Over the past 10 years, sales of garden gnomes have declined rapidly with fewer and fewer gardeners buying these quirky little people for their garden.
Gnomes date back to Roman times but the version we see today originated in Germany in the early 19th century and are known as Gatenzwerge (garden dwarf). They were brought over to the UK by Sir Charles Edmund Isham in 1847.
Over World War I and World War II garden gnome popularity declined, but in 1937, When Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released by Walt Disney, garden gnome popularity increased.
The majority of gnomes are male with long white beards and a red hat with female gnomes being rare and sometimes resembling witches!
Recently supermarkets have been stocking a variety of gnomes, including females, with modern accessories like mobile phones and tabled. This has helped once again increase their popularity.