A
snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture of a
humanHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
.
Packing snow is formed when regular powder snow comes near its melting point and becomes moist and compactible. This allows for the construction of large balls of snow by simply rolling a ball of snow until it grows the desired size. Attempting to make a snowman out of powdered snow is extremely difficult since it will not stick to itself.
A
snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture of a
humanHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
.
Construction
Packing snow is formed when regular powder snow comes near its melting point and becomes moist and compactible. This allows for the construction of large balls of snow by simply rolling a ball of snow until it grows the desired size. Attempting to make a snowman out of powdered snow is extremely difficult since it will not stick to itself. And if packing snow is not rolled into snowballs before it freezes, it will form an unusable denser form of powdered snow called crust. In Europe and North America, most snowmen are usually built with 3 spheres which contain the head,torso, and lower body. Thus the best time to build a snowman is usually in the next warmest afternoon directly following a snowfall with a sufficient amount of snow.
The common trend is to then dress the snowman, usually with rocks, coal, wood sticks, and vegetables. Carrots or cherries are often used for the
noseAnatomically, a nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which admit and expel air for respiration in conjunction with the mouth....
, as are sticks for arms and stones for eyes (traditionally lumps of
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
). Some like to dress their snowmen in clothing (scarves, jackets, hats). However, some may prefer not to risk leaving supplies out doors where they could easily be stolen if someone were so maliciously inclined. Also, snowmen usually melt quite quickly on a hot day, which could cause clothing to become stuck under melting ice if not removed promptly. There are variations to these standard forms. These other types range from snow columns to elaborate snow sculptures (similar to
ice sculptureIce sculpture is a form of sculpture that uses ice as the raw material. Sculptures from ice can be abstract or realistic and can be functional or purely decorative...
s).
Snowmen are usually built with two spheres in
East AsiaEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically and geo-politically, it covers about , or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang,...
. In Japan, they are called lit.
snow-daruma.
In fiction
- Arktos
Arktos, Greek αρκτος, means 'bear', from the Proto-Indo-European root *. The Arctic is named from this Greek word in reference to the northern constellations of Ursa Major, Great Bear, and Ursa Minor, Little Bear....
, evil snowman in German animated TabalugaThe little green Dragon Tabaluga is a cartoon character, who lives in the fictional place Greenland. He is around 7 dragon-years old . He is the creation of Helme Heine, German artist and author, and his wife, Gisela von Radowitz...
series.
- Bouli
Bouli is an animated television series originally produced in France between 1989 until 1991.-Synopsis:The Moon magically transforms Bouli the snowman and his snowman friends into life and gives them all the power not to melt....
, a FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
animated series about a snowman's adventures in a magical place.
- in the game Mother
, sometimes referred to as "EarthBound Zero", is a console role-playing game developed by Ape, Inc., Pax Softnica and Nintendo Tokyo R&D Products and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer video game console. It was designed and directed by Shigesato Itoi and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto,...
there is a town called snowmanA snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture of a human.-Construction:Packing snow is formed when regular powder snow comes near its melting point and becomes moist and compactible. This allows for the construction of large balls of snow by simply rolling a ball of snow until it grows the...
.
- Der Schneemann
Der Schneemann, also known as The Snowman, Snowman in July or The Magic Snowman, is a 1944 animated short film, created in Germany under the Nazi regime. It was written by cartoonist Horst von Möllendorff and animated by Hans Fischerkoesen...
, a 1943 animated short film created in Germany.
- Jack Frost (1998 film)
Jack Frost is a 1998 Christmas film, starring Michael Keaton and Kelly Preston. Keaton stars as the title character, a father who dies in a car accident and comes back to life as a snowman. Three of Frank Zappa's four children: Dweezil Zappa, Ahmet Zappa, and Moon Unit Zappa, appear in the film...
, a movie with Michael KeatonMichael John Douglas , better known as Michael Keaton, is an American actor, well known for his early comedic roles in films such as Night Shift, Mr...
in which he wakes up as a snowman after a car accident.
- Jack Frost (1996 film)
Jack Frost is an American black comedy film written and directed by Michael Cooney and released in 1996. The movie takes place in the fictional town of Snowmonton, where a truck carrying serial killer Jack Frost to his execution is involved in a freak accident with a truck carrying genetic material...
