UNCOMMON KNOWLED GE FOR MODERN TIME S
BR AKE FOR THE WORLD’S L ARGEST… P R O P S T Y L I N G BY M E G U M I E M O T O. S P E C I A L T H A N K S T O E R I K A N E L S O N , C R E AT O R O F T H E W O R L D ’ S L A R G E S T T H I N G S I N C . ; R I C H A R D H E L FA N T, E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R O F L U C Y T H E E L E P H A N T; J O H N W E I S S , C H A I R M A N O F T H E I L L I N O I S R O U T E 6 6 P R E S E R VAT I O N C O M M I T T E E ; A N D K I M PAT R I C K , H E A D O F R E C O R D S M A N A G E M E N T FO R G U I N N E S S W O R L D R E C O R D S N O R T H A M E R I C A .
WELL, TAKE YOUR PICK: How about the 65-foot-high T. Rex
in Cabazon, California; the 20,000-pound ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas; or maybe the 170-foot-tall catsup bottle in Collinsville, Illinois? There are more than 500 of these so-called world’s-largest novelties across the United States. The oldest was erected in 1881—a six-story elephant named Lucy, built by Pennsylvania entrepreneur James V. Lafferty Jr. in hopes of luring land buyers to lots in Margate, New Jersey. With the 1908 invention of the Model T and the creation of paved interstate roads, like Route 66, more and more man-made wonders began to pop up. “Small-town businesses did everything they could to get motorists to stop and spend money,” says Joe Sonderman, the author of Postcards From Route 66. And the weirder the sights (a giant frying pan, garden gnome, or can of spinach), the more effective they were at drawing passersby. But if you think this type of attraction is a relic of the past, think again. Soap Lake, a city in Washington, has spent 13 years planning the world’s largest lava lamp. Far out.
20
THE NUMBER OF DI NO SAU RSTATUE ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, ACCORDING TO DOUG KIRBY, THE PUBLISHER OF ROADSIDE AMERICA.COM.
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Brandi Broxson Photograph by
Yasu + Junko
AUGUST 2016
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