Reporters tend to wax poetic about first snow fall

Newspaper reporters tend to wax poetic about the first snowfall of the season, often portraying winter as the royalty of the four seasons.

“The Winter Monarch gave us a gentle reminder of his whereabouts on Saturday night last in the shape of a storm of snow, which continued during Sunday and fell to the depth of about eight inches,” The Glen’s Falls Republican reported on Nov. 15, 1864. “The icy mantle of snow and the chilly winds whisper, ‘Prepare for winter.’”

Some years the first snow fall came early.

“Snow fell on Sunday night last, sufficient to cover the hills surrounding us with a white coating, which remained during Monday,” The Glen’s Falls Republican reported on Oct, 16, 1860. “This is the first visible footprint of King Winter we have seen this season.”

Other years the first snow fall came late.

The ground was bare in Glens Falls on Christmas 1920, and the air was so cold that many residents did not venture out to visit friends and relatives.

The first measurable accumulation of snow of the season came two days later, bringing “gladness to the hearts of youngsters, especially those who were fortunate to get a new sleigh among their Christmas presents,” The Post-Star reported on Dec. 28, 1920.

If winter is king, it is a blustering despot, in my estimation.

But ice harvesters of history viewed it as a benevolent provider, provided the King strolled his courtyard with the usual frigidity.

“The mild weather during the present month has caused many to believe that unless ice making weather puts in an appearance within a short time, the chances of filling local ice houses with a good clear grade of ice will be very doubtful,” The Post-Star reported on Dec. 23, 1920.

Ice harvester Alfred Case of Fort Edward was optimistic.

“Mr. Case is of the opinion that he will have ice of cutting thickness on Kinzer Lake within the next two weeks.”

To outdoor recreation enthusiasts, King Winter arrives with a whimsical nature.

“The skating fever begins to prevail. … There’s a cherished ring in the skater’s steel that enlivens our hearts and makes us feel as if our youth, with all its joys, had come again,” The Glen’s Falls Republican reported on Dec. 8, 1863.

“Christmas was indeed a merry one here and abouts,” The Glen’s Falls Republican reported on Dec. 29, 1863. “It could not well have been otherwise, with such fine sleighing, clean, cold crisp, invigorating atmosphere, and magnificent sunshine. Everybody was merry and everybody apparently enjoyed themselves to the extent of their abilities.”