Musical snow globes combine two of the most delightful and easily enjoyed segments of modern life: the availability of our favorite tunes at the touch of a button and the swirl of snow on any day of the year. Since the late Nineteenth Century these two marvels have been available to children of all ages as presents and seasonal decorations.
The first great attribute of this collectible is the localized snow storm that gradually stills into calm. A shake of the snow globe and a blizzard of snow flakes surround the subject in the globe. If no further agitation is applied, the snow drifts down to the ground, where it reflects light and makes the snow scene even more realistic. There it stays until the slightest movement stirs it up, just like a light wind within the scene, or a vigorous shake of the musical snow globe begins the whole process over again.
Some snow globes use materials other than “snow” to create clouds of movement in the liquid inside the globe. Tine plastic shapes are sometimes used fr appropriate subjects, like flowers, hearts or paw prints. Glitter is a popular alternative to snow, and a snow globe may have one or several colors of glitter. These other forms of flitter are cute, but they do not make the inside scene a snow landscape like the white flitter does. Some snow globes are made so the non-snow flitter is invisible when it has fallen to the bottom, either by having the base of the scene be the same color as the flitter, or by having a recessed channel where the flitter comes to rest. Flitter that lands on the figures in the scene remains visible, however.
The second great feature of these collectibles is the music. Music boxes have been made for a long time, and some are small enough to fit in the base of music snow globes. The older versions must be wound with a key, and begin plating the music when the key is released, a switch is changed from off to on, or the snow globe is picked up. Modern music buttons are very small and contain their own battery power source, so no key is required. They can undoubtedly be fit into snow globes to be activated by manual switch or pressure switch.
Most common is the musical Christmas snow globe. Such snow globes play a Christmas carol or a song about snow or the winter. For globes using non-snow flitter, the range of snow globe music opens up to any recognizable tune of twenty to thirty bars. Music boxes at this size seldom play an entire song, but give you the main theme only. With the right scene and flitter, any popular song can become a musical globe.
The scenes inside the Christmas musical snow globe vary from outdoor scenes of villages, castles and famous buildings to indoor scenes of old fashioned toy stores to Christmas scenes of every period. Santa and snowmen are favorite characters, as well as the one horse sleigh. Modern glass snow globes may also feature Disney characters, as well as other cartoon characters and advertising mascots. Colleges and universities can get their logo or mascot made into a snow globe for sale in the school bookstore.
The world of musical snow globes is ever expanding, so select a section of this collectible category and start your own collection. You and the other children will enjoy it immensely.
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