowman globe lets you choose 1 to 6 snowmen, personalize each with a name, and add a family name or short message to the wooden base. You can create it without a group photograph.
For parents or grandparents, the names make each little figure recognizable in a different way. Before ordering, decide whether to use first names or the nicknames people answer to at home, then check the spelling together.
