Whimsical garden gnomes remain popular

Apparently, the practice of placing statues in gardens began in Rome. These statues were not of gnomes but Priapus, a Greco-Roman fertility god. Since we want our gardens to be fertile, this makes sense.

These statues began to change in the Renaissance as statues of gnomes began to appear in the gardens of the rich, symbolizing not only fertility, but also laughter and whimsy. Technically, these statues fall into the category called “grotesques”. The grotesques were the result of a strange mixture of monster qualities with a little insight or empathy thrown in for good measure. Characters such as Gollum from “Lord of the Rings”, the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Frankenstein’s monster also fell into the grotesque category.

Our first example of a description of gnomes as having magical powers came from a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance named Paraclesus, who described them as “figures diminished by two steps in height who did not like to mix with humans.” Just FYI, a span is the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the little finger when the hand is outstretched.

Towards the end of the 16th century, gnomes constructed from wood and porcelain gained popularity in European gardens. However, it was in Germany that these garden statues began to be associated with stories and superstitions about the ability of gnomes to help in mines or farms.

Although there seems to be some disagreement about this next bit of history, it appears that it was a German company that began producing and selling the first commercial garden gnomes around 1842. These statues were called Gartenzwerge (dwarfs of garden).

In 1847, Sir Charles Isham brought 21 terracotta gnomes to his home in Great Britain to be placed in the garden of his estate, known as Lamport Hall. Eventually, his house was converted into a center for culture and education, where the only remaining gnome is still on display. This particular gnome’s name is Lampy and he is insured for over $1 million. That’s a tidy sum for what is considered the oldest garden gnome in the world.

Gnomes continued to grow in popularity, but received an incredible boost to the mainstream when the movie “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was released in the 1930s. I think many of us can still name all seven dwarfs. Unfortunately, the arrival of the Second World War decreased the production of garden gnomes as the world had other priorities.

Gnome production increased in the 1970s with the creation of various gnomes designed to produce a laugh or a laugh from the viewer. Apparently, in the 1990s, it was fun to prank someone who had a garden gnome by removing the gnome and photographing it in a different location. After the hilarity died down, the gnomes were hopefully returned home.

Originally, garden gnomes were typically male characters with beards who usually wore a red hat and smoked or held a pipe. Back in the day, most gnomes were about 2 meters tall, but today, you can find a gnome to your taste that does almost anything (some on the salty side, if you like) and in a variety of sizes. As a statement of their popularity, in 2008, it was noted that there were more than 25 million garden gnomes in Germany.

It is difficult to imagine why, but there was a period of time in which gnomes were banned from the gardens of the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in the United Kingdom. Apparently, he felt that the gnomes detracted from the garden. I can see a garden purist having this view, but seriously, gnomes can be fun. Maybe they were stealing attention from the flowers.

Garden gnome enthusiasts accused the flower show of elitism and snobbery, as garden gnomes were very popular with the working class at the time. Ultimately, the Chelsea Flower Show was withdrawn, and the ban on the garden gnome was lifted in 2013.

The bottom line is if you want a gnome in your garden, put a gnome in your garden. Personally, I have a pink flamingo planting that might be quite capricious for my garden, but if you’re in the market for a gnome, there’s a gnome for just about every taste and even some that are a little less tasteful. I gave one of our sons-in-law a garden gnome that is a tyrannosaurus that eats on garden gnomes. Like I said, there is something for everyone. See you in the garden.