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Issue Date: December 16, 2007
In this article:
 number 5
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5 things you need to know about |
5 things you need to know about
Snowmen
1. "Frosty" is the best known. Gene Autry brought the magical character to life in a 1950 Christmas song, making "Frosty" the most recognizable snowman. But he certainly wasn't the first. The snowman has evolved from a form of elaborate -- albeit temporary -- art sculpture in the Middle Ages to today's popular style of stacked snowballs.
2. Just say "No!" to plastic imitations. The perfect snowman is made from the real deal. "Every 8-foot-high blow-up snowman is a lost opportunity of a God-given gift we all have: artistic expression," says Bob Eckstein, author of the new book The History of the Snowman.
3. The ingredients for the perfect snowman, says Chris Danielson, the snow-sculpting chairman of St. Paul Winter Carnival, are snow that's clean and a good density (not too heavy, icy or slushy); the ideal temperature (below freezing); a good location (out of direct sunlight); adequate "people power" (to help build it); and accessories (hat, scarf, coal for eyes and buttons and a carrot for the nose). Average number of snowflakes to build a snowman: 10 billion.
4. Constructing one can be a good workout. Calories burned per hour in building a snowman: 238.
5. They, like us, shall pass, says Jim Sysko, who helped design the world's largest snowman -- 11 stories tall! -- in Bethel, Maine, in 1999. "A snowman," he says, "follows the same path as the rest of us, only much faster."
-- Allison Gutman |
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