Former key ring

This little plush penguin came to me from Germany thanks to my friends Tim and Nancy Anderson, who bought it on a trip to Berlin. It has a label that calls it a “Button in ear” (Knopf in Ohr) animal. Penguins have no ears, so this one’s label is buttoned to a wing. There was a key ring, which I removed. I was in Berlin later on for about 24 hours and didn’t have any luck finding a penguin ornament. I found a toy shop that made and sold wooden figurines. They had penguins. They had ornaments. Just no penguin ornaments. I also went to the zoo thinking there might be souvenir shops nearby. No such luck. I didn’t actually go in the zoo because it was late in the day, but I think there was a gift shop inside. In all this futile search, I saw a lot of Berlin during my short stay. I’d like to go back and try again.

Steiff “Button in Ear” plush penguin with brownish beak and feet

Acquired: January 24, 2007, gift from Tim and Nancy Anderson

Number: 0356

Size: 4 inches tall

Star button

This felt penguin with a plaid scarf and buttoned on star plays “Jingle Bells.” I must have been on the way back to work from my annual card-mailing expedition to the United Nations. I would walk to Grand Central Terminal to get the Times Square shuttle train and that would take me by Papyrus, the store where I found this ornament. I think the penguin is holding a Christmas stocking on its left wing.

Felt musical penguin that plays “Jingle Bells” with plaid scarf and buttoned on star

Acquired: December 8, 2006, Papyrus, Grand Central Terminal, New York

Number: 0352

Size: 5.5 inches tall

Price: $6.95

Coincidence

It’s nice that these two ornaments follow yesterday’s post. All three probably should have been posted together, but I didn’t realize that until now. I originally had another ornament posted for today, but found out later that I had already posted that penguin in April. (I knew it seemed familiar.) That left a hole in the blog and these two were next up, so here are two more wooden penguin ornaments by the same team that made yesterday’s dangly footed entry. These two I bought about a week later at a different place. I call the one with the Santa hat “Maya” because its static seated pose reminds me of an ancient Mayan sculpture. The tall, slender penguin is one of my favorites because of the beautifully painted holly and bow on its belly.

Erik and Mike carved wood penguin posed like a Mayan statue with red glittery Santa hat, made in Bali, Indonesia

Acquired: December 14, 2006, Vanderbilt Holiday Market, Grand Central Terminal, New York

Number: 354

Size: 3.5 inches tall

Price: $10.00

Erik and Mike elegantly carved wood penguin with painted garland vest

Acquired: December 14, 2006, Vanderbilt Holiday Market, Grand Central Terminal, New York

Number: 355

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $10.00

Footloose

This is a nifty wooden penguin with a hand carved look. Its wings are nailed on and have limited movement. The feet dangle freely from notches in the penguin’s body.

Erik and Mike wooden penguin with dangling feet, made in Bali, Indonesia

Acquired: December 2006, Tabwa, Greenwich Avenue, New York

Number: 0350

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $8.50 

Shine on

I bought identical penguins 100 ornaments and a little over a year apart, one in New York City and the other in the Poconos near my home. This shows how the penguin ornament collection really started to take off around the same time multiple penguin movies were making their rounds. The pace is more like 150 to 175 a year lately which means I’ll probably have more than 1,000 in a couple of years

I actually have a third ornament that matches these two glass emperor parent and chicks. It’s not as shiny because it’s made of plastic, but when the sun goes down and the lights go on, this penguin outshines almost all the others on the tree. 

It’s a light cover that fits over one bulb on a standard string of Christmas lights. I only bought one, but I don’t remember if it’s because I thought it would be too expensive to buy more or if it was the last one at the store in Houston where I found it. It would be nice to have a whole string full of these.

Two Merck Family Old World Christmas glass emperor penguin and chick ornaments with green glitter trim

Acquired: December 6, 2006, Tabwa, Greenwich Ave., New York City

Number: 0349

Size: 2.75 inches tall

Price: $8.50

Acquired: January 9, 2008, Christmas Factory, Marshall’s Creek, Pa.

