In the 1840s, the new village of Madison already had its own bum, a man named Pinneo, who liked liquor too much. "People kept to windward of the unwashed man," states the 1877 "History of Madison and Dane County." "Pinneo was dirty as was possible to a life divorced from soap and water."

Snowball was a different sort. He had arrived in Madison by 1929. Until 1972, he was a familiar sight on State Street and Downtown University Avenue. The Wisconsin State Journal called him "the gentleman professor of philosophy and window washing." He would stop often to chat with passersby. Dozens of art students sketched him. Dozens of journalism students interviewed him. He revealed little.

Why he was nicknamed Snowball is unknown. Late in life it may have been because of his round head of white hair and whiskers, or perhaps it was because Snowball didn't stand a snowball's chance. He is best remembered wearing white boots, carrying a pail, a mop and a few shopping bags, his overalls crammed with pens. But early on, he was known as a sharp dresser.

"Some of the people used to tell him that he shouldn't dress so good, because the white people would think he was too uppity," recalled Charles Rengstorff, who ran a State Street bookstore. "I guess that kind of thing just wore him down over the years."