Mr. Bingle: The Beloved Snowman Who Owns Christmas in New Orleans

The Snowman Who Owned Christmas

Before there was an Elf on the Shelf, before there was a Buddy the Elf, there was Mr. Bingle — a little snowman with holly wings, a red ribbon, an ice cream cone hat, and a candy cane who owned Christmas in New Orleans for the better part of the twentieth century. Created by the Maison Blanche department store in 1947, Mr. Bingle was the holiday mascot of a city that does not get snow, does not need snow, and invented its own version of a winter wonderland that was better than anything the North Pole could produce.

Mr. Bingle was not just a mascot. He was a season. His appearance in the Maison Blanche store windows signaled the official start of Christmas in New Orleans, and generations of children were brought downtown to see the puppet shows that brought him to life. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was brought to life through puppetry in the store's windows and on local television, becoming as much a part of the New Orleans holiday experience as gumbo on Christmas Eve and fireworks on the levee.

Jingle, Jangle, Jingle

Mr. Bingle had a theme song that every New Orleanian of a certain age can sing from memory, a jingly little number that played on a loop in the Maison Blanche stores and on local radio stations throughout the holiday season. The song was inescapable and, like all the best Christmas music, impossible to get out of your head once it lodged there. It became the soundtrack of New Orleans Christmases, as essential to the season as carols and eggnog.

When Maison Blanche closed its doors — another beloved New Orleans institution lost to the march of corporate retail — Mr. Bingle's future was uncertain. But New Orleanians are not the kind of people who let a beloved tradition die without a fight. The character was acquired by Dillard's, which continued the tradition, and Mr. Bingle merchandise remains a holiday staple in the city. You can find his image on ornaments, t-shirts, and cookie jars in shops throughout New Orleans every December.

An Enduring Symbol

Mr. Bingle endures because he represents something that New Orleans does better than any other city: creating joy out of nothing more than imagination and community. A snowman in a city that never sees snow. A winter character in a subtropical climate. A department store mascot that became a citywide institution. It makes no sense, and it is perfect. Mr. Bingle is Christmas in New Orleans — warm, weird, and wonderful.