My family made quite a few trips to Gatlinburg, Tennessee in my youth, and my favorite part of those visits was seeing the trolls you could find at the gift shops there. These are handmade trolls--Arensbak Trolls from 5 Arts Studio, crafted in the mountains of Tennessee.
This small company has been making all kinds of trolls (and now gnomes and troll dogs and troll cats) for many years in all kinds of sizes. Some trolls have eyes that light up! They are made primarily of materials found in the forests of Cosby, Tennessee (near Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg). The company's founder, Ken Arensbak, was from Denmark, and decided to give Scandinavia's Trolls a Southern twist.
I'm thinking this picture of me (on the left--ha ha!) standing with one of the larger trolls is from 1989---it looks like I'm at a General Store of some sort. I don't own one of these trolls, but maybe someday I will.
Arensbak Trolls have their own website, so you can go check them out and even order one!
Hmmm.... I swear I've seen these lil' guys during thrift shop and flea market excursions. Or maybe they were just flea and thrifting trolls? LOL!
ReplyDeleteHey Dad, the company that makes these does sell them to stores all over the country, so you probably have seen them. There just seems to be a heavy concentration of them in Gatlinburg's stores because they are made there.
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