WLT Biz, busy.

Just got the July batch of Weekly What's Large Where off to the presses, and sending out this week's installment to members. Also, look for a little WLT contribution to the California State Fair - we just scanned and sent some images to their Exhibition crew for a Quirky Travel site display.

Anyone eating a World's Largest Thing this summer, festival-wise? There are giant Cherry Pies to be had in George, Washington, the W.L. Pecan Pie in Okmulgee, and countless other feats of food fare to be had out there... If you partake, please post a pic or two!

-EN, dir. WLT

Great image found on Flickr...

lucas, kansas, originally uploaded by david haggard.

... of the World's Largest Souvenir Travel Plate. The vignetting and rusty tones of the crop are amazing in this one.

World's Largest Knefeh, Nablus, Palestine

Palestinian sets Guinness record for world largest knafeh By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent 

 

A Palestinian man from the West Bank city of Nablus set a Guinness world record recently after baking the world's largest knafeh pastry, the Palestinian Maan News Agency reported Sunday.

 

Some 600 kg of cheese and 300 kg of sugar were used in the making of the sweet pastry, along with 35 kg of pistachios.

The enormous knafeh measures 75 meters long and two meters wide, and has an estimated weight of about 1,350 kg.

 

According to 36-year-old Mohand Arabi, one of the project's initiators, the group that prepared the massive dessert has all the Guinness documentation in their possession, securing their attempt as an official record.

Knafeh is a sweet pastry, renowned throughout the Arab world, Turkey as well as in Israel. It is made primarily of noodles and honey-sweetened goat cheese.

The town of Nablus is considered to be the birth place of the knafeh, which it is believed to have first appeared at the beginning of the 15th century.

Nabulus's knafeh is famous thanks to the special Nabulsi cheese used in its preparation.

 

found on http://www.haaretz.com

'World’s largest peach cobbler’ at festival in Fort Valley (Georgia)

By Eric Newcomer

 

FORT VALLEY— Seventy-five gallons of fresh sliced Georgia peaches, 150 pounds of self-rising flour, 150 pounds of sugar, 32 gallons of milk and 90 pounds of butter go into making Peach County's peach cobbler as part of the Georgia Peach Festival.

People from across the state came to Fort Valley on Saturday to participate in the festival and to have a bowl of "the world's largest peach cobbler."

Whether it actually is the largest is unclear.

"We just say it is," said Rich Bennett, the Georgia Peach Festival's president and the head cook.

But who would dispute the claim, with cooks mixing the ingredients in six large clean trash cans using rakes and boat paddles before spreading it out on a metal pan for almost eight hours of cooking.

People said they enjoyed their servings of peach cobbler, doled out in Styrofoam bowls and served hot.

"It's actually pretty good," said Jerome Owens of Macon. "Being a pot that big, it's actually pretty good."

Most agreed that considering the size it was not half bad.

"Well compared to my late wife's, it's not as good, but she didn't make it this big," said Jack Broshar from Atlanta.

The cobbler is cooked on a large metal pan under a wooden pavilion, which sits all year ready for the next year's cobbler.

There are some problems that come into play when cooking such a large concoction.

"It's very, very hard not to burn the bottom," Bennett said. And some of the bottom of the cobbler burned Saturday.

"This big, it's kind of hard to get a pie crust," he said.

Cooks started arriving at 4 a.m. and covered the pan at 6:02 a.m., according to Bennett. Dessert was served at 2 p.m.

Besides the giant peach cobbler, attendees could pick from a wide selection of foods and peach products available for purchase.

Michelle Yingling, who has worked at the festival for 21 years, said she expected to sell 5,000 peaches Saturday. This was the 23rd Georgia Peach Festival, Bennett said.

"The purpose of the festival is to celebrate the peach growers," Bennett said. "Peach County wouldn't exist without peach growers."

