Old Man Winter is a

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

. The name is a

colloquialism Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

for the winter season derived from ancient

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

and

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

beliefs evolving into modern characters in both

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

.AccuWeather: Winter tales and myths: Where did Old Man Winter, Jack Frost come from?
He is usually depicted as an old man, often blowing winter over the landscape with his breath, or simply freezing the landscape with his very presence.

History

Humans have associated the winter season with

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

, e.g., the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

god of winter Boreas, and in other cultures including

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...

with the goddess

Cailleach In Gaelic ( Irish, Scottish and Manx) myth, the Cailleach (, ) is a divine hag, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the weather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is found with t ...

and goddess Beira. Over time, the old gods of winter changed to new humanizations of the seasons, including Old Man Winter. Among the

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

people of the Western

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

region, there exists a myth about Old Man Winter, called Pondese in their language. Old Man Winter was a character in

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

legends.

Popular culture

Literature

* Nancy Wood, an American author and poet, included a poem titled "Old Man Winter" in her 1974 collection of poetry and prose called ''Many Winters'' * Mabel Powers, an American author, suffragist and feminist, known for collecting and disseminating Native American folklore, included a story titled "How Old Man Winter Was Driven Back" in an anthology of

stories. * J. Walter Brain penned a poem entitled "Old Man Winter".

Advertising

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

used Old Man Winter in a 1941 ad campaign, touting "Old Man Winter... We like his snow to play in, but it's not all fun... travel above those dark, low-hanging clouds..." * The Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company used Old Man Winter in a World War 2 era ad campaign promoting their new storm windows. The campaign was launched in conjunction with the US Government in an effort to keep domestic fuel consumption low and conserve it for the war effort. "Keep Old Man Winter Out... Keep Warm With Storm Windows!" the ads read.

Sports and games

* The Old Man Winter Bike Rally and Run is held in February every year in Lyons, Colorado. * A thoroughbred race horse, born in 2017 and owned by James S. Acquilano, was named Old Man Winter.

Music

* There is a two part choral octavo called Old Man Winter, written by Lois Brownsey and Marti Lunn Lantz.

Television

* A version of Old Man Winter named Father Winter appears in '' Jack Frost'', voiced by Paul Frees. He serves as the boss of Jack Frost and his co-workers. * In ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' episode " Mr. Plow", Abe plays the role of Old Man Winter in the Mr. Plow commercial, where he filled the Simpsons' driveway with snow and then gets beaten up by

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, aka Mr. Plow.

Food and drink

* Ribstone Creek Brewery, located in Edgerton, Alberta, Canada, brews a porter by the name of Old Man Winter. This beer won a silver medal in the porter category in the 2020 Canadian Brewing Awards. *

Southern Tier Brewing Company Southern Tier Brewing Company is a craft beer, craft brewing company in Lakewood, NY, in the southwestern section of NY state known as the Southern Tier. History The company was founded in 2001 by Phineas DeMink and Allen "Skip" Yahn. They purcha ...

, which originated in Lakewood, New York, US and now has locations in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Ohio, brews an ale called Old Man Winter. * Cape Cod Beer, located in

Hyannis, Massachusetts Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer to Hya ...

, brews an old ale by the name of Old Man Winter.

References

External links

* * {{Christmas, state=collapsed Jack Frost Personifications of weather Winter in culture Winter traditions