Slow Burn — Decoder Ring: "The Secret Life of Lawn Ornaments"

Podcast: Slow Burn (Slate Podcasts)
Host: Willa Paskin
Episode Airdate: July 17, 2024

Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, host Willa Paskin embarks on an exploration of lawn ornaments—those curious fixtures that dot yards and gardens across the world. The episode seeks to decipher the meanings, cultural history, and sometimes even dark legacies behind these seemingly harmless garden decorations. Through interviews, archival audio, and deep research, the show investigates three categories of lawn ornaments: the whimsical garden gnome, the controversial lawn jockey, and the rare phenomenon of the "ornamental hermit." The episode ultimately asks: What are these ornaments trying to tell us?

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Ubiquity and Mystery of Lawn Ornaments

• Opening Reflection: Willa notes that while many homes have political or belief-driven signs, lawn ornaments offer subtler, sometimes ambiguous communication about the owner.

  “Sometimes, as you’re passing someone’s house, you see a more ambiguous communication… Sometimes you pass a lawn ornament.” (00:12)

2. The World of Lawn Ornament Sellers

• Interview with Tatiana Ziegler (Landscape Designer, Ziegler’s Statuary, NJ)
  • Discusses the variety and popularity of ornaments (aliens, bears, gnomes, pig butlers).
  • Explains that buyers often choose statues that "speak" to them personally, sometimes just to amuse (or mildly antagonize) neighbors.

  “Anything that's odd looking is a better seller.” (01:57, Tatiana Ziegler) "If they don't buy [a gargoyle] because they love it, they buy it because they want to, like, I guess, torture their neighbors with it." (02:19, Ariana Ziegler)

• Ornaments as Self-Expression:
  • “Just like clothing, right, it has to fit you, it has to go with you. It has to be your personality. It's the same thing with a statue.” (02:54, Tatiana Ziegler)

3. Case Study No. 1: The Garden Gnome

• Twigs Way (Garden Historian, Author of Garden Gnomes: A History)
  • Gnomes as divisive: "People either love them or hate them." (05:17)
  • The roots of garden figurines trace back to Ancient Rome, where small, brightly colored statues adorned gardens.
  • Evolution from Roman statues to Italian Renaissance figures, to German mining folklore (gnomes as miners—hence the hats as early safety helmets).
  • Handcrafted beginnings: Ceramic workshops in 19th-century Germany, exporting to English elites.
  • Cultural Shift: From aristocratic status items to suburban kitsch, notably after Disney's Snow White "Disney-fied" their look and mass production made them cheap and popular.

  “It’s only when they dared to descend into suburban lawns, they were dismissed as cheap and tasteless.” (14:45, Willa Paskin)

  • Rebellion and Satire: By 1970s, groups like the "Gnome Liberation Front" stole gnomes from gardens as protest.
  • Revival & Enduring Appeal: Gnomes are presently back in favor, symbolizing fun and a disregard for others’ judgments.

  “Nowadays they’re only telling me that they’re quite fun and they don’t care what other people think about them.” (17:28, Twigs Way)

4. Case Study No. 2: The Lawn Jockey—From Icon to Eyesore

• David Pilgrim (Jim Crow Museum, Ferris State University):
  • Describes the "lawn jockey" artifact and its racist caricature.

  “If you look closely at the objects, you’ll see that a lot of the features… have been distorted.” (18:55)

  • The proliferation of racist "black collectibles" post-Civil War, telling the false story of "happy" Black servitude.

  "[Such objects] were part of a whole mythology... that the South... had a special relationship with the enslaved people..." (20:17, Kenneth Goings)

  • Jockeys shifted from generic enslaved groomsman to jockeys due to the prevalence of Black horse riders in early U.S. racing.
  • Postwar Suburbs: Lawn jockeys became yard markers in white suburbs—an unspoken sign of exclusion to Black Americans in the age of "white flight."

  “The lawn jockey was a signal of what we think of you. And you didn't have to put up a sign. You just had to put out a lawn jockey.” (23:48, Kenneth Goings)

  • Myth-Busting: Persistent, feel-good myths claim that the "lawn jockey" honors Black patriotism or was a marker for the Underground Railroad. Historians debunk these; there's no evidence for these stories.

  "That is total nonsense." (25:46, Kenneth Goings, on the George Washington/Lawn Jockey legend)

  • The myth persists, with people sincerely believing in its positive origins as a way to reclaim or justify the ornament.

  “False narratives are still pushback, but I don’t want to leave it there. We don’t need to make up stories. There have just been wonderful stories of African-American heroism… So instead of us promoting stories that aren’t accurate, we need to uncover those that are and then celebrate them.” (28:42, David Pilgrim)

  • Today, lawn jockeys are rarely seen, sometimes "whitewashed" (literally painted white), but their history cannot be so easily erased.