Number: 0449

Size: 2.75 inches tall

Price: $7.99

Merck Family Old World Christmas plastic light cover

Acquired: September 27, 2008, Christmas Rocks, Houston 

Number: 0508

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $7.99

Fine feathered friends

It might look like these two elegant penguins came from the same place, and they probably did, although I bought them just over a year apart. The black one came from a holiday kiosk named “Jesterbal at Bryant Park in New York. The clerk was on his phone the entire time I was in the shop, so there was a lot of pointing to get this penguin off its hook hanging from the ceiling and into my shopping bag. I don’t think we exchanged more than “How much?” and “$30.” I saw the silver penguin at a different kiosk around the corner from Jesterbal, but for some strange reason I decided not to buy it. The next year, I saw the silver penguin again, probably at Jesterbal again, but I don’t have a receipt that would tell me if it was the same shop. All I remember is that the kiosk was in roughly the same area, and that it was a completely different shopping experience. Instead of an indifferent man on a phone, the second-year store clerk dug through a bunch of boxes looking for the silvery penguin and a couple of others ornaments (one I bought, one I didn’t). Another nice change was how the second-year clerk rounded down on the price after tax. Just for the record, these two penguins probably make it onto my Top 10 favorites list.

Black glittery penguin with feather wings, gold brocade vest and white ribbon bow tie, Katherine’s Collection, made in the Philippines

Acquired: Dec. 4, 2006, Jesterbal, Bryant Park, New York

Number: 0347

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $30

Silver glittery penguin with feather wings, gold brocade vest and white ribbon bow tie, Katherine’s Collection, made in the Philippines

Acquired: Dec. 7, 2007, Probably Jesterbal, Bryant Park, New York

Number: 0435

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $25

Walk in the park

Bryant Park, one of my favorite green spaces in New York City, covers nearly two city blocks behind the Astor Library building. In the warm months its crammed with midtown workers on their lunch breaks. During the holidays it becomes a winter wonderland with a skating rink surrounded by dozens of small gift kiosks. It’s an excellent place to find that hard to find gift and it’s always a good place to find penguins. Here are four similar ornaments that came from two different shops. All could have been personalized for free, but I left them blank except for one “NYC 2006.” I don’t remember if I asked them to write that for me, or if I found an ornament already inscribed. I also don’t remember why I paid so much for them. I guess that’s why the inscriptions were “free.”

Penguin with big red heart and green scarf, Rudolph and Me Inc., made in China

Acquired: December 4, 2006, Santa’s Pen/Workshop, Bryant Park, New York

Number: 0344

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $15.99

Kissing penguins under snow-covered heart, Rudolph and Me Inc., made in China

Acquired: December 4, 2006, Santa’s Pen/Workshop, Bryant Park, New York

Number: 0345

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $12.99

Family of six penguins with wire skates, Rudolph and Me Inc., made in China

Acquired: December 4, 2006, Santa’s Pen/Workshop, Bryant Park, New York

Number: 0346

Size: 3.5 inches tall by 4 inches wide

Price: $17.99

Ceramic penguin with string of Christmas stockings, Panel Trim Inc.

Acquired: December 4, 2006, Bryant Park, New York

Number: 0348

Size: 3.75 inches tall

Recurring roles

These three penguins, who are building an ice fortress and stocking up on snowy ammunition, seem to show up every year at Hallmark even though they are identified as an official series. I’ve got a some of the others including a miniature set with them sledding (posted last month here), one where they are fishing, another where they are caroling, and a new one from this year hanging their Christmas stockings on a fireplace made of ice blocks. All are created by the Hallmark artist Kristina Kline-Gaughran. Snow Fort Fun is an action ornament. Press a lever and the penguin out front spins as if throwing one of the snowballs.

Snow Fort Fun

Acquired: Dec. 3, 2006, Amanda’s Hallmark, the Commons of Holmdel, N.J.

