Reading Journal 2023: The History of the Snowman

Reading Journal 2023: The History of the Snowman
Author: Bob Eckstein

It is a bit too perfunctory to make for a fun read, but, as it is with writing the history of anything, the snowman becomes as reasonable place as any to explore the story of our world. As it is, and the author is upfront about the fact that we actually know very little about where and when the concept of the “snowman” developed, beyond theories such as the one that anchors it in Schenectady, New York, or that ties it to fleeting and uncertain images in old photos. What Eckstein is able to do is expand the boundaries of what a snowman is beyond Frosty, the carrot nose and the top hat, all things we can undoubtedly trace as a part of our cultural history.

Looking beyond these cultural touchpoints, the snowman’s history turns decidedly dark and adult, getting wrapped up in everything from politics to deities, racial/gender divisions, sex, and revolutions, and perhaps its most dominant usage- advertising. One of the more tantalizing quesitons the book brings to the forefront is the snowman as artistic expression.

If we can’t pinpoint precisely where and when the “snowman” became commonplace as a pasttime and a recognizable figure, we can note that either making or imagining snow “objects” in different capactities has been part of human history likely for as long as humans have occupied snow ridden regions.

And oh ya, one other fact that I took away from this book. When you think of the snowman, its likely our minds go to the colder regions of our planet. In actuality, it is the warmer climates which still get snow that are most conducive to building snow things (the closely related history of ice sculptures might be a slightly different picture). Thus much of this history emerges from places you might not expect.