1904 Floral Clock - World's Fair

 

http://www.lyndonirwin.com/04clock.htm

From the Snail Mail Inbox: W.L. Strawberry Shortcake

This is just one of the fabulous postcards recently received through the mail and added to the WLT Inc. Ephemera Archive - a World's Largest Strawberry Shortcake, from Lebanon Oregon.  And, lookit that knife those ladies are holding!  No date on it, nor other info, as it was a photo postcard with a generic back.  See the rest of the newest Ephemera Archive additions on our Flickr photo blog:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/56214196@N00

Anderson Ranch Art Car Workshop - June 28 - July 2

Here's the official one-sheet for the Subverting the Factory Finish Art Car workshop at Anderson Ranch later this year - Snowmass Village Colorado - whoop!

Class description and enrollment info on the PDF - we're makin' an Art Car to roll in the Aspen 4th of July Parade: Anderson Ranch Art Car Workshop

and

more about Anderson Ranch

Ft Worth TX: W.L. Chicken Fried Steak

WANT!  Cowtown Diner, Full o' Bull.

 

See the story and graphic description of excess here:

 

http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org/food/largest_Chicken_Fried_Steak_world_record_set_by_Cowtown_Diner_101612.htm

 

 

BIG NEWS! WLCoWSVoWLT to be in the 2010 Topp's Allen and Ginter World Champions set...

We hadn't announced it officially yet, but the news is out, the hype is building, and Collector Card sites are buzzing about the 2010 Allen and Ginter Collector Card set.  Topps released a list of upcoming cards, and true to form, the WLCoWSVoWLT piques interest and confusion, and we're all a-twitter about the buzz.  There probably isn't another baseball set that generates as much hobby buzz as Topps Allen & Ginter. In 2010, Topps will hope to build on the set's legacy with some new wrinkles including Book Cards and all new insert cards.  Here are some handy info links, as well as previews and reactions -

 

 

Product Preview from Beckett Media Blog:  http://blogbeckett.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/product-preview-2010-topps-allen-ginter-baseball-cards/

 

Complete Card list from Sports Card Radio: http://www.sportscardradio.com/index.php/sports-card-directory/topps-allen-a-ginter/518-2010-topps-allen-a-ginter-baseball-complete-checklist-all-base-a-inserts-

 

Sell Sheet: http://bdj610bbcblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/2010-topps-allen-ginter-sell-sheets-are.html

 

Trader Crack's Card Blog:  http://tradercracks.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-depth-preview-2010-allen-ginter.html

(Excerpt) The Framed Autograph checklist is big, running 85 cards. Sure there's regulars like Ryan Howard and David Wright, but color me most intrigued about the autograph of "The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things" (that's how the card is listed on the checklist). I'm guessing it has something to do with this.

 

WHOOP!  We're looking forward to seeing our card, and it'll be a hoot to spot one in the wild, too... Tell your Card Collector friends, and grab a WLCoWSVoWLT Collector Card of your own!  We'll be in the World Champion set...

 

-Erika

World's Largest Documentary World Premiere!

at South by Southwest Film Festival, Austin Texas.  Find show times here, along with preview, synopsis and filmmaker bios - congrats Lizzy and Amy!

 

http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/5227

Dunny Exhibition opens March 5th, Long Island City NY

That's right, we've sent in our submissions, and there will be two Kansas Altered Dunnys at the APW Gallery, 48-18 Van Dam Street, Long Island City NY, for their Dunny Exhibition.  Opening reception March 5th, 7-9 p.m., show runs through March 27th.

 

Look for the Kewpie Dunny (in the pic), and an Elusive Caffinated Dunnalope (image unavailable - hence the 'elusive' designation) in the mega-display of Dunnys from all over the world...

SwissMiss, goin' out to DooNanny

Just sent off copies of the Swiss Miss video, exploring a traditional dance of my peoples, to be a part of Doo Nanny Woods of Wonder Film Fest in Seale Alabama, at Butch Anthony's Museum of Wonder.

 

And, sent copies off to the Kansas Humanities Council, too...

 

More about DooNanny on FB: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=7&ved=0CCoQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgroup.php%3Fgid%3D80850038545&rct=j&q=doo+nanny%2C+seale+alabama&ei=mhaAS_CkHJTINdnD9b8E&usg=AFQjCNF_4-sIAGn4OoWFWcw7rGfZ9m3p9w

 

Butch Anthony's Museum of Wonder:  http://www.museumofwonder.com/

Sketchbook Project, ON VIEW in BROOKLYN NY

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (February 19 - 21, 2010) will be the second showing of the Sketchbook Project goes on view at 303 Grand, Brooklyn NY. Our hand-drawn book "And Suddenly - There it WAS! A WLCoWSVoWLT Road Trip" can be checked out and perused during this second of many showings around the country.