Number: 0343

Size: 2 inches tall by 3.75 inches long

Price: $15

Chilly Fishing Fun

Acquired: Oct. 5, 2007, Jay’s Hallmark, Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York

Number: 0382

Size: 2.75 inches tall by 2.75 inches wide

Price: $12.50

Subzero Serenade

Acquired: Nov. 30, 2009, Jay’s Hallmark, Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York

Number: 0744

Size: 3.25 inches wide

Price: $12.50

A Fishy Wish

Acquired: July 16, 2010, Jill’s Hallmark, Broadheadsville, Pa.

Number: 0784

Size:2.5 inches tall, 2.75 inches wide

Price: $14.95

What’s in a name?

It would be impossible for me to say which of my hundreds of penguin ornaments is my favorite, but I can say that this one has the best name: The Emperor’s New Threads. Not all of the ornaments have names, but most of the Christopher Radko penguins come with descriptive titles. I have to say that this ornament would be near the top if I ever made a list of my favorites. It’s also the last of the 26 ornaments I bought when I went for a just a look at Macy’s after I missed my train one evening.

The Emperor’s New Threads by Christopher Radko

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0342

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $48

Bearing gifts

Carrying that tall stack of presents looks like it might be a real workout for such a small penguin, but he seems to have everything under control.

Pretty Precarious by Christopher Radko

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0341

Size: 6 inches tall

Price: $48

Belly boarding

Looks like a whole new sport, where you find a friendly polar bear and then convince him to let you ride on his belly down a snowy slope. Looks like both are having a lot of fun — lmost as much fun as I had browsing around Macy’s Holiday Square department filling baskets with fantastic penguin ornaments like this one.

Luxury Luge by Christopher Radko, penguin riding on a polar bear’s belly

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0340

Size: 4 inches tall, 5 inches long

Price: $52

Big hat

It’s a good thing that most of the ornaments were marked down at the big shopping spree at Macy’s in 2006. It helped offset the money I spent on several Christopher Radko ornaments that day. Here is a classic example of the fine work that comes from the people at Radko. I’ll let it speak for itself.

Penny Proper Topper by Christopher Radko

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0339

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Price: $43

Big year

It looks like 2006 was a big year for these little penguins. They’re ready for the holidays with lots of presents, a big red and green candy cane and a decorated Christmas tree. Zoom in to see the signature Christopher Radko star on the metal hanging cap, and while you’re at it, check out those Radko eyelashes. Notice how the beaded hanging string looks like a continuation of the gold garland that wraps around behind the top penguin and down the back of the number 6.

A Year for Cheer, Christopher Radko 2006 ornament

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0338

Size: 4 inches tall by 5.75 inches wide

Price: $48 (no discount) 

Penguin of mystery

I have all the penguin ornaments catalogued on index cards, and when I got to this one there was no corresponding photo. Searching on my laptop for number 0335 found nothing. Finally, I organized the photos by date knowing that I had shot all the glass ornaments around the same time. Sure enough, their was a photo with a blank name. Somehow I guess I had deleted it accidentally, so it no longer showed up where it should have been. Now I’ve got another mystery to solve: the index card says “335 (same as —)“ but doesn’t say which number. I’m tired of looking, so stay tuned.

Parent and baby emperor penguins with silver glitter trim, made in Poland

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0335

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $9.60 (40 percent off)

Bow Brummell

Dressed in typical penguin black and white fashion, this penguin will almost surely stand out from the crowd with a spiffy red polka dot bow tie.

Small glass penguin, formally attired with red bow tie, made in Poland

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0336

Size: 2.5 inches tall

Price: $4.20 (40 percent off)

Italian style

The pointed tail is a feature common on blown glass ornaments from Italy, but only one of these ornaments is Italian. The one on top with the black bowtie and red pointed beak was made in the Czech Republic. The penguin with the red felt bowtie and hat is from the Soffieria de Carlini near Milan, a soffieria being a glass blowing factory. It’s hard to explain the difference in price between these two ornaments. They are both very nice ornaments. Even without the discount on the Czech ornament, the cost of the Italian ornament was at least three times the price of the other one.

