Snow globes in carry-on this holiday? Yes, but only small wonders

Last summer snow globes got a reprieve when the Transportation Security Administration relaxed the rule that banned the water-filled tchotchkes from carry-on luggage. But in the clear-eyed cold of winter, it’s small comfort -- very small comfort -- as the holiday season approaches.

Snow Globe Central of Denver points out the TSA allows only snow globes that appear to “contain less than 3.4 ounces (approximately tennis ball size.)” But the most popular snow globes are bigger, and carry much more liquid.

“The most common size of snow globes we make and repair is the 4-inch diameter glass globe,” president Reid Grossnickle says in a statement. And that common size comes with about 16 ounces of liquid,” the statement reads. Even a 2.5-inch glass globe holds just less than 5 ounces -- far more than the allowable 3-ounce rule.

So what’s the point? Best to ship them or pack them in checked luggage, Grossnickle recommends.

mary.forgione@latimes.com
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