A Whimsical Post About Garden Gnomes

Tiny guy, white beard, red pointy hat, usually dressed in worker’s clothes: these ceramic statues have been frolicking around on lawns, in gardens, and all over the yards of suburban cities all over the world. There’s a garden gnome blog, Gnome Town USA. Travelocity uses one for their official mascot. Meanwhile, the website Free the Gnomes! seems to be out to shut down the rampant spread of the little Tolkienesque statues.

Would you believe all this started in the mid-1880s? That was in Thuringia, Germany, where a ceramics-crafter by the name of Philip Griebel made the first terracotta gnomes, which were originally sold along with a folk myth about how they’d help out in the garden at night (for what? scaring away snails?). They spread across Germany to France, and eventually to England, when Sir Charles Isham brought the first set of 12 along with him on his trip to the UK in 1847.

Their whimsy is so infectious that they’re actually the target of a popular prank, which originated in Australia in the 1980s. Known as “gnoming,” it’s the act of stealing a gnome, photographing it at various famous landmarks, and returning it along with the photos of its “vacation,” as if it suddenly got an itchy foot on its own. According to the Regular

Shorts feature of the Sydney Morning Herald on September 24, 1986: “An Eastern suburbs gnome-owner was distressed when she discovered her gnome had been stolen at the weekend. A note was found in its place: “Dear mum, couldn’t stand the solitude any longer. Gone off to see the world. Don’t be worried, I’ll be back soon. Love Bilbo xxx.” (We told you this was Tolkienesque!).

In fact, the resulting prank group, Garden Gnome Liberation Front, got their start this way. Officially headquartered in France, they were the first to popularize the prank with the rest of the world, and legend has it that that’s where Travelocity got it’s inspiration for their ad campaign.

As for our part, we still think they’re just a hybrid between a Hobbit and a bleached Smurf. Make up your minds, will you?

Tags: Garden Gnomes
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