Winklebottom

Winklebottom is a rare type of garden gnome. They were handmade by the famous garden gnome sculptor Klaus Zeigenlef, and one 1932 Winklebottom was eventually owned by Peggy Hill for a brief time in the Season 9 episode "Yard, She Blows!"

Appearance

Winklebottom is a ceramic garden gnome with an elderly appearance, pale skin, red cheeks, a large, puffy white beard, and puffy white hair. It stands upright approximately between 1 and 2 feet in height, and the gnome wears a pointed red hat, a long-sleeved blue shirt, purple pants, and black boots. Winklebottom's left arm holds a tobacco pipe, giving the garden gnome the appearance of smoking.

History

Season 9

One particular Winklebottom was owned by an unnamed woman in Arlen, Texas. She had displayed the garden gnome in front of her house until Peggy saw it at a yard sale with Luanne, successfully convincing the woman to sell the garden gnome to her. Once arriving home at the Hill residence, Peggy displayed Winklebottom in front of the house right next to the front walkway. Returning home later, Hank noticed the garden gnome as he picked up an item on the lawn, screaming upon realizing what the object was. Coming by, Peggy asked him if he liked Winklebottom, to which he only responded that it was an "elf", but Peggy corrected him that it was a gnome. Noticing the new decoration, Bobby was excited and declared that he would call the garden gnome "Vandor", but his mother told him that he would call it "Winklebottom" like everyone else. At that point, Peggy advised Bobby to come with her to get an old toothbrush so that they could clean the spider eggs from Winklebottom's ears.

Another day, Hank's friends Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer saw the gnome and began teasing Hank for allowing Peggy to display it. Displeased with the gnome and the comments about the gnome and his house, Hank attempted to hide the gnome from several passersby, including Mailman Thompson. Noticing Hank's actions, Peggy berated him for his alleged jealousy, but he was actually disgusted with the gnome's appearance. As they talked, Sally was walking by when she noticed the garden gnome, immediately recognizing it as a Winklebottom. Examining the decoration, Sally informed Peggy that it was a 1932 original handcrafted by Klaus Zeigenlef himself, impressing her. She then told Peggy about various gnome lore, causing Peggy's interest in garden gnomes to increase.

Later, Bobby was playing outside and pretending to be a U.S. Secret Service Agent. As he pretended to take a bullet for "President Winklebottom", he rolled on the ground and accidentally tipped the ceramic Winklebottom, breaking off its ear. Panicking, Bobby brought the garden gnome to his father since the latter could easily fix things. Although he saw that he could fix the minor damage with some ceramic glue, Hank was disgusted by the gnome and used the opportunity to lie to Bobby that he could not repair the gnome. He assured Bobby that he would take the blame for breaking the gnome, and that night, they went out to a nearby forest to bury Winklebottom in a shallow grave. Hank then completely shattered the gnome by running it over a few times with his truck's wheels. The next day, Peggy was horrified to find Winklebottom missing, and Hank initially went with the cover story that hooligans stole it until he felt bad about seeing Peggy's despair. Despite Hank confessing his actions to Peggy, she correctly accused Bobby of breaking the gnome, but she did not believe Hank's story that he completely destroyed the garden gnome. Eventually, Winklebottom was replaced by Figgleforth, a garden gnome that looks similar, but unlike Winklebottom, Peggy kept her new garden gnome inside to avoid the alleged possibility of hooligans stealing it.

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