SNOW GLOBES DEFINED

-  Snow globes have many names:  blizzard weights, snow storms, snow shakers, shakies, water globes, water domes, or snow domes.

-  Snow globes are often blue or black-backed half-domes that feature a figure, water, and snow inside.  They can also be complete spheres resting on a base.

-  Snow domes date back to the late 1800s.  The first was introduced at an exposition in Paris and featured the Eiffel Tower.

-  Early snow domes primarily served as paperweights and advertising premiums, but they gradually caught on as interesting souvenirs and playthings for children.

-  Today, several countries around the world manufacture snow domes from materials such as glass, ceramic, bakelite, lucite, and plastic.

-  The “snow” within the globe can range from white plastic bits to tiny ceramic particles, sand, wax, crushed minerals, or even rice floating in a mixture of water and glycerin.  Not all globes, however, contain designs with falling “snow.”  Some feature pieces of non-tarnishing glitter cut into decorative shapes.

COLLECTIBLE GLOBES

To start collecting these snowy souvenirs, you may wish to choose a favorite category:

-  Theme:  Collect snow globes featuring animals, people, historical settings, tourist spots, military themes, events, advertisements, religious images, or holidays.

-  Characters:  Collect snow globes featuring your favorite cartoon character or other popular icon.

-  Musical:  Collect snow globes which contain music boxes in their bases.  These are often a bit more expensive but typically more valuable.

-  Locations:  Choose globes that feature American tourist attractions or broaden your collection to include locations worldwide.

-  Events:  Hone in on an event that is meaningful to you personally, such as a birthday, historical event, or a presidential election.

-  Shapes:  Find snow globes called “figurals.” whose bases are in the shape of an animal, house, seashell, or other shape.

WHAT TO CONSIDER

-  Leaded glass and ceramic snow globes are more valuable than plastic versions.

-  A globe with cloudy water can be cleaned if it has a plug.  Carefully open the plug, drain the water, and refill the globe with clean, distilled water by using a medicine dropper.

-  Scuffed plastic domes can often be brightened with a polishing kit available at hobby shops.

-  Store globes away from direct sunlight, which can cause the water to become murky and may even melt plastic domes.