Fake Snow Collection, 2007

Thirty-two fake snow samples (indexed) and a folder of topical readings.

Key to the collection:

UPPER SHELF		LOWER SHELF
1 Sprinkles. Edible. Packed for New York Cake & Baking Distributor. 2 Glitter. White -08. Sulyn Industries, Coral Springs Florida. Non-toxic, conforms to ASTM D-4235. 3 Pompoms. White 1/2.” Craft Designer, Strongsville, Ohio. Made in China. 4 Pearly Flakes. Bakery decor. Edible. Wilton 000 27122. 5 “Winter Snow” Floral Decor. Florida Craft, Luddington, Michigan. 6 Whip Cream Stabilizer. New York Cake & Baking Center, New York, New York. 7 Gift Packaging. The Container Store. Made in the United States 01-511 8/01. 8 Table Salt. Kosher. Diamond Crystal, Cargill, Inc. 9 Desicated Coconut. New York Cake & Bake, New York, New York. 10 Sizzle Shred. Sample House, Dallas Texas. 11 Bakery Decor. New York Cake & Bake, New York, New York. 12 Sugar Sprinkes. New York Cake & Bake, New York, New York. 13 Cosmetic Puffs. Genovese. 14 Aerogel. Amorphous Silicon Dioxide and 99.8% air. The lightest and lowest-density solid known to exist. United Nuclear Scientific Supplies. Made in the USA. 15 Stearine. Candle grade. Country Lane Candle Supplies, Inmage Hill, Missouri. 16 Crystal Course Glitter. Martha Stewart: crafts. Made for EK Sucess Ltd. Clifton New Jersey. Made in Korea, Assembled in Taiwan.		17 Embossing Powder. #04 white. Tsukineko Inc. Redmond, Washington. 18 Glossy Dust. Edible. Packed for New York Cake & Baking Distributor. 19 Luster Dust. Silk white, non-toxic. Packed for New York Cake & Baking Distributor. 20 Sparkle Dust. White sparkle, non-toxic. Packed for New York Cake & Baking Distributor. 21 Pearl Dust. Green pearl, non-toxic. Packed for New York Cake & Baking Distributor. 22 ‘Fur Bow’. Glitterwrap, Inc., Rockaway, New Jersey. Made in China. 23 Seed Beads. white - 10-0. Craft Designer. 24 Latch Hook Yarn. 0311 White, 100% acrylic, Coats & Clark, Greenville, South Carolina. 25 Snow Globe Snow. In Her Majesty’s Service, Daphne Dangerlove Enterprises, San Diego, California. 26 Shaved Styrofoam. Archival. For light, powdery snow. Courtesy Exhibits Department American Museum of Natural History, New York. 27 Shaved Ethafoam. Archival. For wetter, packable snow. Courtesy Exhibits Department American Museum of Natural History, New York. 28 Cotton Batting. Archival. Courtesy Exhibits Department American Museum of Natural History, New York. 29 Insta-Snow Powder. Non-toxic. Steve Spengler Science. 30 Mashed Potato Flakes. Edible. 31 Flour. Edible. 32 Laundry Detergent. Unilever, Trumbull, Connecticut.

Readings:

A “The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax”. Essay in The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and other irreverent essays on the study of language, by Geoffrey Pullum, University of Chicago Press, 1991.

B “Russia probes smelly orange snow”. BBC NEWS, news.bbc.co.uk, February 2, 2007

C “‘Yeti’ footprint shot fetches £3,500”. metro.co.uk, September 26, 2007

D “Fake Flakes”. Science & Technology/Atrmospheric Science, The Economist, December 19, 2006

E “Snow Fraud Case Fails”. The New York Times, December 10, 1909

F “Students allegedly post fake snow day”. boston.com, February 12, 2007

G “National Briefing/West: California: Bar On Snowmaking At Indian Sites”. The New York Times, March 13, 2007

H “Dubai Sunny Mountain Ski Dome or Snowdome”. SkiDubai.com

I ‘In Which Snow is Made By A Kenyan’, section of “The Mew Mecca” essay by George Saunders, The Braindead Megaphone, Riverhead Books, New York, 2007

J The Ethicist: “Awkward Dance”. Randy Cohen, The New York Times, December 17, 2006

K “Ice Volcanoes in Outer Space?”. nature.com, July 18, 2007

L “Snow Blind”. The New Yorker, October 28, 2002

M “First Artificial Snow Falls on Mt. Greylock November 13, 1946”. massmoments.org

N “Into the White”. arts.guardian.co.uk, December 18, 2006

O “Snowflakes as Big as Frisbees?”. The New York Times, March 20, 2007

P “Flurry”. The New Yorker, January 19, 1952

Q “Canadian Lynx and Snowhoe Hare”. Excerpt from Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History by Stephen C. Quinn, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2006

R "Fake Snow", Chapter from Christmas Days by Derek McCormack, House of Anansi
Press, 2006

 

Additional: Professionals Make Fake Snow in the AMNH Exhibition Dept.

Karl Matsuda makes archival snow from ethafoam that is packable and looks wet.
(sample #27)

Beck grinds blocks of archival styrofoam for light, sparkly snow.
(sample #26)