2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
One of the favorite winter fun of children and adults in many parts of the world is the creation of a snowman or "snow woman". This very exciting and fun activity has its own history. Let's learn some interesting facts about the snowman
1. The first snowman
Perhaps a snowman or something similar was created by primitive people. However, it is difficult to find evidence of this. But the documented fact of the first snowman appeared thanks to the illustration of the "Book of Hours" in 1380, which was found in the state library of The Hague (Switzerland).
2. The biggest snowman of all time
The largest snowman of all time was created in Bethnell (Maine, USA). It happened in 2008. True, it turned out to be not a snowman, but a snow woman 37 m high. She was named after Olympia Snow, the US Senator representing the state of Maine. The next year, another snowman, Angus, the king of the mountain, was installed there. It was named after the Governor of Maine, Angus King. However, in height, it was slightly inferior to the previous snow lady - about 34 m 18 cm.
3. Holiday "Six-ring"
The people of Zurich (Switzerland) love to make snowmen. In honor of this fascinating activity, they came up with the Sechselauten holiday, which is translated into Russian as "six-bells". It has been celebrated since 1818. It reminds us a little of our Pancake week and symbolizes the arrival of spring. The culmination of the holiday is the explosion of the Boogg stuffed snowman. It is created on the third Monday in April from cotton wool or fabric.
In advance, they put some explosives inside the stuffed animal. He is led by a grand parade of traders and artisans (bakers, butchers, blacksmiths, etc.). During the procession, they throw their goods into the crowd - sausages, rolls, bread. At the end of the parade, a 122-meter Boogg is placed on a stack of firewood. And as soon as the bells of the Church of St. Peter ring six times (this six rings mean the end of winter and the beginning of spring), the snowman is blown up. The faster it burns out, the longer the summer will be.
4. Scandalous Snowsilla
In 2005, Alaska resident Billy Powers erected a giant snowman named Snowzilla. Among the local population, Billy's work was highly appreciated, and he continues to sculpt his snow giant every year. However, not everyone likes this creation. There are also quite a few of those who make official protests, explaining this by the fact that Snowsilla distracts drivers and causes accidents. The officials banned the snowman Bill several times, but the people's love returned him.
5. Earliest known photograph of a snowman
The photograph was found at the National Library of Wales. Unfortunately, it did not include the names of the people and the location of the shooting. Only the year of photography appeared - 1853.
6. Bigger and faster than anyone
Such were the Japanese, who set the Guinness World Record for making snowmen in one hour. The inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun fashioned 2036 pieces of them. This event happened on February 28, 2015. 1406 people took part in it. Moreover, the action took place during the filming of one dramatic film. It took 4 hours to count all the snowmen. It is also important that during the sculpting people did not use any tools other than their hands.
7. The largest collection of snowmen
According to the Guinness Book, a resident of Minnesota (USA) Karen Schmidt owns the largest collection of snowmen in the world. He has already gathered 5,127 of these snowmen. He started his hobby back in 1980.
8. The smallest snowman
London scientists in 2009 created the smallest snowman in the world with a height of only 0.01 mm. During its sculpting, tools for working with nanoparticles were used.
9. Snowman-mailer
The secretary of the official residence of Santa Claus from Veliky Ustyug, Lyubov Yakimova, notes that the snowmen are the New Year's grandfather's helpers and help him deliver letters from children. After people blind the snowman, Santa Claus revives him and hires him in his retinue. Moreover, according to Lyubov Yakimova, in the summer months the snowmen continue their work, and do not melt, as it might seem. After all, mail comes to Santa Claus all year round.
10. Evil or Kind?
In medieval chronicles, there are references to snowmen and the fact that they were portrayed mainly as negative characters. Because they personified winter, cold and hunger. Nowadays, there are both evil and kind snowmen in different cultures. It is gratifying that there are more of the latter in Russia.
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