World's Largest Newton's Cradle

The world's largest Newton's Cradle, designed by Chris Boden, is on public display in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is made of seven 15-pound (6.8 kg) bowling balls suspended from the ceiling by 20-foot (6.1 m) cables and is regularly used for scientific demonstrations.

 

Geek Group was on a mission to create the world's largest Newton's Cradle. The cradle was made of 15 bowling balls that hung three feet above the ground, and the entire apparatus was held up by a pair of 20 foot cables.  300 pounds later, this mega sized Newton's Cradle looks terrifying. Physics lovers, this just might be your dream perpetual motion toy.

From http://everything2.com/title/Newton%2527s%2520Cradle: The hand that rocks the (world's biggest) cradle

Wiki also tells us of the world's biggest set of balls. Up to twenty full-sized bowling balls lined up in the classic cradle arrangement, suspended from girders by aircraft grade steel cables. To be honest, they usually only run it with 16, as the building shakes a bit too much with all 20 in operation. This also leaves four spares in case of a disaster, but it still looks impressive, even on a web page.

"The problem," according to builder, Mark Broker, "was having the balls to build it."

After a number of trials, the team started working with AMF, a leading supplier of bowling balls, and AMF made them a set of 20 balls matched for weight (15lb each) and size and internal composition.

I can't find a video on the web, but the website (the Geek Group) is listed below, and the installation is at 2309 N Burdick St, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The guys at Geek Group say,

"In the 2008 season we are working to secure a larger facility for the cradle and rebuild it to an even larger setup with higher-weighted balls and many more of them. We hope to not only set a world's record with this, but to break our own existing record."

Lambs Farm Attempts to Beat a World Record Dog Biscuit at Woofstock 2009

For Immediate Release: May 12, 2009
Contact: Jackie Rachev, Communications Coordinator 847.990.3706 jrachev@lambsfarm.org

Lambs Farm Attempts to Beat a World Record at Woofstock 2009

Libertyville, IL - Lambs Farm's Participants and staff are baking a dog biscuit guaranteed to treat hundreds of hungry hounds. How big must this delicious treat be? In order to break the current world record, the biscuit should weigh nearly 400 pounds and measure 16 feet, and that is what Lambs Farm plans to do. The organization will unveil the world's largest dog biscuit on Saturday, June 20 at Woofstock - One Day of Puppy Love.

The agency has already applied to attempt the record-setting feat, and will submit its official results after the final weigh-in. The mammoth dog treat's recipe includes 300 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of peanut butter and 20 pounds of eggs. After the official weigh-in and photos, the biscuit will be cut up and samples will be available for all four-legged Woofstock attendees.

Lambs Farm's Woofstock is a full day dedicated to man's best friend. The free event will feature, in addition to the world's largest dog biscuit, a wide variety of vendors displaying specialty food items, toys, clothing and more; demonstrations from Cross Roads Search and Rescue, Robin's Dog Stars and Bark N Park; arts, crafts and games for both two-legged and four-legged attendees; a pet parade; and Lake County's premiere Couture Canine Fashion Show. A live band will also perform all day.

Woofstock will be held Saturday, June 20 at Lambs Farm from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is presented by Suncast Corporation, and sponsored by Record-A-Hit Entertainment and Natural Balance. For more information on Woofstock, or to be a vendor or demonstrator, please visit www.lambsfarm.org, or contact Claudia Stevens at 847.990.3750 or crs@lambsfarm.org. Lambs Farm is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering adults with developmental disabilities to lead personally fulfilling lives through a full range of vocational, residential, social and recreational programs. Based near Libertyville, Illinois at the intersection of Rt. 176 and I-94, Lambs Farm has assisted individuals to create their own pathways to meaningful experiences, at home and in the community, since 1961. For more information on Lambs Farm, please visit www.lambsfarm.org.

