More Chair Debate from the Email Inbox: One for Missouri, one for Texas.

 

Guinness World Records Names Route 66 Rocking Chair "World's Largest"

 

CUBA, MO The steel 42'1" rocking chair that took its place on Route 66 on April 1, 2008, celebrates its 2009 birthday with the Guinness World Records designation of Largest Rocking Chair. The Guinness designated Largest Rocking Chair adds one more Route 66 attraction to the Show-Me State, which bills itself as "Close to Home, Far From Ordinary."

Owners of the rocker, Dan and Carolyn Sanazaro, who grew up in Cuba, built the chair adjacent to The Fanning Outpost General Store to prompt travelers to stop and visit their complex of businesses: an archery range, a taxidermy shop, and a general store with lodge style décor, convenience items, and Route 66 mementos. The businesses center around a renovated Fanning, MO community building with a history as both a bar and a voting center at different times.

Read the rest at the Route 66 Association of Missouri Website

But, what about the Star of Texas?

Star of Texas, World's Largest Rocking Chair

It appeared at first as though drinking may have inspired Larry Dennis's peculiar masterpiece, but the bottle he was holding when he greeted me turned out to be nothing more than a frosty root beer. As I found out, Larry doesn't even drink. A tug on a strip of beef jerky is about as wild as he gets. "They used to call me Ol' Straight, Straight Larry," he confessed.

As I looked up at that colossal piece of furniture in the parking lot, though, I knew the soft-spoken carpenter could be a lot nuttier than he let on.

The chair stands in front of the Texas Hill Country Furniture and Mercantile, a rustic home-furnishings store outside Lipan, run by Larry and his wife Sherry. According to Larry, the idea for the big seat came to him after a visitor to the shop brought by a photo he had taken of a novelty rocker, 12 feet tall. Realizing what an attention-getter such a spectacle would be for the business, Larry set about creating one of his own.

Read the rest at Texas Twisted