Project 366...
Dec. 21st, 2008 01:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deltamissAfter today there are only TEN MORE DAYS UNTIL I FINISH PROJECT 366! TEN, PEOPLE! Woohoo! Seriously, there were days - weeks even - that I wanted to just quit.
Someone on flickr posted a cute Santa photo. It made me wish I'd put out my Santa collection, but there are soooooo many of them and I'd have to unpack and repack...not enough candy for the dime. Maybe next year.
What I DID do today is take pictures of the faces of a few of my Santas. I noticed how similar the expressions are - Thomas Nast's image has been recreated time and again, but the expression is almost always the same no matter who produces it. The gentle face and red suit that we know didn't appear until Nast illustrated the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore. It's strange to realize that icons of our culture have not been around forever and a day. ;)
The first face seems to be a blend of a baby's face with an old man's - at least to me. It's a tree topper that perched atop many trees over the years, and has collected a little dust from use. 'Santa Baby'...
Next up is a sculptured Santa - heavy as lead. The style reminds me of an art movement, but I can't quite decide which. Impressionism, maybe? 'His eyes - how they twinkled'...
![](https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/3125341344_1178b7a982.jpg?v=0")
In 1989 or 1990, Maureen gave me a set of roly-poly sculpted Santas that represent various countries. Here's the one for Spain. 'Feliz Navidad'...
I swear I'd never noticed the goofy expression on this Santa's face until I took the picture. Seriously goofy! He was a gift from the mother of Maureen's best friend in high school.
Another of Maureen's contributions to the collection. She ordered this from QVC without my knowledge. I still don't know how a thirteen-year-old girl without a credit card managed to place an order, but she did. Santa is playing a violin. He comes with a music stand and sheet music. 'The Fiddler'...
For many years I worked part time in an antique/gift shop owned by a friend. She began selling Santa Claus figurines after I showed her some I'd bought elsewhere. She thanked me three years later when her Santas were flying off the shelves. :D This one is a baseball playing Santa. He's wearing a uniform and holding a bat and ball. Something about him reminds me of Babe Ruth. Maybe it's the red face. The Babe liked his libations. ;) 'Cheeks like roses...nose like a cherry'...
If there is one universal image of Santa Claus's face, this has to be it. So very typical. But the costume of this tree topper is very different. He's wearing a sparkly white robe trimmed in fur. 'Ho, Ho, Ho'...
I love the exposed top half of this Santa's face. It's very realistic. But I've never been able to get his beard to lie down enough to see his mouth. There IS a mouth under the 'Bushy Beard'...
There are a few expensive Santas in my collection from nice gift shops or department stores, but most of them are not. This is one of my favorites, and he came from WalMart! He is made of fabric papier maché. His coat is brown with green trim, his vest red and his pants blue - all muted colors. There's a holly branch with berries stuck on the side of his hat. He's my 'Mountain Santa'...
The next (and last - I heard that sigh!) is my favorite of all. He's from WalMart, too. Definitely an inhabitant of the Far North, he wears a bear coat and hat and carries snowshoes and a large leather pouch. His beard is in a perpetual state of disarray from the cold wind, but his expression is the sweetest of all. Photo of the Day...'Sweet Santa'...
There are dozens and dozens more Santas in the collection - all shapes, sizes, colors, uses and themes. Some are handmade, but most are store-bought. I haven't added to the collection the last two years and probably won't again. What I really should do is donate them to the local library or Arts Council, but I've decided to let Melanie do that when I'm gone. Who knows? Maybe one of the grands will want them someday.
Someone on flickr posted a cute Santa photo. It made me wish I'd put out my Santa collection, but there are soooooo many of them and I'd have to unpack and repack...not enough candy for the dime. Maybe next year.
