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• February 2009 Eskimo Snow Goggles

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February 2009 Eskimo Snow Goggles

The recent snowfall in the United Kingdom was the heaviest for over seventeen years and certainly caused its fair share of disruption. Comparisons were drawn in the press and media with how other countries cope with snow and ice, though some commentators felt that these were unfair since, they argued, it makes no economic sense to invest in specialist equipment that will seldom be used. This month's museum object comes from a part of the world where generations of people have become used to living with snow and have adapted their clothing to cope. Although it may no longer sound 'politically correct', the term 'Eskimo Goggles' is a recognised classification of eyewear amongst collectors and it does not specifically relate to any one snow-covered area of the globe. The pair pictured here were originally catalogued in our collection as 'rare' but a wider understanding of what is held by museums across the world has revealed that they are not that rare at all. For example the National Museum in Copenhagen has literally hundreds on display and presumably many more in storage. Our pair has a front made of bone with two narrow eye slits. The headband strap is made from walrus hide. Known as 'Iggaak' in North American native dialect, such goggles have been worn to protect from the glare on snow (and on water) for maybe 4000 years. They vary in styles so much because each native made his own, and because traditional craft techniques were used to produce them they can be almost impossible to date. They have been found across the Arctic Circle (including the Inuit tribes), Canada and Greenland. Just as modern inhabitants of those areas have swapped their dog-sleds for petrol-driven ski-mobiles so they have discarded this type of goggles in favour of Ray-Bans or similar designer sunglasses. Instead of adapting the natural materials they have readily to hand these hunting communities have become eyewear consumers like the rest of us.