Forget elf on the shelf: how we fell for gnomes in our homes
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When did the gnome become the unofficial symbol of the festive season? Katie Rosseinsky explores how these bearded, pointy-hatted characters infiltrated our homes. The takeover was both stealthy and speedy. Just a few short years ago, you could quite easily navigate the festive season without ever resting your eyes upon a gnome. Displays of Christmas decorations were populated instead with reindeer, snowmen and the odd spindly legged elf on the shelf. Gnomes, despite their luxuriant and Santa-esque facial hair, were not a part of the standard yuletide lineup; they were more commonly seen lurking on garden paths and clutching fishing lines by ponds all year round. And then, suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, winter turned into gnome season.
![[Scandi-style gnomes wearing hats that obscure their eyes are known as ‘gonks’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/19/14/newFile-4.jpg)
Their bulbous noses, fluffy beards and pointy hats became ubiquitous, cropping up in supermarket aisles, on Instagram feeds and Pinterest boards, and on your next-door neighbours’ curated Christmas window sills. Now, they’re available in a vast array of materials and colour schemes. Shops such as Matalan and The Range are currently offering light-up neon outlines of gnomes, for a festive nod to the Love Island villa. Since Asda released a Christmas advert starring a gang of gnomes, searches for them on the supermarket’s website have shot up by 5,425 per cent. “Once people began listing the gnomes on sites like eBay, their desirability grew even further, with some fetching prices of over £40,” says Katie Chester, the brand’s chief gnome buyer.
![[Traditional-style gnomes still crop up in festive decorations too]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/19/14/newFile-5.jpg)
