There is a version that the traditional Christmas decoration appeared due to the fact that the Austrian specialist in medical equipment tried to increase the brightness of surgical lamps, but something went wrong. We checked the reliability of this legend.

According to publications on resources for tourists and sites With the collections of interesting facts, one of the main New Year souvenirs appeared by coincidence. Allegedly, a ball filled with water and white powder that imitates snow, no one was going to invent on purpose. In December 2020, this story is quite active discussed And on Reddit.

At the turn of the XIX - XX centuries, the Austrian Erwin Perzi worked with the equipment used to conduct medical operations. Even then, the surgeons used electric bulbs, but the light emanating from them was not bright enough. Perzi Thinking On how to help doctors, and drew attention to the method used by Austrian shoemakers. They put a glass ball filled with water in front of the candle, and received a stain of light the size of a palm.

Perzi tested the technology of shoemakers, replacing the candle with a light bulb, but did not remain satisfied with the result. Then he thought that some powder can be added to the water, the particles of which would additionally reflect the light. As the grandson of the inventor says: “Once he found a semolina and poured it into a glass ball. The grains were saturated with water and began to settle down slowly, and this reminded him of snowfall. ” Founded by perzi company works In the suburbs of Vienna to this day and sells about 200,000 snowballs annually.

Although the Austrian, apparently, really created a souvenir by accident, his snowballs were not the first in history. In 1878 at the World Exhibition in Paris was presented A very similar exhibit: “A hollow ball filled with water, and inside the figure of a person with an umbrella in his hands. Also in this ball there is white powder, which when turned over imitates a snow storm. ” A similar exhibit shown at the exhibition 11 years later has survived to this day.

Thus, the legend of Peres is truthful: he really accidentally created a snowball and was the first to start the production of this souvenir in the form in which he is known now. At the same time, to say that the Austrian invented a snowball is difficult - very similar products appeared 20 years earlier. On the other hand, in the United States, a patent for production issued Only in 1927, Joseph Garaja from Pittsburgh, thanks to which snow balls became much cheaper in production and more accessible for ordinary people.

Half truth

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. https://wwww.snopes.com/fact-check/snow-globe-invented-ccriedlly/
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-25298507
3. https://www.wien.info/en/shopping-wining-dining/shoping/snow-globes