email: agilitynut@hotmail.com
Loading

Giant Geese, Ducks, etc. (page 1)

(hit "refresh" to get the most recent version of this page; click on photos for larger images)

Wild Goose Monument
Wawa, ON		 Giant Goose
Fergus Falls, MN
The first version of the Wild Goose was built of plaster over chicken wire, making it too vulnerable to the weather. It was constructed in 1960 to commemorate the final link in the TransCanada Highway. This is actually the third goose built. It was erected in 1963 and is 22 feet long, 28 feet tall, with a wingspan of 20 feet. Wawa means "wild goose" to native Ojibway Indians who based the word on the "wa-wa" sound of geese flying overhead. For more, see this website.

There are two other Giant Geese in Wawa: 1 and 2.

The Fergus Falls Goose has a wingspan of about 20 feet. It was built in 1972. The steel sculpture moves with the wind like a giant weathervane. It is installed next to the Otter Tail County Historical Museum. For more, see this website.

Goose
Saginaw, MI
This Goose is located at Blohm's Service Center. The owner liked geese and had this one built and installed on the roof around 1971. It was modeled after the Wawa goose statue described above.

Giant Goose
Sumner, MO
This Giant Goose, known as "Maxie", was built in 1976. The statue is 40 feet tall and has a 61 foot wingspan. Sumner claims to be the Wild Goose Capital of the World. Maxie is apparently the largest goose in the world. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.

Giant Goose
Squaw Lake, MN
This Giant Goose was installed in 1992. A plaque next to the statue identifies Squaw Lake as the birthplace of Geese Unlimited in 1984.

Mother Goose
Davenport, IA
The Mother Goose was used as the entrance to Mother Goose Land, a kiddie park built in the 1950s. It closed in the early 1970s. The property is now Fejervary Park which has a zoo. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3.

Mother Goose Restaurant
Hazard, KY
The Mother Goose Restaurant was built by George Stacy who got the idea from a dream. He started working on the house in 1935 and finished it in 1940. The building is 45 feet long and 28 feet wide. The outside is from local sandstone and it has eight egg-shaped windows. The Goose's eyes had car lights that used to blink at passing motorists. An adjacent stone structure resembles three eggs (two were used as a service station and one as a market).

The building was originally planned as a home and Stacy and his wife lived there for many years. Eventually, it became a grocery store and restaurant. At some point, gas pumps were added out front but they are gone now. The Goose now serves as an apartment with three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bath, dining room, and large family room. There are a market and gas station in the adjacent lot. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3.

The Big Duck
Hampton Bays, NY

at the Duck's former location in Flanders
The Big Duck around 2001 (decorated for the holidays)
The Duck in 2007
The Big Duck is one of the finest remaining examples of mimetic roadside architecture. In fact, similar types of buildings, shaped like animals, food, etc., are referred to as a "duck architecture" in reference to this structure.

The Duck started out as a store for farmer Martin Maurer and his wife to sell their Peking ducks. From the 1920s to the 1950s, three quarters of American ducks were produced in Long Island. In the 1950s, there were more than 70 other duck farms nearby. But today, there are only 4 duck farms left on Long Island.

The Maurers got their idea while on a trip to California (inspired by eating in a teapot-shaped luncheonette). They hired a couple of unemployed theatrical designers during the Depression. The plans for the duck were drawn from an actual duck tied to a porch with a piece of string. The Duck was finished in 1931. It is 20 feet tall, 30 feet long, and 15 feet wide. It weighs 10 tons.

Ford Model T tail-lights were used for the Duck's eyes (they still work and glow red at night). Today, the interior is used for Big Duck souvenir gift shop. In December, the Duck is decked out with garlands and ornaments for the holiday season.

The Duck has been moved a few times. In 1936, the Duck was moved from Riverhead to Flanders where it continued to sell eggs and processed ducks. The Duck closed in 1984 and, in 1988, it faced demolition and was moved to Hampton Bays. It's possible that the Duck may return to its previous Flanders site in order to preserve a dozen old farm buildings in order to give the property a national historic site designation. (The Duck is on the National Register of Historic Places). There is a nice replica (still rather large) of the Duck at Island Green Golf in Selden, NY. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3.

Geese, Ducks, etc.
page 2		 Roosters, Chickens, etc. Eagles Other Birds Chicken Cars
Giant Animals
Main Page