Plastic Jesus statues have been popular Christmas gifts at least since Paul Newman sang about his dashboard savior in 1967’s “Cool Hand Luke.” Now that popularity is being taken to a new level as four Jesus bobbleheads join the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.
The Milwaukee-based museum on Thursday inducted a full-sized Jesus bobblehead, a bobblehead ornament, a dashboard mini-bobblehead similar to the statue in Newman’s movie and a “Mantle Mate” bobblehead that is designed to display on a shelf, ledge or desk.
Phil Sklar, a Jewish native of Illinois who cofounded the museum in 2019 and serves as its CEO, said the museum decided to create new bobbleheads representing different kinds of Jesus figurines since most of the original models “are no longer available.”
“These are the first bobbleheads of Jesus that we’ve produced,” Mr. Sklar said, noting that the museum also sells replicas of all its figurines.
He noted that the Jesus bobbleheads have arrived just in time for Christmas.
The regular bobblehead features a barefoot Jesus clad in a white tunic and blue mantle, holding his arms outstretched with palms up and standing on a gold circular base bearing his name.
The faith he inspired now has adherents around the globe, but Jesus bobbleheads, with their cheerful faces and jiggly heads, have long been popular with believers and unbelievers alike.
“Bobbleheads make for great gifts and we’re excited to expand our offering to include these four new bobbleheads for people to enjoy,” Mr. Sklar said.