What I DID do today is take pictures of the faces of a few of my Santas. I noticed how similar the expressions are - Thomas Nast's image has been recreated time and again, but the expression is almost always the same no matter who produces it. The gentle face and red suit that we know didn't appear until Nast illustrated the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore. It's strange to realize that icons of our culture have not been around forever and a day. ;)
The first face seems to be a blend of a baby's face with an old man's - at least to me. It's a tree topper that perched atop many trees over the years, and has collected a little dust from use. 'Santa Baby'...
Next up is a sculptured Santa - heavy as lead. The style reminds me of an art movement, but I can't quite decide which. Impressionism, maybe? 'His eyes - how they twinkled'...
In 1989 or 1990, Maureen gave me a set of roly-poly sculpted Santas that represent various countries. Here's the one for Spain. 'Feliz Navidad'...
I swear I'd never noticed the goofy expression on this Santa's face until I took the picture. Seriously goofy! He was a gift from the mother of Maureen's best friend in high school.
Another of Maureen's contributions to the collection. She ordered this from QVC without my knowledge. I still don't know how a thirteen-year-old girl without a credit card managed to place an order, but she did. Santa is playing a violin. He comes with a music stand and sheet music. 'The Fiddler'...
For many years I worked part time in an antique/gift shop owned by a friend. She began selling Santa Claus figurines after I showed her some I'd bought elsewhere. She thanked me three years later when her Santas were flying off the shelves. :D This one is a baseball playing Santa. He's wearing a uniform and holding a bat and ball. Something about him reminds me of Babe Ruth. Maybe it's the red face. The Babe liked his libations. ;) 'Cheeks like roses...nose like a cherry'...
If there is one universal image of Santa Claus's face, this has to be it. So very typical. But the costume of this tree topper is very different. He's wearing a sparkly white robe trimmed in fur. 'Ho, Ho, Ho'...
I love the exposed top half of this Santa's face. It's very realistic. But I've never been able to get his beard to lie down enough to see his mouth. There IS a mouth under the 'Bushy Beard'...
There are a few expensive Santas in my collection from nice gift shops or department stores, but most of them are not. This is one of my favorites, and he came from WalMart! He is made of fabric papier maché. His coat is brown with green trim, his vest red and his pants blue - all muted colors. There's a holly branch with berries stuck on the side of his hat. He's my 'Mountain Santa'...
The next (and last - I heard that sigh!) is my favorite of all. He's from WalMart, too. Definitely an inhabitant of the Far North, he wears a bear coat and hat and carries snowshoes and a large leather pouch. His beard is in a perpetual state of disarray from the cold wind, but his expression is the sweetest of all. Photo of the Day...'Sweet Santa'...
There are dozens and dozens more Santas in the collection - all shapes, sizes, colors, uses and themes. Some are handmade, but most are store-bought. I haven't added to the collection the last two years and probably won't again. What I really should do is donate them to the local library or Arts Council, but I've decided to let Melanie do that when I'm gone. Who knows? Maybe one of the grands will want them someday.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-21 06:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-21 07:33 pm (UTC)Many thanks to Nast for the red suit, but I love Haddon Sundblom's Santas best. So plump, jolly, and human.
Our children grew up surrounded by Santas. I even had a custom suit made for their father and purchased him a quality wig, beard, and gray eyebrows from a costuming shop. He needed padding back then... We would have so much fun delivering gifts.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:15 am (UTC)Ah, yes...Haddon Sundblom...Coca Cola Santa! :D
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-23 07:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-21 09:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-21 10:13 pm (UTC)LOL
How about a Santa table with your favourites?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:19 am (UTC)These are some of the larger Santas that sit covered on a shelf in the hall closet. They were easy to pull out. The others are wrapped and packed away in boxes. LOL!
That would be a great idea - the table - only I don't have a spare one. LOL! Remember, I live in a tiny apartment. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-21 10:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:19 am (UTC)I'll make it. There's light at the end of the tunnel now. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-21 11:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 03:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 01:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 03:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 08:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 10:24 am (UTC)