If you're not in the area, you can also check out the posted scans on our page of the Art House Co-Op site:

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/submissions/12572-and-suddenly-there-it-was-wlcowsvowlt-road-trip

See ya' on the road, and in the galleries!

-Erika

Erika Nelson: Your source for inappropriate nationwide quotes since 1973.

 

Re-quote from Wall Street Journal hits front page of Section P, Dallas Morning News...  Way to spread some left-handed compliments about Kansas.

 

"Nobody expects anything out of Kansas.  So that gives you a premission slip to do whatever the hell you want." ...Aritst Erika Nelson, discussing the surge in roadside sculptures appearing along Kansas Highways (The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday)

 

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DallasMorningNews/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=RE1OLzIwMTAvMDIvMTQ.&pageno=MTcz&entity=QXIxNzMwMw..&view=ZW50aXR5

FRONT PAGE Wall Street Journal article today!

 

Front page, today's WSJ - These Unknown Sculptors Are Outstanding in Their Fields in Kansas

 

Look for the WLCoWSVoWLT in the online slideshow, and an off-color quote from Erika in the article:

 

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703894304575047461204497670-lMyQjAxMTAwMDAwODEwNDgyWj.html

WLT goes to Telluride for Mountainfilm 2010

Got the confirmation call today, so it looks like a GO for Mountainfilm in Telluride Colorado in May - whoop!  They've requested the Fossil Fuel truck, and I DO believe we'll be setting up the NEW Sideshow Extravaganza.

 

More about the festival here: http://www.mountainfilm.org/about/

 

Hello, 2010!  I like ya' so far...

 

 

Worlds Largest Documentary - World Premeir at SXSW!!!

Way to go, Amy and Lizzy!  They've been working for a while on this look at World's Largest across the U.S., and the WORLD PREMEIR IS HERE!  At the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin.

 

Congrats!

 

(WLT Director Erika was interviewed for this film in 2004, but I have no idea if I made the cut.  Either way, it's going to be an important tool in telling the story of Small Towns that Think Big)

Tourist Season starts earlier and earlier, it seems...

Today's Back Yard Visitors get the extra-added bonus of being the FIRST of 2010!  They are Londoners taking a year to see what can be seen, and documenting it all here:

 

http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?go=hollyandrichiewalkabout

Indianapolis Sack Men

Before I forget, remind me to write out the physical configuration of the bus - I crammed a whole life in there for a few years (there was a storage shed, too, for the large installation art environment that was still being booked at a few venues in the Midwest). The bus contained all of the ‘stuff’ for day-to-day, month-to-month, and year-to-year provisions and items and some silly sentimental items, too. The accordion lived in the attic, the banjo under the bed. And, remind me to tell you about testing all of that out…

Living on the road started out as a truly wandering thing. I had not set plan or agenda, a few dates in different states, but that was about it. It sounds like a freeing thing, an open possibility, a mental frontier, but it is actually quite overwhelming when you pull away from what used to be home (and THAT is a whole ‘nother hill o’ beans, and not worth getting into just yet - it’d still be full of curse words and vitriol) and have no set ‘end’ point.

Read the rest on the full post at the World's Largest Things Posterous blog...

Big News Days!

Some bee must be in a collective bonnet, 'cause there's been a rash of image requests and interviews about quirky Kansas roadside attractions and the like -

 

Talked on the phone Friday with New York Times reporter Stephanie Simon, then got an image request late last night for the same story.  Print or online, we don't know yet, but I'm sure Kansas images are flooding her in-box.

 

Then, just today, a media request from ABC News (most likely online, too, but who knows...) for Roadside Attraction images.  OF COURSE I sent in som eof the requested things like the W.L. Ball of Twine, but had to add in the WLCoWSVoWLT, the meta-photo of the WSVo the WLCoWSVoWLT VISITING the WLCoWSVoWLT, and the WSVoWL Badger, from the WLCoWSVoWLT Collection.

 

Oh, and there were some other ones speckled in there, too, but those will have to be additional stories for another time...

Kansas 150 Speakers Bureau Catalogue

...now available online!

 

I have two new lectures through this great program, and they're offering ONE FREE BOOKING to any Kansas Non-Profit organization (while funds last) in 2010 - great win-win-win!

