NICE ICE, BABY

The Singular Charms Of Snowmen

THE CHICAGO FORECAST IS CALLING FOR SNOW, too late for a white Christmas. We'll have to find cold comfort with the charms of snowmen.

For most of us, practicing this "installation art" is good clean fun. But to illustrator Bob Eckstein, it's a calling.

Eckstein, whose drawings regularly appear in The New Yorker and on Salon, is a self-appointed "snowman expert." He is author and illustrator of The History of the Snowman (2007), touted as "a thoroughly entertaining exploration… [of] the snowman's enigmatic past."

Bob's seven-year quest for knowledge about the cold & downy characters led him to museums and libraries around the world. Now keeps a blog where he answers readers' queries.

Above are just a few of the more than 1,000 antique snowmen collectibles, photographs and artwork he now owns. You can check out more here.