Penguin Summer: New Mexico

I found a number of penguin ornaments on my visit to New Mexico where a large group of friends had gathered for the Santa Fe Opera. One was my 700^th penguin ornament. You can read about on my post of Feb. 3, 2010.

Roly-poly porcelain Santa holding a tree and star on a hook with body punched full of star-shaped holes and big circular cutout with penguin

Acquired: August 16, 2011, The Shop, a Christmas Store, Santa Fe, N.M.

Number: 0699

Size: 3.25 inches tall

Price: $6.50

Puffy little knitted penguin with wild, fuzzy white hair, brown beak and feet

Acquired: August 16, 2009, Susan’s Christmas Shop, Santa Fe, N.M.

Number: 0701

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $9

Big emperor penguin with a green Merry Christmas sign

Acquired: August 18, 2011, The Christmas Shop, Old Town Albuquerque, N.M.

Number: 0702

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $6.95

Ceramic “rough-hewn wood” penguin with orange feet and black toenails

Acquired: August 18, 2011, The Christmas Shop, Old Town Albuquerque, N.M.

Number: 703

Size: 2.5 inches tall

Price: $3.95

Pyramid power

That strongman penguin at the top of the pyramid is flexing some pumped up wing muscles, but the true tough guys are the dressed up dudes on the bottom who are holding all the weight. This ornament is one of my favorites, not just because it’s so much fun, but because it was a gift from my Aunt Lillian Truitt in New Mexico. I had just moved west and didn’t have a steady job yet, so I was watching my pennies. I was going to pass on this one, but she insisted that I needed it. She and her family, my cousins, are responsible for a lot of the penguins in the ornament collection and a lot of the other penguins that are all over my house. Aunt Lillian was married to my mother’s brother Lee. They were considerably older than her and moved to New Mexico before I was born, so I hardly knew them for the first half of my life, but we were able to make up for lost time later on. You were always welcome at Aunt Lillian’s house and you never went hungry. The food was always good and there was plenty of it. Grocery shopping with Aunt Lillian was an adventure that usually meant going to one or two supermarkets to get what was “on special” or to get a particular brand, followed by stops at one or two local produce markets for fresh fruits and vegetables. She had a great sense of humor, and she loved the outdoors and everything about New Mexico, from its history to its music to its food. She was one of my favorite relatives and also a great friend.

Wooden penguin pyramid

Acquired: probably November or December 1993, JC Penney, Winrock Mall, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Number: 0169

A night at the opera

This tiny ornament is a beauty, but wait ‘til you hear this: it’s made of glue — molded and hardened Elmer’s glue! He looks like he’s headed for a big night out, maybe to the opera, in his black tails with a brilliantly colored bouquet of roses tucked under his wing. I was in Santa Fe last summer to see La Traviata and while I was there I found the ornament at Susan’s, one of my favorite Christmas shops. The opera was fantastic, but even better was finding out by surprise that my good friend Barb, who I hadn’t seen in years, was part of our group. It's good to know that even after a long separation, friends stick together, like glue.

Small dried glue penguin with roses

Acquired: August 16, 2009, Susan’s Christmas Shop, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Number: 700

Price: $20

Size: about 1.75 inches tall

(I have to mention this: my spell checker wants me to replace Traviata with Travolta.)

Southwest style

A Jemez pueblo ceramic penguin is unusal, but it’s not the only southwestern pueblo penguin I own, although it is the only Christmas tree ornament of its kind in my collection. My parents gave me a beautiful ceramic penguin figurine, from Isleta pueblo. It’s about 6 inches tall, and it’s one of the many penguin objects on display at my home year-round.

The tree ornament came from Susan’s Christmas Shop near the plaza in Santa Fe sometime in the 1990s, I think. The artist from Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico signed the ceramic penguin on the bottom: “KSG Jemez NM.”

I was in Susan’s again in the summer of 2009 and saw similar examples, but decided not to add any more to the collection for now. I didn’t leave the store empty handed though. Stay tuned for more about Susan’s Christmas shop in future posts.

Acquired: 1990s, Susan’s Christmas Shop, Santa Fe, N.M.

Number: 0153

Size: about 2.5 inches tall

Red or green?

It’s the official state question of New Mexico, where waiters ask which type of chile you want with your burritos or enchiladas. Which one is hotter? It depends on the recipe, not the color.

I found these two frosty glass penguins in Albuquerque’s Old Town around 1983, probably after having an enchilada combo plate at La Placita with both green and red chile. It’s hard for me to choose.

These two look like they couldn’t decide either when they dressed up for the holidays. One wears a green top hat and red scarf, the other has a red Santa hat and a green scarf. Those bright red beaks make me wonder if they’ve been deep into a beef burrito with red chile.

The one with the green top hat has a broken wing. It was always that way, although I don’t think I noticed at the time I bought it.

Acquired: around 1983. Albuquerque, N.M.

Number: unassigned 0076 0077

Price: no record.

Size: green hat about 2.75 inches tall, red hat about 2.5 inches tall.