Penguin Summer: Montreal

I was in Montreal for a journalists’ convention in September 2009, still summer for a few more days. The conference hotel was just a few blocks from Noël Eternel where I found a few more penguin ornaments, including the beautiful Ne’Qwa ornament painted on the inside. I also bought a duplicate of an ornament that I had bought in Hershey, Pa., on the summer RV journey.

Roly-poly glass penguin with red Santa hat and red snowflakes on its belly

Acquired: September 11, 2009, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0706

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: 8.99 $CAN

RAZ Holiday Imports molded glass parent and child with fuzzy backs

Acquired: September 11, 2009, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0707

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: 12.99 $CAN

Acquired: July 24, 2009, Incredible Christmas, Hershey Park, Pa.

Number: 0669

Price: $9.95

International set

These four Santa penguins came from two different places. One you can see is from Montreal and the fantastic Noël Eternel store. The other three I found in Christmas Rocks, another excellent Christmas store, when I was in Houston later the same year. Each of these glass ornaments is unique, but it seems like there are three basic poses. The Montreal penguin and the top penguin are the same style, but you can see small differences in the hat and in the yellow breast feathers. I’m a little worried that the inscription on the Montreal ornament is rubbing off, but at least it will always be here on My Penguin Tree.

Montreal glass penguin with Santa hat

Acquired: April 19, 2008, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0460

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: 10.99 $CAN

Three glass penguins with Santa hats

Acquired: Sept. 27, 2008, Christmas Rocks, Houston, Texas

Number: 0505 0506 0507

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $7.25 each

Black and white, and red all over

This is a really nice set of two-sided ornaments with a lot of detail on the front and back. It’s an odd collection of characters: a pair of formally attired ballroom dancers, an ice skater and a sign painter. I’m trying to imagine a story that would tie them all together. Two dancers and skater came from a visit to Montreal, while the painter came a year later when I was in Rehoboth Beach, Del. It makes me wonder if this might be a series of ornaments with a new design each year.

Red and black formal dancers and skater

Acquired: April 19, 2008, Noël Eternel, Montreal PQ

Number: 0458 0459

Size: 3.5 inches tall

Price: 7.99 $CAN

Red and black painter with North Pole sign

Acquired: July 29, 2009, Christmas Spirit, Rehoboth Beach, Del.

Number: 0694

Size: 3.5 inches tall

Price: $5.50

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

Montreal through the years

Both of these ornaments have the same design that says, “Joyeux Noël Eternel, Montreal” on one side. They have different penguins painted on the opposite side. One has a single penguin with pink hat and the other shows a family of three. The one I bought in 2009 has the year on the penguin side and one from 2006 has the year on the other side. It was nice to see that the price hadn’t changed in the time between them, but I'll bet the exchange rate was different each time.

2006 porcelain Noël Eternel icicle-like ornament with penguin family of three

Acquired: July 1, 2006, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0295

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: 9.99 $CAN

2009  porcelain Noël Eternel icicle-like ornament with single penguin in a pink hat

Acquired: September 11, 2009, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PG

Number: 0710

Size: 4 inches tall

Price:9.99 $CAN

It’s raining penguins

There’s a whole lot of fun packed into these three penguins with their colorful umbrellas. The one in the upside down umbrella is attached, but for the other two, you hang the umbrella on the Christmas tree and then hang the penguins from the umbrella handles.

Three penguins with umbrellas

Acquired: Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0292 0293 0294

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: each 19.98 $CAN 

Polar bear express

What’s a flightless bird to do when he has to get somewhere fast? Why, just find a winged polar bear and you’re on your way. It’s a wonder this ornament ever made it to the tree. The bear’s right forepaw broke during the trip from Montreal to New Jersey. Then I nearly destroyed it and myself when I fell on it from the back of my couch while reaching to hang some decorations. The bear’s wings had to be glued back together and every year I have to reattach a feather or two.

Krinkl Xmas penguin on a flying polar bear with gold crowns

Acquired: July 1, 2006, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0291

Size: 3.5 inches long

Price: 15.99 $CAN

Loud and clear

Here we have a couple of musicians, one with a saxophone and one with a drum, and a gentleman with a top hat and cane who might be the conductor. I wonder if I’m missing any other musicians from band. Those are very nice snowflake-like sound effects coming out of the horn and drum.

Clear acrylic musicians and gentleman with top hat and cane

Acquired: March 2006, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0287 0288 0289

Size: 2.25-2.5 inches tall

Penguins behind the glass

Penguins have a home far from the South Pole at the Biodome de Montreal, a natural science museum near Olympic Stadium. The Biodome should not be confused with the Biosphere, the geodesic dome that was part of the world’s fair Expo 67. The penguins live in a frosty environment that includes a big swimming tank. All of it is behind glass so visitors can see the penguins above and below the water. The ornament came from the Biodome gift shop.

Biodome de Montreal penguins in a clear plastic globe

Acquired: March 6, 2005, Boutique du Biodome, Montreal, P.Q.

Size: 2.5 inches diameter

Price: 6.99 $CAN

J oy

A stuffed penguin on a wooden block with a metal sled hanging on its shoulder and a sprig of holly on the tip of its wing: put it all together and it spells J-O-Y. This ornament represents the point at which I started keeping track of when I got a new one, where I got it, who gave it to me, etc. This one came from Noël Eternel in Montreal, one of my favorite Christmas shops. Although I started keeping better records with this ornament, I forgot to measure it before packing it after last Christmas, and I didn’t write down the exact date I bought it.

Stuffed penguin with sled on a child’s block that spells joy

Acquired: September 2002, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0195

Penguin Holiday

“How did they do that?” Everyone asks the same question when I tell them that this ornament is painted on the inside. My quick response is, “With a tiny brush.” But there is a lot of skill involved, a lot of artistry and a lot of attention to detail in this centuries-old Chinese technique. The company that makes these ornaments offers a wide range of products and designs, each of them as beautiful as this one with it’s group of penguins carrying a small tree and sprigs of holly. Even the rope hanger is exquisite. And take a look at the jewel box it came in. It’s another wonderful find from Noël Eternel in Montreal and arguably the most beautiful ornament in my collection.

 

Ne’Qwa hand painted inside mouth blown glass by Edith

Acquired: September 11, 2009, Noël Eternel, Montreal, Quebec.

Number: 705

Price: 44.99 $CAN

Size: 5.5 inches tall 

Snow bird

This ornament took my breath away when I first saw it and it still does when I unpack it each year from its original blue box and crisp tissue paper.

It’s silver and white, like a wintry sky in Montreal, where I found it at one of my favorite Christmas shops (Noël Eternel) in one of my favorite neighborhoods (Vieux Montréal) in one of my favorite cities.

Glass ornament, “handicraft from Thuringian artists”

Krebs Glas Lauscha GmbH, Germany

Acquired: May 19, 2001. Montreal, Quebec.

Number: 0155

Price: no record.

Size: about 5.25 inches tall.