| Land of the Giants |
| NEW YORK: MISC. GIANTS |
| Magic Forest Lake George, NY |
| Staff Guy | Caveman | Indian | ||
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| Rip Van Winkle | Hansel & Gretel | Astronauts | Archer |
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| Big Santa | Small Santa | Uncle Sam | ||||
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In addition to these, Magic Forest has many other giants (Muffler Men) described here. The Staff Guy looks an awful lot like a Texaco Big Friend. The Big Santa is from the same mold as those shown below. The Small Santa is from the same mold as the one at Santa's Workshop (Cascade, CO).
The Uncle Sam is supposedly the world's largest. He was bought from the Danbury Fair in 1981 and placed here in 1982. He is 38' tall, weighs 4,500 pounds and is made of fiberglass. He was repainted in 1992. Magic Forest also has Giant Roosters, Giant Reindeer, a Pig Chef, two Teen Burgers and a Baby Burger, and various fairy tale figures. The owner of Magic Forest, Arthur Gillette, got many of these fiberglass figures from a junkyard in Knoxville, TN. He went there twice a year to bring them back and restore them. Other figures came from the Danbury Fair, the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, and Fantasyland Park in Gettysburg, PA. The park's collection grew to over 1,000 statues. |
| Anderson's Custard Man Buffalo, NY |
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| The Anderson's Custard Man is only installed in front of their store for the holiday season's Christmas tree sales. For more, see their website. |
| Davey Crockett Broadalbin, NY |
Leather Guy [missing] Adirondack Leather Shop Mayfield, NY |
Knight Popek's Books Oneonta, NY |
Tin Man Just Like Grandma's Vernon, NY |
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Davey Crockett was originally located at Frontier Town, a 1950s Wild West theme park in North Hudston, NY. The park closed in 1998. This statue now stands at the entrance of Adirondack Animal Land. For more, see this website.
The Leather Guy was also created by Rod Shutt (see above) in 1971. As of 2006, he is missing. He is supposedly in someone's backyard but no one in town seems to know where he's located. For more, see this website. The Oneonta Knight is about 12' tall. He looks like he's been here for many years. The Vernon Tin Man stands out in front of Just Like Grandma's, which specializes in restoring/sales of antique cast-iron stoves. It appears this statue is made entirely from stove parts. |
| Gnome Chomsky Kerhonkson, NY |
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| Gnome Chomsky is over 13' tall and is acknowledged by Guinness World's Records as the world's largest garden gnome. He was built in 2003 as part of a mini golf course in New York City. The statue is now at Gnome on the Grange, a farm-theme mini golf course at Kelder's Farm. In order to qualify for the Guinness record, the gnome was recreated out of cement. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. |
| Musketeers Westhampton, NY |
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| These Musketeers stand in front of the Casa Basso Restaurant. The statues and the castle were created by Theophilus Brower in the late 1800s. The Musketeers are about 12' tall and made of concrete. The restaurant building was originally used as Brower's workshop. It was converted into a restaurant in 1928 and is still in operation today. The castle building was originally used to display Brower's art. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. |
| Sphinx Bayport, NY |
Witch St. James, NY |
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The Sphinx was originally installed around 1911 in front of the Anchorage Inn in Blue Point, NY. It was moved here to the Fontana Cement Co. in 1974. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.
The Witch stands behind Wick's Farm & Garden. Does anyone know more about her? |
| Giant Men Bethel, NY |
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| The Bethel Men have been here since around 2003. I usually don't include wooden statues at my website but these are pretty terrific. The heroic figures include two prisoners of war and a September 11 memorial with three firefighters (and a vintage firetruck) and a policeman. This photo from 2005 of the skyward-gazing work-in-progress reveals the type of tree trunks used to make these statues. Does anyone know anything more about the artist and/or artwork? As of 2008, these statues are beginning to deteriorate and the firetruck is now gone. |
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NY Giants Elsewhere in this Section:
Big Chief Lewis (Massapequa) Waitress (Silver Creek) |
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NY Muffler Men |
Giants Main Page |
| [Main Roadside Page] |
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