Gnome Collecting
The oldest gnomes I own are (listed by their birthdays):
The Gnome Crossing Sign with Swifty 2 - 10 - 79
Santa 9 -25 - 80
Blackie 10 - 1 - 81
Rumpkin 10 - 1 - 81
Cornelia 10 -31 -81
Frosty 12 - 1 - 81
Boots 12 - 1 - 82
Eggbert 4 - 1 - 82
Uncle Sam 5 - 31 - 82
The first gnome I bought was O'Brien in Lake Charles, LA in the mid 1970's. He reminded me of Brooks--comfortable, at peace with himself and a downright nice guy. The salesman knew the stories of all the gnomes and would tell me about each one. When we later moved to Texas one of the first stores we found in our small rural town sold gnomes. We became good friends with the store owners as well as the gnomes. These salespeople were also very good at telling the stories of each gnome. This helped one to fall in love not only with the figure -- but the personality of that figure!
O'Brien started the Irish Gnome Collection of Dublin, McCormick and Blarney. These cute Irish gnomes come out during March to decorate a section of our home.
The first gnome Brooks gave to me was for our 15th wedding anniversary. It was the cute couple named Martha and Jay. It will always have a special meaning for me. He later gave me JP and Violet, a very colorful gnome couple, for our 18th anniversary. I gave him Thank You for our 23rd anniversary.
Kenny was good about saving money to buy his own gnomes. He started with Saturday and Ken and soon included many sports gnomes (Slam Dunk, Basket and Homer) and train gnomes (Stokes, Tank, Cab, Pullman, Cayce and Chief). He later acquired Eenie, Meenie, Minie and Moe. To represent his ability to save money, he picked CD. When Kenny and Melissa married, we gave them Our Wedding.
Dana enjoyed receiving the funny gnomes (Aloe, Bannaman, Peanut, Lilibet, Moore or Les, Edison, Candy, CoCo and Chip). She loved music. She played the piano and was active in drama so Beethoven, Piano, Hamlet and Shakespeare were added to her collection.
I remember Sammy sitting on the piano when Stacye would play. He could also hear her play the violin. When she was in her early 20's, she started wanting to collect more gnomes. Once she started, she was hooked. She was quick to pick Johnny, Willis, Butch, Wick and Biscuit, Letters of the Alphabet, Cornelia, Father Time and Georgia. We gave her and DJ Bride and Groom when they married. She also acquired Lance, McEver, Mugman, Mulligan, Hal, Fiddler, Hogan, Noel, The No Evils, O'Brien, Pawley, Renfield, Shorty, Sugar and Spice, Val and Yule.
Everyone enjoyed giving and receiving gnomes for birthdays and Christmas. We all were "into" collecting. I am left as the most avid collector of the family today but other family members are still interested.
Several gnomes were purchased around holiday themes and used to decorate the house.
Father Time New Year's Day
Hart and Val Valentines's Day
Eggbert and Haredini Easter
Rip Van Winkle, Pokey, Saturday Lazy Summer Days
Sammy, Betsy Ross, Uncle Sam Fourth of July
Ernest, Kernel, Stu Fall and Harvest
Rumpkin, Hal, Witch Hazel,
Pumpkin, Wiz, Cornelia Halloween
Pilgrim, Chief Hollow Horn Bear,
Eleanor and Virginia Dare, Plenty Thanksgiving
Noel, Mr. Claus, Santa, Santa II,
Santa III, Santa IV Christmas
Wynken, Blynken and Nod reminded me of Dana's memorization and recitation of the poem when she was only in the second grade. PaPaw is a reminder of my dad, who we call PaPa.
Because of our interest in snow skiing, we purchased Frosty while on a ski trip in Crested Butte, Colorado and later bought Skibo.
When we moved to Texas, I started to collect the German Stein gnomes: Hops and Fest and Frank. The Western gnomes, Boots, Gabby and Hoppy to represent our newly found love of the West. Now I have added Texas and Davy Crockett.
All of the gnomes with seashells were purchased to decorate the kids bathroom in our home on the Fawnridge. Tim and Randy, Darcy, Skipper, Ernie, Buzzy, Bubbles.
I purchased Holder to hold the outgoing mail and messages. He sits on the kitchen counter and is always at the center of activity. He has really come in handy. Able is a most colorful bookend.
When Dana's artistic talent started to bloom, we got her Claude. My family gave me Betsy Ross for my 46th Birthday to go into my patriotic bathroom.
As Kenny got older he developed an interest in soldiers. He received the Union Soldier from my mother who was born in Pennsylvania (Yankee) and the Confederate Soldier from my dad who was born in Louisiana (Rebel). We also gave him the WWII Soldier to remember that my dad was in WWII.
I have always loved covered bridges and remember seeing them on our many vacations up to Pennsylvania. Therefore I couldn't resist getting Bridges. Dana gave me Computer Friendly and Mom and Dad gave me Friday to commemorate my working with computers. As Brooks started emptying his pockets for college and weddings he acquired Daddy Owe.
Stacye as an adult continued her collection for many years. She used them to decorate her home as well.
Fiddler on the Roof has been a long time favorite musical of the whole family. So Fiddler was proudly purchased to remind us of life--
"trying to scratch out a simple little tune without breaking our necks".
The Forest Gnome was the first gnome I left outside for several days at a time. I followed him with Foster. As I grew older, I started to relax more so Jeff moved into my study. But Race was the one to keep me balanced. Thistle and Eureka came later.
I continue to collect Tom Clark Gnomes that enhance special memories for me and they too become part of my life.
Tom Clark's Cairn Studio