Blown glass penguin with pointed tail, black bow tie and red beak, made in Czech Republic

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0332

Size: $3.75 inches tall

Price: $6 (40 percent off)

Blown glass Soffieria de Carlini penguin with pointed tail, red bow tie and hat, and rhinestone eyes, made in Italy

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0334

Size: $ inches tall

Price: $30 (full price)

Keeping warm

A red hood-like hat and a pink, gold and green scarf with gold glittery trim look like they should fend off the wintry cold. When you see a penguin dressed this way, you know it’s got to be cold outside. I made them take this ornament off one of the display trees at Macy’s because it was the last one of its kind.

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0331

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $2.99 (40 percent off)

Steel springs

These two round-bodied penguins, one flying, one skiing, have springy feet and wings, and both are decked out in snowy white with mesh scarves.

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0328, 0329

Size: 4 inches head to toe

Price: $4.20 each (40 percent off)

Polka dots

These penguins are definitely not from a matching set, but I have them together because their polka dot scarves are so much alike. The roly-poly one has heavy rubber feet attached at the bottom that allow him to stand on his own despite the protruding belly.

Medium glass penguin with red polka dot scarf, made in Czech Republic

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0326

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $5.40 (40 percent off)

Big round glass penguin with red polka scarf and heavy rubber feet, made in China

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0327

Size: 5.75 inches tall

Price: $9 (40 percent off)

Buy me?

Cute, right? I mean, with that cocked head and the expression imploring you to pull this penguin off the shelf and take him home, it’s like a puppy in a pet store window. The frosty face and belly are nicely done. I don’t know what the penguin is holding under his right wing. It might be the tip of a candy cane, but I can’t make it out in the photo. I keep finding details like this when I look at the closeup shots of the ornaments. Another detail on this ornament can be seen in the silver areas, particularly on the scarf. Fine glass ornaments like this one are painted silver or coated with actual silver on the inside. That’s what makes all the other colors on the outside so brilliant.

Glass penguin with cocked head, made in Czech Republic

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0325

Size: 3.25 inches tall

Price: $7.20 (40 percent off)

Good and plenty

Not only did I get a lot of ornaments in my Macy’s shopping spree, I got a lot of really nice ones. This little penguin with a red glittery hat, perched on a chuck of ice or snow, is made in Germany. You know, the Germans make good stuff.

Glass penguin with red glittery Santa hat on a block of snow or ice

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0324

Size: 4.25 inches tall

Price: $12.50 (full price)

Mix ’n’ match

Some of the penguin ornament manufacturers have figured it out. You can sell me the same ornament twice if you mix things up a little bit on the colors. I like to see a little more variety when I get a set of ornaments, but that doesn’t stop me from buying repainted repeats. I mean, how could I pick one over the other from this pair?

Shiny glass penguins with variously colored hats and scarves, made in Germany

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0321 0322

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $7.50 each (40 percent off)

Jingle all the way

The heads and bodies of these three spiffed up dudes are jingle bells. They make a lot of noise and, thanks to the bow ties and top hats, they make a big, colorful splash on the tree.

Three jingle bell penguins

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0318 0319 0320

Size: 4.5 to 4.75 inches tall

Price: $14.40

Stepping up

You’ve already seen four of the 26 ornaments that I bought one evening at Macy’s when I missed my train home, then missed another and another as I filled four big shopping bags with penguins. You can see those here and here and here. This week and probably most of next week you can see the rest of the haul. Here’s one of them along with a matching penguin that I bought a year later, yes, back at Macy’s again.

There’s something to be said for a simple design that is done well. There’s nothing fancy about this black and white pair of ceramic penguins, one looking to its side, the other taking a step up with one foot. They are just elegant.

Ivory colored stepping penguin with black feet

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0317

Size: 3.75n inches tall

Price: $3.60 (40 percent off)

Ivory-colored penguin glancing to one side

Acquired: December 19, 2007, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0438

Size: 3.5 inches tall

Price: $3 (50 percent off)

Swinging on a star

An Eskimo and a little blue penguin ride high on a clear plastic star. It looks a lot like a Hallmark ornament, but I found it at Target.

