snowglobes? snowdomes?

[Jonathan Lighter]

I also associate them with Christmas.  Have they become more upscale in recent decades ?
The only ones I recall seeing as a boy were small and plastic, obviously intended to appeal to children.  Now, of course, they can be quite large and pricey.

JL

Victoria Neufeldt <vneufeldt at MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Victoria Neufeldt
Subject: Re: snowglobes? snowdomes?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:16 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> Don't know about pre-1950, but during that decade three
> generations of my family called 'em "those paperweights
> with the fake snow inside."
>
> Industry insiders undoubtedly knew what to call them, but I
> never noticed "snowglobe" *or* "snowdome" till the 1980s.
>
> The level of my benightedness is not in dispute. But were
> others at a similar loss for words?
>
> JL

Yes, me too. I can't remember what we called them; even 'paperweight'
doesn't help, because I don't think they were used in that way among
my family and acquaintances. They were purely decorative, and I
associate them with Christmas. It has seemed really strange to me
that I couldn't remember a name for them, because they were very
familiar. I've been watching out for references in recent years and
have seen only 'snowglobe' and 'waterglobe' (sometimes hyphenated or
open), as far as I can remember right now, with 'snowglobe' the more
common name. They're often featured in mail-order gift catalogues
(e.g. Smithsonian, Boston Museum, Metropolitan Museum); I guess people
collect them now. No one I knew of "collected" them years ago -- you
just had one that was displayed especially during the holidays.

Victoria


Victoria Neufeldt
727 9th Street East
Saskatoon, Sask.
S7H 0M6
Canada
Tel: 306-955-8910



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