STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) – There are many questions in the world that almost seem impossible to answer. Bob Eckstein set out on a mission to answer one of those many questions.
“So I was thinking about like ‘who made the first sandwich’ or ‘who told the first joke,’ and luckily I chose ‘who made the first snowman,” Eckstein told Eyewitness News.
He dedicated years of his life becoming the only snowman expert in the world and learning where the snowman originated.
“The snowman’s history dated back to the middle ages at a time when snowman making was a very popular activity because it was a chance to express themselves in a time where they couldn’t otherwise,” Eckstein explained.
Snowman-making went from an art form to be used in advertising and it is now a melting tradition.
“I think of the snowman as possibly a poster boy for global warming, possibly the snowman could represent issues of the day now,” Eckstein said.
Eckstein will hold a presentation in Stroudsburg on the history of the snowman. The community has snowmen throughout the town decorated by local artists.
“They go from floral to, I can’t even explain half of them. They’re just beautiful. In reality, they’re doing 5 or 6 paintings on one snowman with one theme,” Jim Evanisko, owner of hte Gamut Art Gallery, said.
The decorated snowmen are getting people more involved in their community.
“From here until March, most of the stores don’t do well. And now that we have the snowmen, there’s more people coming about. It’s really going to pick up the economy here,” Evanisko said.
If you would like to learn more about the history of the snowman, you can attend Eckstein’s event at the Stroud Mansion Thursday at 7pm. You can visit his collection of snowmen at the Gamut Art Gallery on North 8th Street in Stroudsburg.
