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