Learn more about Lambs Farm

Click here for more information

Lucas featured in two new national publications

NEWS RELEASE:  June 17, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION

CONTACT:  Erika Nelson, info@worldslargestthings.com

 

LUCAS FEATURED IN TWO NEW NATIONAL PUBLICATIONS

 

Residents sometimes forget the unique place Lucas Kansas has on the national (and international!) roadmap.  Two new publications again focus on this amazing tiny town, with a lot of print space given to local attractions and culture.

 

First, the Society for Commerical Archeology Journal Spring 2009 issue features a 2000 word article, with over a dozen full color images, examining the Garden of Eden and it's impact.  This is an academic Journal, sent out to scholars and researchers, universities and members only.  It's used as the benchmark for a specific industry, the study of the American roadside.  Articles here often find themselves used as the basis for major thesis projects, cited in additional articles, and used as a valued resource.  The article in this issue was originally produced by Erika Nelson and Jon Blumb for Raw Vision magazine, and is re-printed here in its entirety.  Not only are there 8 full color pages inside, an historic photo of the Garden is used for the cover art.

 

Second, Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations have released a new Coast to Coast Travel-O-Pedia, a 200-plus page book listing all the interesting, amazing, and offbeat sites their fan-base needs to see.  The chapters are broken up by region, and the entire Midwest section starts out with Garden of Eden photos and kudos in the second paragraph:  "The list always begins in Lucas with the Garden of Eden."  These folks LOVE Lucas, and all it has to offer.  Town sites also grace the cover, as well as the standard listings in the information section, detailing hours and type of attractions found in Lucas.  And, one of S.P. Dinsmoor's sculptures is the largest element in the cover design, pointing the way to amazing things.

 

Congratulations, Lucas, on being exactly what you are.  Please, take a moment to remember how special and amazing a town like ours is, and that we have friends across the nation.

 

 

Bacolicious a Big Tasty Success!

All enjoyed the most recent WLT project, the Bacolicious installation at the Smoky Hill River Festival (http://www.riverfestival.com/salina/)  in Salina Kansas. 

 

Using a specially-designed product called Put-In-Cups (http://www.putincups.com/shop/index.php), the oversized strips of bacon are assembled from plastic inserts in a chain-link fence.  Three pieces made it up this year, with a lot of volunteer help.  There had been plans for four, but 20 hours and numberous bleeding fingers later, we decided on the traditional serving-size of three...

 

This was a temporary display, only up through the Festival weekend (June 12 - 14), but will re-appear on the North Tennis Court fence at the next fabulous event.

 

Thanks for help, Bacolicious Brothers, and for the great comments and pictures, WLT fans!

 

-Erika

BACOLICIOUS installation already hits the Bacon Blogs!

Our weekend project, creating giant slabs of bacon at the Smoky Hill River Festival, is already hitting the bacon blogs.  Yay, Bacon!  And, Yay, Volunteers who made it happen!  And YAY, Put-In-Cups!

 

http://skullsandbacon.blogspot.com/2009/06/bacolicious-art.html

 

-Erika, Director, WLT Inc.

 

P.I.C. link:  http://www.putincups.com/shop/index.php

Croatia claims world's largest pair of jeans

Croatia claims world's largest pair of jeans

1 day ago on AFP

ZAGREB (AFP) — A pair of jeans the size of six tennis courts, stitched together from thousands donated for charity, should be recognised by Guinness World Records as the biggest anywhere, organisers said on Sunday. 

Original story:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5grhXIukF7yQEinHLyfZvRwivTBLg?index=0

Member Packets, WLT Fans, and Tourist Season

Two more packets go out today, one new, one renew... Best Back Yard Visitors of the month go to two WLT Fans who are meandering their way across the US, visiting only kitsch environments.

 

Now, packing for the big BACOLICIOUS project at the Smoky Hill River Festival - we're installing tomorrow and Thursday, on the upper tier of the tennis courts, visible throughout the festival this weekend in Salina Kansas.  C'mon by!

 

-Erika Nelson, Director WLT Inc.

People have ALWAYS loved WLTs...

 

 

...even in Maugerville, New Brunswick Canada.