Repeats

I felt like this pair of penguins looked familiar, but I wasn’t certain enough to leave A Christmas Past without buying them. It turned out that I already had the guy, a gift from my niece Becky, who found it in Chincoteague, Va., where she was working that summer. Just as well, because now I had an extra. Last year I hung one from the rearview mirror in my car. My Penguin Tree to go!

These penguins look a lot like another penguin couple for which I also happen to have two of the male. I bought Thaddeus and Millicent at Disneyland on my way home from Australia. A few weeks later, my friend and colleague Wallace Schroeder, gave me a couple of ornaments, including another Thaddeus.

Second police officer not shown)

Also at A Christmas Past, I bought a penguin firefighter and penguin police officer that wound up being duplicates. A year later, I bought an identical set, thinking that they would go with a mail carrier ornament. Oh, well, I was wrong. However, all of these are extremely nice ornaments, and I don’t mind at all having repeats.

TJ’s Christmas penguin couple decked out in red

Acquired: September 28, 2008, A Christmas Past, New Hope, Pa.

Number: 0517 0518

Size: 4 inches tall

Male penguin in red vest and hat

Acquired: August 15, 2008, gift from my niece Becky on her birthday

Number: 490

Size: 4 inches tall

Department 56 Christmas Krinkles Thaddeus and Millicent Penguin

Acquired: December 2, 2004, World of Disney Store, Downtown Disney, Anaheim, Calif.

Number: 0256 0257

Size: 4.25 to 4.75 inches tall

Thaddeus

Acquired: December 18, 2004, gift from Wallace Schroeder

Number: 0263

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Kurt S. Adler firefighter and police officer 1

Acquired: September 28, 2008, A Christmas Past, New Hope, Pa.

Number: 0519 0520

Size: 4 inches tall

Price:$7.95 each

Kurt S. Adler firefighter and police officer 2

Acquired: September 13, 2009, A Christmas to Remember, Lake George, N.Y.

Number: 0718 0719

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $9.99 each

(Note that in just short of a year I acquired 200 penguin ornaments.)

Felt brigade

Here are some sets of felt penguins from different places that are all the creation of Hannah’s Handiworks. The four colorful penguins came from Christmas Cottage in midtown Manhattan. I found the beige set at Christmas Past in New Hope, Pa. The beige penguins have a unique feature. They can be squished or stretched to be different heights. I’d love to see what’s going on inside, some kind of spring mechanism that sticks when you stretch or squash the penguins.

Hannah’s Handiworks felt penguin heads and full-body penguins with red and green knit scarves and hats, made in China

Acquired: July 21, 2007, Christmas Cottage, New York

Numbers: 0358 0359 0360 0361

Size: 8 to 10 inches tall

Price: $9.95 each

Hannah’s Handiworks beige felt stretchy penguins, made in China

Acquired: January or February 2009

Numbers: 0617 0618

Size: 10 inches tall

Price: $4.50 each

Belly blizzard

It’s hard to make out, even when you zoom in, but it almost looks like there’s a snowstorm going on inside this small solid glass penguin’s belly. It’s reminiscent of the cloudy patterns in some of the glass marbles we cherished in childhood. The delicate red scarf is a nice finishing touch. Christmas Past in New Hope, where I bought this ornament, is one of my favorite regular stops when I’m in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Department 56 solid glass penguin with snowy belly and skinny red scarf, made in China

Acquired: October 14, 2007, Christmas Past, New Hope, Pa.

Number: 389

Size: 2.75 inches tall

Price: $7.50