  “If I want to build a statue that honors a Black person, there’s no limit to how much of that I can do. I’d be less interested in reclaiming it and more interested in just building new statues.” (29:55, David Pilgrim)

5. Case Study No. 3: Human Lawn Ornaments—the Garden Hermit

• Ned Harwood (Art Historian):
  • Documents the 18th-century English practice of hiring actual people to live as "hermits" in garden hermitages (artificial caves or huts) for years, sometimes never speaking, growing long nails and beards for authenticity.

  “Mr. Charles Hamilton... advertised for a person who is willing to become a hermit in that beautiful retreat.” (30:59, ad read by Ned Harwood)

  • The hermit was both a status symbol and a device for inspiring reflective, philosophical contemplation for the landowner and guests.
  • Sometimes, fake hermits or even automata (robotic mannequins) took the “hermit” role for show.

  “We know about a wooden hermit that was an automata that could talk to people.” (38:33, Ned Harwood)

  • Eventually, this custom declined—abolitionist sentiment raised questions about the hermits’ well-being, and the fad faded by the mid-19th century.

  “Keeping a hermit to some extent becomes problematized because there is uncertainty in the community as to whether the person is being kept against their will or not. So we know of liberated Hermits, I mean, people who are freed from being hermits. One of whom did not want to be liberated…” (40:37, Ned Harwood)

  • The “hermitage” as a place of retreat echoes into modern “man caves” and is tied to the universal cycle of engagement and withdrawal.

  “A man cave is a hermitage as far as I’m concerned… I think that desire … to get away is still very much with us.” (41:58, Ned Harwood)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Social Function of Lawn Ornaments:

  “It’s a bit like looking in their underwear drawer.” (04:56, Twigs Way, about gardens revealing character)

• On Gnomes and Taste:

  “To me, I mean, a gnome is… just a chunk of concrete… it ebbs and flows all the time [in popularity].” (15:03, Twigs Way)

• On Reclaiming Myths:

  “We don’t need to make up stories. There have just been wonderful stories of African American heroism…” (28:42, David Pilgrim)

• On Living Hermit Ornaments:

  “If he lived there under these restrictions till the end of the term, he was to receive 700 guineas. But on breach of any of them, the whole was to be forfeited.” (31:48, Ned Harwood)

• Personal Reflection:

  “A little gnome hiding out in some corner that passersby would only see if they were really looking, really noticing the things around them… Maybe I’ll have to find a spot for one.” (42:24, Willa Paskin)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Summary / Notable Content | |------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:05 | Opening reflection on signs and lawn ornaments as communication | | 01:04 | Ziegler family discusses contemporary ornament trends | | 04:24 | Introduction of the garden gnome and history begins | | 10:08 | German gnome workshops: craftsmanship and history | | 13:21 | Disney’s impact on the popularization of gnomes | | 15:28 | The "Gnome Liberation Front" and the cultural backlash | | 18:37 | David Pilgrim introduces the lawn jockey and its history | | 20:06 | Kenneth Goings on the societal myths of post-Reconstruction collectibles | | 23:48 | Lawn jockeys as racial markers in postwar America | | 25:46 | Debunking the George Washington “Faithful Groomsman” myth | | 28:42 | The necessity to celebrate real Black history, not comforting myths | | 30:59 | Introduction of the English “ornamental hermit” phenomenon | | 35:22 | The construction and decoration of garden hermitages | | 38:33 | The emergence of dummy, robotic, and mannequin hermits | | 40:37 | The problematic ethics and decline of live-in hermits | | 41:58 | The modern legacy—hermitages to “man caves” as spaces for retreat | | 42:24 | Willa’s closing reflection: openness to the whimsy of a garden gnome |

Overall Tone

• Thoughtful, reflective, and deeply curious—with wit and a touch of self-deprecating humor.
• Direct engagement with complex and sometimes uncomfortable historical realities.
• Invites critical thinking about what seems harmless (lawn ornaments) and their hidden meanings.

Conclusion

Through tales of gnomes, lawn jockeys, and hermits, this episode of Slow Burn/Decoder Ring uncovers how what we put on our lawns is never simply ornamental. These decorations are loaded with meanings—personal, historical, playful, and sometimes harmful—offering insight into our desires for identity, status, amusement, and even retreat. In peeling back the layers, Willa Paskin and her guests challenge us to reconsider our judgments and pay closer attention to the stories—funny, kitschy, or shameful—quietly embedded in our communities.