Most people don’t think of snowmen as having a history, so you may be surprised to know they do.

From early photographs, a famous artist and the largest snowman ever created, snowmen have been a rich part of winter traditions for many years. In some cases they were a means of self expression or a political statement. Read on to find some interesting information you probably didn’t know about snowmen.

Snowmen

The first written account of a snowman was a snowman that appeared in a book from 1380 called, “The Book of Hours”. It featured a snowman melting near a fire.

The First Recorded Snowman

During the Middle Ages, there was very little opportunity for creativity. Snow was viewed as free art supplies that anyone could access. People would create elaborate snow figures that people would stroll through town to visit. In 1494, famous artist Michelangelo, was called by the ruler of Florence to build a snowman in his courtyard.

The Middle Ages

In 1511, Brussels, Belgium, had an extremely cold winter. The local government organized a “snowman festival” and all over the city, people built and decorated snowmen to display their emotions. They were on every street corner. These snowmen were artfully decorated to make statements about church, the government and news events. There were biblical figures, mermaids and even entire scenes where snow people interacted with each other.

Brussels, Belgium

Mary Dillwyn is considered to be the earliest female photographer. She was from Wales. She took the first photograph of a snowman shortly after cameras were invented. Coincidentally, the first photograph of a snowman was also one of the first photos in history.

The First Photo

of a Snowman

The largest snowman ever built was built in Bethel, Michigan. In 1999, they built “Angus, King of the Mountain”. No other cities tried to beat their record, so they did the same again in 2008 and built Olympia who was 122 feet tall. They gave Olympia a 100-foot-long scarf and eyelashes made of skis.

The Largest Snowman

Have you ever considered that people build snowmen differently around the world? North Americans and Europeans usually build snowmen that have three balls of snow placed one on top of the other. Other parts of the world only use two large balls of snow. Some places do not add any accessories to their snowmen, while others add scarves, carrots and stones for eyes and mouth.

Wherever you are, you can agree that sticky snow is the best kind of snow to use for building snowmen.

How Do You Build a Snowman?

Next time you’re building a snowman, you will remember that the tradition of snowmen dates back longer than you may have thought!

Have fun building!