 

You can find out how to schedule a fun and informative lecture here:

 

http://www.kansashumanities.org/programs/speakers_bureau/speakers.html

 

The new offerings are:

 

Folk Art in Kansas - From wheat weaving and egg painting traditions passed down from immigrant ancestors, to visionary environments composed of cement sculptures or metal whirligigs and the internationally renowned work of Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton, Kansas folk art has much to teach us about creativity and the innovative spirit that inspires our state.  This presentation will look at folk art and "outsider" art as a part of our state's history and heritage.

 

Monumental Sculpture in Kansas - From Wichita's "Keeper of the Plains" to Oakley's oversized bronze Buffalo Bill sculpture, Kansas towns have a history of putting up large sculptures as a way to help explain "who we are".  These works of art provide a connection to our history and reflect community expression through iconic structures, but they can also serve as lightning rods for disagreement.  This presentation will consider the power of large-scale public art in community and how it can showcase artistic expression, history, and local pride.

 

Let me know if there's a time you want to have one of these programs, and we'll get the ball rolling...

 

-Erika Nelson, Director

Worlds Largest Things

 

p.s. - I'm also still on the Kansas Arts Commission Arts on Tour roster, if you're looking for a hands-on workshop, or have been inspired to THINK BIG and build your OWN Community Icon:  http://arts.ks.gov/roster/visual_literary/nelson.shtml

Journeying Germination

For Thing-A-Day, I'm trying to capture some of the stories behind the devlopment of the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction and Museum.  See my own Posterous blog for a full explanation, and image set that I'll be using to jar my own memories...

That sort of confused, in-between time can be the time of most clarity and vision… Which parts to you listen to, which parts do you discard? And, how do you hold multiple seemingly contradictory ideals or goals or directions in your head (and in your being) at once? This was a time of transition, and choosing paths.

Read the rest on the full post at the World's Largest Things Posterous blog...

Backstory Paintings

Here's part of what I'll use as inspiration in this year's Thing-A-Day writing project - the images from the development of the large Backstory Paintings from 2007, illustrating some of the events surrounding the years from 1999 - 2004. I am enjoying re-visiting these (I don't think I've looked at them since they were painted, as they're still stuck in limbo storage in another state, and this set of images is from WAAAAYYYYY back in the photostream) and the odd parallel that happens with memory - as the images emerge(d), so do(did) the stories... I'll try not to look TOO far ahead, and just pick one as inspiration for a story-of-the-era based on that chosen image....

Or not.  I'm fickle that way.

Posted via email from Worlds Largest Collection of the Worlds Smallest Versions of the Worlds Largest Things

Sketchbook Project ON VIEW in Atlanta Georgia

This Friday and Saturday (January 29 - 10, 2010), the first showing of the Sketchbook Project goes on view at ARTHOUSE GALLERY in Atlanta Georgia - 309 Peters. Our hand-drawn book "And Suddenly - There it WAS! A WLCoWSVoWLT Road Trip" can be checked out and perused during this first of many showings around the country.

If you're not in the area, you can also check out the posted scans on our page of the Art House Co-Op site:

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/submissions/12572-and-suddenly-there-it-was-wlcowsvowlt-road-trip

See ya' on the road, and in the galleries!

-Erika

February 2010 - Thing-A-Day - Writing the story before it goes away

Just signed up for an exciting project in February, committing to create a Thing-A-Day.  It'll all be posted online, on a NEW special blog (as if we needed another one - sheesh!):  Worlds Largest Things on Posterous

I'm devoting my Thing-A-Day to telling the story behind the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction and Museum. I believe I'm in that crucial time, where memories are starting to fade (but can be revived), but haven't yet deteriorated into a glossy nostalgia. Distance of time has that double edge to it, making you varnish over some of the rough spots, yet enabling you to distance yourself enough to see some things that weren't so obvious up close and "in the time".

I've tried to capture or map out part of the story out a few times. I have a composition book with a breakdown of how to structure a book proposal, did a set of large panel paintings that reflected on my time in the desert and on the road in a non-linear, image-based way, and most recently completed a hand-drawn book that combined the words and images.

Now, I think it's time to really focus on the words and feelings that the images bring back, before they're gone forever. I have the previous 'maps' here for guidance, and a folder of images taken along the way that are sorted by date taken. Funny, how a tool so necessary while DOING the 'thing' ends up being a roadmap itself, a chronology that contains its own set of sparks. I'm hoping not to rely too heavily on the narrative that has become the 'tour' of those times - the sound bites and repeated story that I tell when someone asks about that time period.

