SnowMG!

Philadelphia is expecting many of inches of snow, and the weather should start any minute now. It’s safe to say that the city has descended into a full-throated freak-out.

So, let’s put it in perspective with some snow photos from the archives!

Eskimo children playing in the snow at 50 degrees below zero in Point Barrow, Alaska. Notice the dark figures -- because of the bright environment, photographing objects in snow is notoriously difficult. Photograph by William B. Van Valin, c. 1919. Penn Museum image 11328.

Ainu snow shoes (cirru). Collected in Hokkaido, Japan sometime before 1901. Photograph by Francine Sarin and Jennifer Gibson Chiappardi. Penn Museum objects A407c, A407d, image 174442.

Waterproof Parka made of the throat lining of sea lions. Collected by G.B. Gordon in 1905. Penn Museum object NA247, image 149958.

Sphinx of Ramesses II in front of the Main Entrance of The University Museum, covered with snow. The Sphinx was moved into the building in 1916, and into the Lower Egyptian Gallery in 1926. Photograph c. 1913. Penn Museum image 140759.

\

Convoy en route Teheran-Baghdad on snow-covered highway, near the court of a caravanserai. From the Damghan Expedition, Joint Expedition to Persia, 1932. Penn Museum image 173843.

So remember, if you’re going to go out, bring your parka made from the throat of a sea lion, your snow shoes, your AWESOME mid-1930s truck and the third-largest sphinx in the world.