German Snow Babies

Perhaps when you think of snow babies, you picture the figurines made in Taiwan  today by Department 56 and other contemporary manufacturers. But the snow baby tradition is actually quite old, going back nearly a hundred years to pre-World War I Germany. These carefully crafted, miniature pieces of porcelain are the subject of this page. I'll talk briefly about their origins and the different forms that can be found. You can learn more about this subject from my book, Snow Babies, Santas, and Elves, which has many more pictures and a lot more information than I can present here. On another page, I'll talk about some of the reproductions being made currently -- and often sold for old!

One very early type figurine highly prized by snow baby collectors is the Blue Snow. This term is meant to describe figurines with crushed blue porcelain snow. They were made by the extraordinary porcelain firm of Galluba and Hoffman. Not all the snow related figurines by G & H have blue snow -- or even snow at all -- but all are very desirable. The pieces are fragile and rare, and the workmanship is often exquisite. The example on the left is 4.5  inches tall including its base.

No one really knows how bisque snow babies first came to be made. One story is that they were modeled on marzipan candies popular in the 19th Century. Their popularity may have got a boost when Admiral Peary's daughter was born in Greenland in 1893; the natives called her the "A-poo-mick-ananny", their word for snow baby. In any event, early in the 20th Century these small figurines of bisque (unglazed porcelain) became extremely popular in the United States and in England. They typically portrayed babies or young boys and girls dressed in snow suits. Often, though not always, these suits were covered in tiny pieces of broken bisque, to resemble snow that had fallen and stuck to the clothing.

 The example to the right is a beautiful snow baby made between 1908 and 1914. Notice the carefully painted and fired face. This kind of detail was not often seen in later snow babies. It sits 3.12 inches high, but if standing, the child would be about 4" tall. That's why I call this type "4-inch babies." There are a limited number of known poses in this size range.

Most 3-inch babies stand or sitting alone, but others may be pegged to a sled.  The pieces on the left were probably made before 1914. The top baby is pegged to its sled. The other's coat is flocked dark green, and has a slit across his back to hold a place-card. It is very unusual.

Of course, the war interrupted all shipments from Germany, and those snow babies manufactured afterwards there were different in many ways. After WWI, most of the snow baby figures were smaller -- less than 2 inches. Those pieces that are actually babies and children are called  "action babies" for the obvious reason that they are so often doing something, often with another a prop. Once the snow baby craze caught on, it grew rapidly (think baseball cards or beanie babies). They hunt, fish, play sports, ride animals -- I've seen over 500 different poses of these charming, highly collectible figurines.

 In this example, a tiny baby hides warily under an ice ledge while a "fierce" polar bear threatens above. This is a particularly desirable piece. It stands  1.78 inches tall.

Although snow babies are usually snowed (they have bisque bits stuck to their clothing), some are not; logic prevailing, those pieces are called "no-snows."  The no-snows aren't always as treasured, but some, as you can see here,  are remarkably well designed and painted. 

A few paragraphs above I mentioned that snow babies are usually children. Here is an exception that proves the rule. These comical snowmen  were probably made in the 1920s or 1930s.

Bisque Santas from the same period are also considered snow babies, and it is surprising how many different entirely different Santa poses were made in Germany in the 20s and 30s. Most are 1.5 to 2 inches. A few early pieces are much larger and very rare. Many snow baby collectors restrict their collecting to Santas.

Without at least a few words about snow baby animals this page would not be complete. This group of three was purchased with their original 1920s price tickets from a Portland Oregon department store. Who could hope for better documentation!