The first garden gnomes were made in Gräfenroda,a town known for its ceramics in Thuringia, Germany in the mid-1800s. Philip Griebel made terracotta animals as decorations, and produced gnomes based on local myths as a way for people to enjoy the stories of the gnomes' willingness to help in the garden at night. The garden gnome quickly spread across Germany and into France and England, and wherever gardening was a serious hobby. Gnome manufacture spread across Germany with numerous other large and small manufacturers coming into and out of the business, each one having its own particular style of design. World War II was hard on the industry and most producers gave up then. Griebel's descendants still make them and are the last of the German producers, all others having moved production to Poland or China. Currently, there are an estimated 25 million garden gnomes in Germany.
Garden gnomes have become a popular accessory in many gardens. They are often the target of pranks, known collectively as gnoming: people have been known to return garden gnomes "to the wild", most notably France's "Front de Liberation des Nains de Jardins" and Italy's "MALAG" (Garden Gnome Liberation Front). Some kidnapped garden gnomes have been sent on trips around the world (the travelling gnome prank; this later became the basis for Travelocity's "Roaming Gnome"). In 2008, a 53-year-old French man in Brittany was arrested on suspicion of stealing upwards of 170 garden gnomes.
The practice of stealing garden gnomes is also sometimes referred to as "Gnome Hunting".
It has been suggested by some scholars that the garden gnome is a descendant of the Greco-Roman fertility god Priapus, whose statue was often found in ancient gardens. -Added November 30, 2008
Fun Face Cam lets you take hilarious free instant webcam photos online with our easy to use web-based flash webcam photobooth app. Turn your webcam into an online carnival photobooth- snap funny pictures of your face in various cut-out frames and scenes, right from any web browser. Try different hairstyles; see yourself in vintage lp covers; swap your face on another body; create profile pics, social messages and avatars for myspace or facebook; save a fun cam snapshot and send it to your friends via email. Embed your picture on your myspace, facebook, profile, blog or website. Superimpose your face and see yourself with a crazy hairdo with your webcam. No registration required, no software to buy or install. Capture zany wacky portrait photos with your webcam right from your browser online, on our web pages in seconds. Adjust brightness, hue, saturation, contrast, color settings easily to match skin tone to overlay. Rotate, zoom, scale, flip your webcam video. Order and buy your funny self-portrait cam photos on mugs, magnets, cards, stickers, buttons, pins, and other merchandise. Rate and comment on your silly pictures. Share with friends and post to profiles and blogs instantly. Have a laugh and play with our easy to use webcam photobooth app online now! Totally free and safe for work. Saved snapshots are hosted free online. New frames added regularly- snap a funny face now!
Report this