, a horror movie in which a serial killer is transformed into a snowman.
- Rave Master
, is a manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The manga was serialized in Shōnen Magazine from July 1999 through July 2005, and published in thirty-five tankōbon by Kodansha. The manga series was licensed for an English release in North America by Tokyopop until Kodansha allowed...
, a Japanese mangaManga consist of comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century...
in which Plue, the hero's companion, resembles a small snowman.
- The Snowman
The Snowman is a children's book by English author Raymond Briggs, published in 1978. In 1982, this book was turned into a 26-minute animated movie by Dianne Jackson for the fledgling Channel 4. It was first shown on Channel 4 late on Christmas Eve in 1982 and was an immediate success. The film was...
, British picture book (1978) by Raymond BriggsRaymond Redvers Briggs is an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who has achieved critical and popular success among adults and children...
and animation (1982) directed by Dianne JacksonDianne Jackson was an English animation director, best known for The Snowman, made in 1982 and subsequently repeated every Christmas on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom....
about a boy who builds a snowman that comes alive and takes him to the North Pole.
- Frosty, the titular snowman in the popular children's song Frosty the Snowman
"Frosty the Snowman" is a popular song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. It was written after the success of Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" the previous year; Rollins and Nelson shipped the...
, had a corncob pipe, a button nose, and two eyes made out of coal.
- Calvin and Hobbes
Calvin and Hobbes was a syndicated comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson. It follows the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic stuffed tiger. The pair are named after John Calvin, a 16th-century French Reformation...
, an American cartoon by Bill WattersonWilliam B. "Bill" Watterson II is an American cartoonist and the author of the influential and popular comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Bill is known for his controversial views on licensing and comic syndication, as well as for being reclusive or media shy...
, contains many instances of Calvin building snowmen, many of which are deformed or otherwise abnormal, often used to poke fun at the artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
world.
- Steven Millhauser
Steven Millhauser is an American novelist and short story writer. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel Martin Dressler. The prize brought many of his older books back into print.-Life and career:...
, in one of his collections of short stories, called in the penny arcade wrote a short story called snowmen in which children makes snowmen which are more and more elaborated.
- Snowmen Hunters, an internet adult oriented comedy series created by Christopher Allan Smith and Ryan Neisz.
- Snow Bros
is an arcade game released in 1990 by Toaplan. It is a platform game similar in gameplay to Bubble Bobble. A Nintendo Entertainment System port by Capcom was released in 1991. Amiga and Atari ST versions of the game were completed in 1991, but were not released by the publisher Ocean Software...
, an arcade gameAn arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, typically installed in businesses such as restaurants, public houses, video arcades, and Family Entertainment Centers...
released in 1990 featuring two snowballA snowball is a spherical object made from snow, usually created by scooping snow with the hands, and compacting it into a roughly fist-sized ball. The snowball is often used to engage in games, such as snowball fights. Snowball fights are usually light-hearted and involve throwing snowballs at...
-throwing snowmen as the protagonists.
- Frosty the Snowman
"Frosty the Snowman" is a popular song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. It was written after the success of Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" the previous year; Rollins and Nelson shipped the...
, About a snowman that magically comes to life.
World's largest snowman
The record for the world's largest snowman was set in 2008 in
Bethel, MaineBethel is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,411 at the 2000 census. It includes the villages of West Bethel and South Bethel...
. The snow-woman stood in height, and was named in honor of
Olympia SnoweOlympia Jean Snowe McKernan , née Bouchles, is the senior United States Senator from Maine. She is a Republican and a leading moderate within the party....
, a U.S. Senator representing Maine, and currently holds the record for tallest snowman ever made.
The previous record was also a snowman built in Bethel, Maine, in February 1999. The snowman was named "Angus, King of the Mountain" in honor of the then current governor of
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
,
Angus KingAngus S. King, Jr. served two terms as an independent Governor of Maine from 1995 to 2003. After leaving office, he became a distinguished lecturer at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and annually teaches a semester-long undergraduate course on leadership. He also became employed at a law firm...
. It was tall and weighed over .
Unicode
In
UnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
, the "snowman" symbol is U+2603. (
)
Further reading
- Bob Eckstein, The History of the Snowman: From the Ice Age to the Flea Market (2007)
- Scottie Davis, "Snow Day, A Photographic Journal of the Best Snowmen" (2004)
External links