DAY 168

PHOTOGRAPHIC CURIOSITIES

Urban Legends III

VACATIONING LAWN GNOMES

A family wakes up one morning to find that a decorative gnome is missing from their front lawn. The suburbanites chalk it up to petty thieves and go along with their lives...until one day they receive a postcard. The card reads, “I just needed some time away. Signed, your loving lawn gnome,” and features a photograph of the gnome standing in some faraway tourist destination. Over the course of several months, the family receives a series of postcards from around the world, all of which include a different photograph of their missing lawn ornament.

According to this urban legend, a group of young international businessmen or flight attendants had decided to add some spice to their frequent travels by pulling the prank. Eventually, the gnome returns from his “vacation” and appears back on the front lawn, safe and sound. In some versions, he has been smeared with shoe polish to simulate a suntan.

One notable aspect of this legend is that it has been documented as actually taking place on multiple occasions. The story presents folklorists with a “chicken and egg” situation—none have been able to definitively determine whether it began as a fictitious tale and subsequently inspired copycat pranksters to act it out, or whether the original accounts of a real-life prank eventually evolved into the far-reaching legend.

Regardless of its origin, the phenomenon of travelling lawn gnomes has continued to spread in both lore and practice across England, Australia, and North America.¹ —DJS