New Trend: Gnomes On the Lawn Grass
by
Alex Russel, All About Lawns Columnist
According to a recent article in the Westchester Journal,
garden gnomes are becoming a popular fixture on more and more lawns.
And quite a few eccentric sideshows are coming from their newfound
ubiquity. The most surprising recent case was in
Leavenworth Kansas. According to Fox News, Police found a grass section
of the city's Haven's Park bizarrely adorned with 50 garden gnomes,
three chimineas, two hammocks, three lawn chairs, yard lights and other
items.
Gnome On The Park Grass All these items, police said, had been
reported missing from neighborhood lawns. Even shrubs taken from a
nearby nursery school were found planted at the site of what police are
calling the lawn gnome thief's "safe haven."
"It's the
strangest thing I've seen," Detective Sgt. Robert Mendoza told the
local paper. "Nobody's seen anybody up in the area."
Gnome Is Star On TV Much of the lawn gnome's newly found
popularity is thanks to the online travel company Travelocity's new ad
campaign. The site's Roaming Gnome first made an appearance in January
with photos capturing him cliff-diving in Mexico, skiing the Alps, and
dining in Quebec. Since then, he's been reporting back to former owner
Bill, offering travel tips (in a vaguely British accent).
Thanks Travelocity, says retailer Lillian Vernon of Rye, New york. This
year, 14,000 lawn gnomes have marched out of the company's
headquarters. Or as spokesman David Hochberg puts it, sales of the
hand-painted statuettes are up 25 percent. He also credits their
popularity to the Travelocity campaign, but mentions the Lord of the
Rings movies, and the gnome in the French art house hit, Amelie, which
amusingly travels the world as well.
Gnome On the Lawn According to the Westchester Journal, lawn
gnomes today usually come in concrete, plastic, or stoneware, and in a
variety of fanciful poses. On Krupps.com, they range from 8 inches to 3
feet, are priced from $24.95 to $369, and are accompanied by mushrooms,
birds, mice, wind chimes, flutes, playing cards or lanterns, depending
on what style or pose goes best with your lawn.
But be
careful leaving your gnome alone on the grass. Martin Elliott, founder
of freethegnomes.com, is livid about by the "recent spike in gnome
activity."
"They're held against their will, forced to stand
hours on end without any pay," he charges. Don't be surprised if your
poor gnome is, you know, "liberated."
Source
About the Author
Alex Russel is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn, NY. Since
graduating from Syracuse University he has worked at many different
media companies in fields as diverse as film, TV, advertising, and
journalism. He holds a dual bachelor's degree in English and History.
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