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email: agilitynut@hotmail.com |
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| New Jersey Giants |
(hit "refresh" to get the most recent version of this page; click on photos for larger images)
| Beach Guy [gone] Seaside Heights, NJ |
Pirate Lower Township, NJ |
Mr. PeanutAtlantic City, NJ | Abraham LincolnNewark, NJ |
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The Beach Guy is 30 feet tall. The statue was built by FAST around 1986. This was the first one built of this type. Since the statue was partly funded by Coca-Cola, the statue was designed to hold a can of Coca-Cola. He was installed at the Waterworks water park which was redesigned and renamed Breakwater Beach. By 2007, this statue was gone. Does anyone know where it went? There are other examples of these statues in Livington, IL, Hampton, MN, and Unger, WV.
The Lower Township Pirate has a hook hand. He is crude and not that big but charming nonetheless. Mr. Peanut was installed on the Boardwalk in 2006. He was made of fiberglass and foam which made him vulnerable to rough handling. In 2007, he was repaired and moved to the Garden Pier Art Center where he is much less visible and can be locked up at night. Mr. Peanut and Planters Peanuts have been part of Atlantic City history since the 1930s. For more, see this website. This bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln was installed here in front of the old Essex County Courthouse in 1911. It is officially known as "Seated Lincoln". The statue was created by Gutzon Borglum who is responsible for the reliefs of Mount Rushmore. My dog, Gripper, sits in Lincoln's lap to give a sense of the statue's larger-than-life scale. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. |
| Babylonian Snake GodLumberton, NJ | |||
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| The Babylonian Snake God was originally a prop for the 1955 movie "The Prodigal". The statue was located in Smyrna, DE from 1984 until it was moved to New Jersey. Denny Van Istendal bought the 11 foot tall statue for about $5,000 with the intention of using it as the mascot for his landscaping business. It wound up in his backyard. At some point, the head of the snake was broken off. Many neighbors were upset since this statue was quite visible over the fence. By 2009, the statue had been moved towards the front yard. Signs indicated that both the house and the statue were for sale. By 2011, the statue was gone. According to one report, it was sold and will be installed on the roof of a bar in Philadelphia. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. |
| Pep Boys Stratford, NJ |
Army GuyBlackwood, NJ | ||
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This Pep Boys store rooftop statue is the only one that I know of in NJ. There are other surviving examples in MD and PA.
This Army Guy statue stands in front of Nitro Gal at Werbany’s Tire Town. He was previously located in Woodbury, NJ at an Army/Navy surplus store. His hands and rifle are now gone. There is an identical statue in Upper Darby, PA. |
| The Kiss [gone]Hamilton, NJ | ||
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| The Kiss statue is officially entitled "Unconditional Surrender". It was based on the famous VJ Day photo of a sailor kissing a nurse. The photo was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt in 1945 and appeared in Life Magazine. The 26 foot tall statue was created by J. Seward Johnson. This statue was installed in 2010 and is identical to the one in Sarasota, FL. In 2011, this statue was replaced with a giant dancing couple and a pair of mariachi musicians. They were also produced by J. Seward Johnson. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. |
| King Neptune Lake Hopatcong, NJ |
Sailor Wildwood, NJ |
Lumberjack, Indiana Jones, and Vikings Seaside Heights, NJ |
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King Neptune, aka Poseidon, has been moved around a bit. He was previously at Suntan Lake was located at Sun Tan Lake in Riverdale, NJ for about 40 years. It was then moved to an antique shop near Franklin, NJ. This statue is difficult to photograph since he's on private property on the lake. I don't think the statue ever had a lower torso. He originally held a trident in his right hand like this one in Morehead City, NC.
This Sailor stands next to one of the water rides on Morey's Pier. The Lumberjack, Indiana Jones and Vikings figures are on the Pier. I don't know where they came from or how long they have been here. They are also accompanied by a Half-Wit Muffler Man, a chicken, a Yogi Bear, and a Mighty Mouse. |
| Franklin Menz Rio Grande, NJ |
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| The Franklin Menz statue is a tribute to the founder of the Menz restaurant. Menz lost one of his legs in 1926 to cancer. He passed away in 1992. These photos are from 2007. As of 2009, this statue is in bad shape. The chair has fallen apart and the man sits on an air conditioning unit. His cigar is now missing. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. |
| medical figures New Brunswick, NJ |
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| These medical figures are miniature not giant but I'll include them anyway. The figures were created by George Greenamyer in 1994. They are perched on a beam in front of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital's Clinical Academic Building. The sculpture was commissioned by the medical center with assistance from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. For more, see this website. |
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More NJ Giants:
Pirate (Wildwood) |
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NJ Muffler Men |
Giants Main Page |
| RoadsideArchitecture.com |