Penguin perch

Here’s a penguin family that has found a Christmas cardinal. Actually, it’s more like the cardinal has found the penguins, judging by the stunned reaction on their faces and the outstretched wings of the surprised and delighted youngster. These might be the longest beaks on any of my penguins. No wonder the cardinal mistook one for a tree branch.

Penguin family with conical Santa hats, one with a cardinal perched on its nose

Acquired: December 26, 2008, The Christmas Loft, Stowe, Vermont

Number: 0603 0604

Size: 3.5 to 3.75 inches tall

Price: $7.99 each

Does it count?

I was on my almost yearly ski trip to Stowe, Vt., and stopped to see what I might find at the Christmas Loft. The store is gone now, but it was a regular stop for years. On this trip I didn’t see any penguin ornaments right away. One of the store clerks asked me if I was looking for anything particular. “Penguins,” I said. “Do you have any penguin ornaments?” She led me to the back of the store muttering, “Penguins, penguins.” Then she took this ornament from the wall, held it up for me to see and asked, ”Does this one count?” There was another ornament, which turned out to be a duplicate, but this one made the stop at the Christmas Loft worthwhile.

Krinkl Xmas Eve Mini penguins on a star-shaped sleigh with clown-like snowman holding an umbrella

Acquired: Feb. 3, 2006, Christmas Loft, Stowe, Vt.

Number: 285

Size: 2.75 inches tall

Price: $8.50

Away we go

This is a massive ceramic ornament, but he looks so light on his feet as his scarf floats in the breeze while he glides across the ice on one skate with the other foot raised in the back. The gold glitter trim on his chest, scarf, hat and skates are a nice touch. But his expression, his puffy cheeks and that raised wing waving to us as he whooshes by are what make him special.

The last few posts have all featured ornaments I found in Stowe, Vt., which I left today after another great ski trip. There are a few more ornaments from Stowe that I’ll post another time, and I hope there will be more penguins from return trips to one of my favorite vacation towns.

Penguin on golden skates

Acquired: Feb. 2, 2005, The Christmas Loft, Stowe, Vt.

Number: 233

Price: $7.99

Size: 4.75 inches tall

The same, only different

These ornaments are the same, but with different colored scarves, so I’m showing the back of one for the big ribbon bow and the front of the other so you can his enormous gold beak and those big blue eyes.

I bought the first one on a baseball trip to Kansas City and packed it away until Christmas. When I saw the green one at Stowe Mercantile, I knew it looked like the other one, but I wasn’t sure about the color. I knew it was the same, yet somehow it looked different. I decided to buy it, even if it was an exact duplicate, because I liked it.

When I got home I poked around the Christmas tree to find the first one. I was happy and surprised that they had different colored scarves.

Merck Family’s Old World Christmas small glass ornament with red glittery scarf, big orange beak and blue eyes

Acquired: Dec. 27, 2008, Stowe Mercantile, Stowe, Vt.

Number: 609

Price: $8

Size: 2 inches tall

Merck Family’s Old World Christmas small glass ornament with green glittery scarf, big orange beak and blue eyes

Acquired: May 15, 2008, Holiday Magic, Kansas City, Mo.

Number: 463

Price: $6.99

Size: 2 inches tall

All the right moves

It helps to be flexible when you ski and it’s not a bad idea to stretch before your first run. This penguin has what it takes to get ready for the mountain. The enameled pieces of its articulated body are linked together in away that allows the body to bend from side to side. He’s trimmed with gold accents, including his beak and feet, and he has big ruby-colored eyes. The ornament was bought with several others, but I assigned No. 600 to this one, because it’s so different from the others in the collection.

Cloisonne penguin with articulated body, gold accents and red glass eyes

Acquired: Dec. 26, 2008, The Christmas Loft, Stowe, Vt.

Number: 600

Price: $12.99

Size: 3 inches tall

Two happy skiers

It’s Winter Rendezvous ski week in Stowe, Vt., and these two acrylic penguins on candy cane skis would have loved it on Mt. Mansfield today. In the morning the middle of the mountain was wrapped in clouds. On top, the sun was shining on a pure white world of snow covered trees and rocks. The trails were as smooth as silk.

The ornaments are identical. I got the one on the right on a side trip to Williamsburg, Va., and the other almost two years later on a trip to Stowe. It was the first time I bought an identical ornament unintentionally. As the collection has grown, that has happened more frequently.

Clear plastic penguin on candy cane striped skis and block of ice

Acquired: April 3, 2004, The Christmas Mouse, Williamsburg, Va.

Number: 246

Price: $7

Size: 3.75 inches tall

Clear plastic penguin on candy cane striped skis and block of ice

Acquired: Feb. 3, 2006, The Christmas Loft, Stowe, Vt.

Number: 286

Price: $5.99

Size: 3.75 inches tall

Moving on

Laughing, loaded with gifts and decked out in a glittery green scarf and red stocking hat, this penguin looks like he’s in a hurry to get to the holiday festivities. I have a number of other Merck Family ornaments that will appear in future posts. They have a distinctive tag on the hanging loop with the initials O.W.C. I found this one at the Christmas Loft, which had become one of the regular stops on my ski trips to Stowe, Vt. I'm back again today for a few days, but the Christmas Loft is closed now, although it's still open in a couple of other locations in Vermont and their web site can be found online. The black spot on the front view of the penguin is actually a hole, probably a small blowout. I don’t remember seeing the flaw until this year, so I don’t know how or when it happened.

Merck Family’s Old World Christmas “Perky Penguin” glass ornament

Acquired: Feb. 2, 2005, The Christmas Loft, Stowe, Vt.

Number: 232

Size: About 3.5 inches tall

Price: $6.99