In 1927, a Pittsburgh man named Joseph Garaja filed his application for a patent for a liquid-filled novelty paperweight that improved upon previous designs; the design he presented and later sold was a fish floating in sea grass. But it wasn’t Garaja’s under-the-sea theme that impressed the industry. His real contribution to snow globe manufacturing was in pioneering the now-obvious method of assembling the globes underwater to ensure they were entirely filled. This, David Bear wrote for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2000, “revolutionized” the snow globe industry: “They went from being expensive mementos individually crafted by skilled artisans to items that could be cheaply mass-produced and sold.” Which they were: In the 1930s, William Snyder, a New Jersey entrepreneur, began selling souvenir globes for $1, around $18 now. Snyder would later earn two patents related to snow globes and his company, Atlas Crystal Works, would become a major manufacturer of the items.
Following in the style of Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz’s realistic and detailed snow globe creations, the Danish architectural firm Ja-Ja made a special series of snow globes to celebrate Christmas. These creations show what the “Nisse” (a small Scandinavian mythological creature that helps around the house) are up to in modern times. This particular globe shows a Nisse working away on a rooftop garden just out of sight of us silly humans. More information at personalized snow globe.
Snowdomes, snowglobes, paperweights, snow machine, snow shakers, snow scene, water domes, water balls, dream globes, blizzard weights or dream balls were likely derived from heavy glass paper weights which were popular in the latter part of the 1800’s. The glass paperweights were made from costly materials which made the popular item inaccessible to the general public. Not only were snowglobes less expensive, they engaged the viewer. Snow globes are dynamic — creating a miniature snow storm descending on the encased diorama.
Americans did not immediately adopt the Christmas tree. According to The History Channel, German Christians displayed decorated trees in the 16th century during Christmas time. Paradise trees, as they were known, were adorned with fruits like apples to represent the Garden of Eden, and candles and sweets as time went on. When German settlers brought their tradition to Pennsylvania, Americans did not immediately adopt the practice as they considered the trees symbols of paganism. By the late 1840s, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert decorated a Christmas tree that appeared in the London News, signifying that the custom was officially en vogue. Source: https://www.qstomize.com/collections/custom-snow-globe.
