From the A&W Burger Family statue section. The A&W in Spring Valley, MN is gone:
A car wash has been built on the property:
Uh-oh. Just a few months after I took new photos of this Miner in Idaho Springs, CO…:
… he had fallen forward. This can’t be good. It looks like shards of his hat on the ground, too. I have a feeling he won’t be around much longer unless someone has mercy on him, stands him back up and maybe makes some repairs. Unlikely, I know:
This wonderfully crude cowboy in Checotah, OK is apparently gone now:
This Big Tex-inspired cowboy in Bienville, LA appears to be gone now:
This cowboy and horse in Logansport, LA appear to be gone now. I emailed the city and they said that the pole which supported the statue was hit and broke the horse’s front legs. They may restore the statue. I passed along info for Mark Cline and American Giants, the two best fiberglass statue restorers in the country. Fingers crossed!:
These Knights in Port Charlotte, FL are gone:
The James Dean statue in Fairmount, IN seems to be gone now:
The Hiawatha statue in La Crosse, WI was removed when it was decided that it was politically incorrect. It is now in storage:
The Indian in Charlemont, MA was also removed recently for the same reason. Fortunately, that statue found a new home in November at the Hy-Wafe Cafe in Vinita, OK. Google doesn’t have it up yet but here’s a photo from the cafe’s FB account:
This wood-carved, cigar-holding Indian statue in Beaver, UT is gone now:
The latest version of the golfer from Chesterfield, MI is up at Street View now. Here are a couple of earlier photos that I took when he was at the golf range:
He’s now in China Township, MI at the Red Barn Vintage Market:
This was a fun one in Niagara Falls, ON above the entrance to Ripley’s Moving Theatre:
Well, it’s much less exciting now as Ripley’s Selfie Studios:
The Pep Boys statue in McAllen, TX is missing at the most recent StreetView map. So, I gave the store a call and was told that it had come unscrewed from the base and fell over. They are now going to keep it permanently inside the store:
How about some happy news. The Tin Man Family in Faribault, MN at this sheet metal place which closed in 2018. By 2020, they had been moved to the Rice County Historical Society in town:
The new Google Street View from June shows the dog, baby carriage and some other pieces displayed in front of the museum:
Better yet, the museum has this photo from a couple of days ago of the whole group, even lit up at night:
The Pie Woman and Child in Frackville, PA that stood in front of the Pot-O-Gold Diner in Hamburg, PA and was later moved to Granny’s Restaurant was sold in 2022:
The statue now stands next to a thrift store and has been repainted. The owner is looking to find a local, permanent location for the statue:
Let’s end with some good news. The American Giants Museum in Atlanta, IL is officially open! I’m looking forward to visiting it in June. The most recent Google Street View has a photo from July:
Here’s a photo from a WGLT article of the interior (a work in progress… more stuff and more statues being added inside and outside the museum):
Another photo from the Atlanta Illinois Tourism FB account:
For those of you familiar with Atlanta, IL, the museum is just a 1/2 block from the giant hot-dog holding man. Those of you familiar or not with Joel Baker… he’s the guy behind collecting the statues, items, and info for years (and for the museum). We’ve been pals for about 15 years now and, since that time, he’s been involved in saving, finding, documenting, and restoring many giant fiberglass statues, especially those built by International Fiberglass in the 1960s. You might want to tag along at his IG account:
https://www.instagram.com/americangiants/
The museum also has a website:
https://www.americangiantsmuseum.com/
I’ll be picking up next time with Art Deco & Streamline Moderne Buildings section.
Happy trails,
dj & the dogs
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