Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox
Wednesday, 21st September 2005 by Alex Turnbull
My friend Sarah got back from San Francisco recently, and she showed me the pictures she took there. When I saw this photo of a 49 foot talking lumberjack, I immediately checked the GgSs submissions database, but no-one has ever sent us it! Shame on you 😉
However we managed to find the way there; and so here are Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue Ox in Klamath, California. Paul Bunyan is (according to Wikipedia) an enormous mythical lumberjack, who was accompanied on this timber-chopping adventures by an equally enormous blue ox, named Babe. However, for my money, the most interesting thing about the Bunyan myth is that it was propogated by the lumber industry as a public relations tool.
Apparently there's monuments to Paul Bunyan all over America, can anyone find any more?
Thanks, obviously, to Sarah 😀
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
Here’s one in Portland, OR…
View Placemark
Bunyan wasn’t invented by the industry, just made more popular. He’s one of a bunch of orally transmitted “larger-than-life” heroes in American myth, along with Mike Fink, Pecos Bill, Casey Jones, and John Henry. What’s interesting is that Bunyan was probably the last before the 20th century hit, as the period of “wildcat logging” was very short. It industrialized fairly early on, and the oral tradition disappeared with it.
Try http://www.americanfolklore.net/ff.html for some of it. It’s got a very peculiar flavour even when compared with other folk myths.
The home of Paul Bunyan is in Bemidji, MN.
http://www.visitbemidji.com/bemidji/paultales.html
It may not be Paul Bunyan, but I have seen the Jolly Green Giant (check out that shadow!): View Placemark
Large icons were widely used in roadside america to attract tourist. Most of the ones that I have searched for are in low res areas, but here in Collinsville, Illinois is the “World’s largest catsup bottle” View Placemark
Hey I submitted the Collinsville Catsup bottle a while ago…. I feel robbed
and we dare not have any propogation from the big bad lumber industry, can we???
oops…meant to say “do we”.
49 feet?! Uh…is it just me, or is that monument, like…WAY taller than that?
Anyway, somebody needs to find the one from Fargo. I think it was in Brainerd, MN or something.
There is another in Bangor, ME. Here is a ground level shot.
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/MEBANbunyan.html
Unfortunately the satellite images for that area have not been updated.
Hah – this site was featured in a recent Dodge Ram commercial. “Big Truck”