Tom Clark Gnomes

I used to collect Tom Clark gnomes.  They were highly popular when I was growing up.  Now I suppose that are considered folk art.  I have a bunch of them in boxes in the garage...story of my life haha.  I need to go out there and find them soon and put them on display!  It all started when I was in 4th grade.  Our GT (Gifted and Talented, as it was called at the time), Mrs. Edwina Goebel, made my class do a project on gnomes.  I knew nothing about them beforehand.  We had to create a gnome village of some sort (in report form).  We studied them and she was the first one to show me a Tom Clark gnome.  I was hooked.

They are made, I believe, out of pressed pecan wood.  I could be wrong, but that's what I've always been told.  I got my first one for Christmas that year.  His name was Jeffrey.  My Aunt Sara gave him to me. I imagine that mom helped her pick that one out.  I loved it.  It came from a small gift shop in Wingate called Petals N Packages, I recall.  From then on, I got a few gnomes every year.  In the Monroe Mall, the Candlewick was the store that we shopped at mostly for gifts.  They always had such a fun display of gnomes and we bought most of ours from there.

A few months ago, I was feeling nostalgic for that as it had, for some reason, come across my ebay page.  I looked them up and decided to buy myself one.  Now, I don't have many of the Christmas pieces he did...gnomes or otherwise, but I saw this one and loved it.  I bid and won.  I just now recently unboxed it and was thrilled at the little figure.  I love the expression on the squirrel's face!

I really do need to get out there and find my gnomes.  I enjoy them and should have them in my home.  After all, collectively we paid a lot of money for them haha!  I just love the memories that they bring back to me.

That is all!