Hand Made Reindeer for the Holidays

Leslie Bowman purses

Reindeer have long been associated  with Christmas - they pull Santa's sleigh through the air to deliver toys to good children!  The Gallery has some American hand made reindeer for you as gifts.  Leslie Bowman hand quilts her reindeer purses with festive colors and trim for the holidays.  And Simone Wilson has created her own reindeer including a Rudolf with piano key legs, bottle cap noses and all the whimsy you could want in a Christmas creature.


When department store employee Robert L May wrote the poem Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer in 1939 he may not have realized he was adding to a legend about the god Thor.  Ancient Norse mythology tells of the legend of Thor, the God of Thunder. Thor was known to fly through the stormy skies pulled in a chariot by magical goats named Gnasher and Cracker.  Sound vaguely familiar?

Simone Wilson reindeer 

 
Did you know real reindeer are ruminant animals?  Like goats, cattle, sheep, deer and giraffes, they are even-toed, cud-chewing, hoofed, usually horned mammals which have a stomach divided into four (occasionally three) compartments. Their hooves are large and sharp enabling them to travel across large distances and areas consisting of snow and ice.  Both male and females have antlers although the males are usually larger.  In North America reindeer are called caribou and are found mainly in Canada.

Join us in Camera Critters today.  Show off your favorite animal!