The snowman is an important and honorable guest at the New Year's holiday!

It is difficult to imagine the celebration of the New Year without Santa Claus and his faithful companion Snegurochka. And what about the Snowman - who is he, who is this couple, and should we expect gifts from him?

Snowman Story

Few people know, but Santa Claus as a character of the New Year holidays appeared less than 200 years ago. It gained particular popularity in Soviet times thanks to films and cartoons for children. There were not so many entertainments in the Soviet Union, so people focused their attention on anniversaries, birthdays and their favorite holiday - New Year.

The Snowman's story begins at the end of the 14th century. The Book of Hours has reached us, which depicts a snowman being fried on a fire. One theory claims that this symbolizes a situation when winter gives way to spring.

It is known that at the beginning of the 15th century, a sculpture of the Snowman was erected and attracted the attention of a large number of people. She was 120 centimeters tall.

Well-known in our time, Andersen's fairy tale of the same name, which was written quite a long time ago, has been translated into many languages ​​of the world.

Snowman today

Today the snowman is a favorite character. He does not compete with Santa Claus, but complements him. Marketers say that the Snowman personifies youth, so it is well suited for advertising campaigns. The associations that his appearance evokes are great for advertising whiteners, washing powders, toothpastes and other products. Santa Claus, on the contrary, evokes associations only with winter.

In Europe and in the USA, by the way, where Santa Claus is completely unknown, the Snowman is held in high esteem. He has a separate story from Santa.

Surprisingly, the family ties between the Snowman and the Snow Maiden are being questioned. It is considered the granddaughter of Santa Claus, but the Snowman is presented separately. This is not so important, the main thing is that together they are a friendly company!

The largest snowmen

Did you know that unofficial competitions have been held in the world for a long time: who can build the largest figure out of snow. In 1999, a snowman was erected in the American city of Bethel, the height of which was as much as 35 meters. This is incredible! They say he weighed as much as 4,000 tons! Ten years later, the record was broken. In the same city, a 37-meter-high record holder was erected. These achievements were entered in the Guinens Book of Records, they are known all over the world.

And the competition goes to the creation of the smallest snowman. Just before Christmas 2010, a scientist from England created a miniature structure using two pewter peas with a diameter of 0.001 meters. A focused ion beam was used to create the face and smile.

Folk traditions

In our country, children are especially fond of the snowman. It is worth armed with a carrot, and you can assume that the snowman is ready! Here it usually melts when the temperature is above zero. But in China, it is customary to burn a snow structure. It is believed that the more it falls apart, the warmer the summer will be.

Today, snowman figurines, fridge magnets, figurines and other products are extremely popular all over the world.

The celebration of the New Year is not complete without him. It is very simple to invite this hero to visit: just buy a Snowman costume and entrust this role to one of the men. Of course, he can't do it alone. Therefore, do not forget to order the costumes of Santa Claus, Snow Maiden, elves and angels. Saint Nicholas, especially revered in our country.

Dressed in festive outfits, celebrate the New Year, wish each other happiness and health! And at the table, do not forget to tell all the guests the interesting facts about the record-breaking snowmen that you learned from this article!