Why Do We Build Snowmen?

As winter settles in, there’s one expected sight in places lucky enough to see snow—snowmen. From children decorating them with hats and carrot noses to giant sculptures of fan-favorite characters, where there is snow, there will be snowmen. There’s even a competition show based around building the most impressive frosty structures.

But why do we build snowmen specifically? (Or snowwomen, if that’s more to your taste.) What compels us to mold snow into our image? The answer is more varied and steeped in history than you might think.

Snowmen as Self-Expression
From Protest to Whimsical Winter Tradition

Snowmen as Self-Expression

“Man has always had that primal instinct to make selfies. We love ourselves!” Bob Eckstein, a writer and cartoonist who spent seven years searching for the earliest depiction of a snowman, told the BBC. In his book The History of the Snowman, he shares details of a sketch found in the margins of a Christian prayer book from 1380. He theorizes that the reasons behind snow art may be narcissistic in nature: “Centuries ago, building snowmen was a chance for people to express themselves, with free art supplies dropping from the sky in front of their doorstep… It may be the only chance for someone to make a life-size statue of themselves,” he said.

As this is a doodle in an unrelated book rather than a diagram in a snowman-specific text, it suggests that snowmen may have been created even further back than 1380, as they were well-known enough for someone to draw one passively. However, with snow melting and snowmen disappearing in the spring, these ancient creations are lost to time.

From Protest to Whimsical Winter Tradition

Records of snowmen being used as tools in conflict, however, are more well documented. “The Miracle of 1511” was a retaliatory protest conducted by the peasants of Brussels against the ruling House of Habsburg. Social unrest, wealth gaps, and a “Winter of Death” in which temperatures remained below freezing for six straight weeks fueled the creation of approximately 110 lewd and satirical snowmen that littered the city. These acted both as a way to show the people’s true feelings and provided a spark of joy in an otherwise bleak and turbulent time.

As time has passed, snowmen have taken on a much more whimsical nature and become part of many winter traditions. Zürich, for example, holds a spring festival called Sechseläuten every year. The festival, which dates back to the 16th century, acts as the Swiss version of Groundhog Day and ends with the burning of a snowman effigy known as the Böögg. (The term is believed to have its roots in the English word boogeyman.) When it burns, the head of the fake snowman eventually explodes, and it’s thought that the faster this happens, the better summer will be. Anything over 15 minutes is considered bad luck.

Snowmen have always been synonymous with humanity; they have acted as a reflection of us—our politics, our battles, our family, and our holidays—for as long as snow has fallen and will likely continue to for years to come.

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