Home@Target star ornament

Acquired: Nov. 25, 2006, Target, Middletown, N.J.

Number: 316

Size: 3.5 inches tall

Price: $3.99

Little village

Oops. I went away for the weekend and left my laptop on my desk at work. All the penguin photos are there or I could have figured out a way to post penguin ornaments while I was away. Yes, I have them backed up, but on my desktop computer at home. Lot of good that did me. I figured out how to schedule a post for a date that has already past, so I can get the daily time stamp on the weekend postponed posts. Here a snowman and a penguin meet in the middle of a village painted on an egg-shaped, frost-covered open globe. You get a good view of the village through the clear back of the globe.

Home@Target penguin and snowman skaters

Acquired: Nov. 25, 2006, Target, Middletown, N.J.

Number: 315

Size: 3.5 inches tall

Price: $3.99

On Target

Here’s a nice glass ornament that I found on a trip to Target, which always has penguin ornaments, not to mention penguin plates, penguin towels and a lot of other penguin items for the home. And not just at Christmas. Sometimes I think I should wear blinders when I go to Target to avoid the penguin temptations.

Glass penguin with small Christmas tree, a red, gold and green scarf, a red hood and gold earmuffs

Acquired: Nov. 25, 2006, Target, Middletown, N.J.

Number: 0314

Size: 3.25 inches tall

Price: $2.99

Natural wonder

It’s always fun to find any penguin ornament anywhere, but once in a while you find an extraordinary ornament in the most unexpected place. I was at the Museum of Natural History in New York with my niece Becky and our friends Steve and Ian Rogers. I thought I might find a simple little figurine in the gift shop that I could hang on the tree. Instead, they had this bead-and-sequin-covered beauty that looks like something that came from an upscale boutique.

Bead and sequin emperor penguin

Acquired: November 11, 2006, American Museum of Natural History

Number: 0301

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Price: $14

Milestone

Ornament No. 300 is one of my favorites. It looks like a teething ring, except for those tiny dangling parts that would be horrible choking hazards. Too bad, because this ornament could keep a baby busy for hours. The wings are attached with springs and the jingle bells make a racket at even the slightest touch. It makes me happy just to see and touch it. Thanks to ornaments like this one, I go out of my way to stop at Cracker Barrel around Christmas time, even if I don’t get anything to eat.

Jingly penguin that looks like a teething ring

Acquired: September 4, 2006, Cracker Barrel, St. Augustine, Fla.

Number: 300

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $2.99

Pop goes the penguin!

You can’t close the lid, there’s no crank and no music, but this penguin is mounted on a spring and it wiggles like a jack-in-the-box clown when you shake it. Cracker Barrel came through with another excellent penguin ornament. It was a real bargain too. But wait ‘til you see tomorrow’s penguin, also from Cracker Barrel.

Jack-in-the-box penguin

Acquired: September 4, 2006, Cracker Barrel, St. Augustine, Fla.

Number: 0299

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $3.99

Dancing with the penguin stars

I bought two pairs of dancing penguin ornaments in separate trips to Noël Eternel in Montreal in 2006 and 2009. I call them dancing penguins because they seem to dressed for a night on the town and they’ve got some fancy footwork going on. I love the tangle of Christmas lights in the early pair. And  the tutus worn by both of the females are fantastic.

Designers Studio, Kansas City, pair of grinning, dancing penguins with strings of Christmas lights

Acquired: September 11, 2006, Noël Eternel, Montreal, P.Q.

Number: 0297 0298

Size: 5.5 inches tall

Price: 14.99 $CAN

Designers Studio, Kansas City, pair of dancing penguins with glittery accents

Acquired: July 1, 2009, Noël Eternel, Montreal, P.Q.

Number: 0708 0709

Size: 5.5 inches tal

Price: 14.99 $CAN