SifuPhil
R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
- Location
- Pennsylvania, USA
Mentioning the Danbury (CT) State Fair in another thread got me wondering what happened to some of the large fiberglass statues that were so closely associated with the fair.
The fair started in 1869 and lasted until 1981, when it was torn down and made into a mall.
The fiberglass sculptures? The most famous were Uncle Sam and Paul Bunyon.
Uncle Sam was, and still is, the largest statue of Uncle Sam in the world.
He now stands tall at Magic Forest, a fairy-tale theme park in Lake George, NY.
But it's Paul Bunyon that turned out to be the crowd favorite.
After the fair closed, the manufacturer of the statue began making multiple copies and sold them mainly to muffler shops, to be used for advertising. Paul ended up in dozens of incarnations across the country, happily holding a giant muffler.
But the original Paul Bunyan? He ended up at, of all places, Woodstock!
Yes, Paul has regressed into hippiedom, and now wears patched jeans, a tie-dyed shirt and a necklace and bracelet.
He can be found at Yasgur's Farm / The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.
The fair started in 1869 and lasted until 1981, when it was torn down and made into a mall.
The fiberglass sculptures? The most famous were Uncle Sam and Paul Bunyon.
Uncle Sam was, and still is, the largest statue of Uncle Sam in the world.
He now stands tall at Magic Forest, a fairy-tale theme park in Lake George, NY.
But it's Paul Bunyon that turned out to be the crowd favorite.
After the fair closed, the manufacturer of the statue began making multiple copies and sold them mainly to muffler shops, to be used for advertising. Paul ended up in dozens of incarnations across the country, happily holding a giant muffler.
But the original Paul Bunyan? He ended up at, of all places, Woodstock!
Yes, Paul has regressed into hippiedom, and now wears patched jeans, a tie-dyed shirt and a necklace and bracelet.
He can be found at Yasgur's Farm / The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.