Anyone who has ever been a tour guide at any historic structure knows exactly what I mean - the 'tour' becomes an automatic response, repeated so often that it becomes meaningless, a song you hum to yourself, even if the subject matter is of great importance to you. The period from 1999 - 2009 is in danger of becoming that sort of sing-song synopsis, and I'd like it to be real again.

A sincere Thank-You

I am overwealmed and humbled by WLT Friends, Fans, and Members, their generosity and encouragement.  Thank you, everyone, for your support, in word and deed, during difficult times.

 

-Erika

Small Town USA Documentary - webisode with Erika

Architectural Sculpting Class, Feb. 22-26

From the wilds of Minnesota, a GREAT opportunity to hone your skills, or produce your own World's Largest Thing...  Call now to reserve a spot!  Josh, the instructor, has vast experience in creating and preserving WLTs, including the Talking Paul Bunyan in Brainerd, restoration paint job on the Big Fish Supper Club in Bena MN, and creating new icons for Chambers of Commerce and promotional endeavors. 

Now we're communicating!

I think we've done it... Members may not notice a difference, but I believe we've gotten Weekly What's Large Where bugs worked out, and automated to send out each week.

Also, a record NINE Member Packets (both new and renewal) went out today, making a great start to Aught Ten.

So, here we go!

-E

Hendersonville NC start World's Largest Puzzle Attempt

Volunteers begin assembling 'World's Largest Puzzle' By Jessica Goodman, Times-News Staff Writer.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

MILLS RIVER -- The temperature was in the teens, with a severe wind chill, on Friday outside the church on Presbyterian Church Road. By 7 p.m., people bundled up were scurrying to the side door of the fellowship hall.

Inside, the conversation, the food and the fellowship warmed up the 40 or so people who braved the cold to participate in assembling part of the "the World's Largest Puzzle" at Mills River Presbyterian Church.

"It's a warm place in every sense of the word," said the Rev. Randall Boggs, pastor of the church.

Larry Sunday, a member of the church, donated the puzzle as a way to create community outreach for the church. He supervised the scene on Friday and held on to a timer, which records the group's progress. He watched as people move and mingle from group to group.

...

On the puzzle's Web site, at worldslargestpuzzle.com, a Hall of Fame showed all the groups who have completed the puzzle. Sunday said the Hall of Fame made no reference to any group in North Carolina completing the puzzle, nor any churches. Sunday predicted the puzzle will be completed some time on Monday.

...

Read the entire story here:

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100109/news/1091032

...

Volunteers can still sign up to participate in the puzzle piecing process by calling 891-7101. Sunday hopes construction continues around the clock. The church is located at 10 Presbyterian Church Road in Mills River.

1964 World's Fair - Unisphere slide scan

1964 World's Fair - Unisphere slide scan, originally uploaded by worldslargestthings.

Testing to see if all of these various things will network - Just uploaded this from the Ephemera Archives to Twitter and Flickr at the same time, but will they share with the corporate blog?!? Let's find out...

From the WLT Christmas Stocking: New Batch of Ephemera!

It's always a good haul for WLT, with folks sending in their historic postcards from roadside attractions, past and present. This one features the Pineapple that used to lord over Honolulu, before it was removed. Sadly, the decapitated top still rusts in a parking lot, while a painting of the former shadow commemorates the former fruitty fantastic watertower.

World's Tallest Structure opens, with World's Tallest Dancing Fountains, to boot!

From Travel Agent Central:

As much as debt concerns plagued Dubai's publicity in the end of 2009 opened, the nascent luxury destination is kicking off 2010 with an epic first to turn the tide as the world's tallest structure, the Burj Dubai, opens.

Although the property's official height remains a secret, it is known to be at least 2,625 feet and exceed the next highest structure (the Taipei 101) by 1,000 feet. The opening has been delayed twice since construction began in 2004.

Worth $1.5-billion, the building will reach 200 stories and will include an observation deck on the 124th floor where visibility can reach 50 miles.

The building also includes the world's largest performing fountain as design firm WET created the 50-story-high Dubai Fountain, a 32-acre lake that is the largest choreographed fountain in the world. Using synchronized lights, music and water that leaps over a record-setting 140 meters into the air, the Fountain also uses projected light to paint with light on its darting water forms

.

Happy New Year! And, to getcha in the mood for Spring...

 

 

NEW World's Largest Pysanka, in Ukraine!  See the whole review here:

 

http://armchairtravelogue.blogspot.com/2010/01/worlds-largest-easter-egg_02.html