HOME
*



picture info

Roadside Attraction
A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than actually being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboards. The modern tourist-oriented highway attraction originated as a U.S. and Canadian phenomenon in the 1940s to 1960s, and subsequently caught on in Australia. History When long-distance road travel became practical and popular in the 1920s, entrepreneurs began building restaurants, motels, coffee shops, cafes and more unusual businesses to attract travelers. Many of the buildings were attractions in themselves in the form of novelty architecture, depicting common objects of enormous size, typically relating to the items sold there. Some other types of roadside attractions include monuments and fictionalised-paranormal/illusionary amusements such as the Mystery Spot near Santa Cruz, California, or curiosities such as The Thing? along Inters ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Drumheller & The Tyrell Museum (7897901734)
Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often referred to as Dinosaur Valley, has an approximate width of and an approximate length of . Drumheller was named after Samuel Drumheller, who, after purchasing the homestead of Thomas Patrick Greentree, had it surveyed into the original Drumheller townsite and put lots on the market in 1911. Also in 1911, Samuel Drumheller started coal mining operations near the townsite. Drumheller got a railway station in 1912. It was then incorporated as a village on May 15, 1913, a town on March 2, 1916 and a city on April 3, 1930. Over a 15-year period, Drumheller's population increased from 312 in 1916 to 2,987 in 1931 shortly after becoming a city. Drumheller boomed until the end of the Second World War when coal lost most of its value. The City of Drumheller amalgamated with the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Jolly Green Giant
Green Giant and Le Sueur (spelled Le Sieur in Canada) are brands of frozen and canned vegetables owned by B&G Foods. The company's mascot is the Jolly Green Giant. Company and brand history The Minnesota Valley Canning Company was founded in 1903 in Le Sueur, Minnesota. It used the brand name "Le Sueur Z" for canned vegetables starting in 1903; "Le Sueur" by itself was first used in 1933.Record in Trademark Electronic Search System, U.S. Patent and Trademark Officsearch at USPTO/ref> The brand "Green Giant Great Big Tender Peas" was first used in 1925, and the figure of a giant was introduced three years later by Carly Stanek (Bingum). The brand was created in response to the discovery of a new variety of pea, the Prince of Wales; they were "oblong, wrinkled, and, as peas go, huge. Despite their size, they were tender, and had a special flavor and sweetness that couldn't be matched. The company went to the brands for which it canned and found that none of them wanted to sell t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




What Were They Thinking?
''What Were They Thinking?'' is a Canadian documentary television series, which debuted in 2005 on The Comedy Network. Hosted by Sean Cullen, the series profiled the various quirky roadside attractions that towns and cities have erected in their quest to attract notice by building the "world's biggest" example of some random, often ridiculous, thing. Cullen won a Gemini Award for best host in a lifestyle, practical information or performing arts program at the 21st Gemini Awards in 2006.Alex Strachan, "One-time 'Kid in the Hall' wins two Geminis". ''Regina Leader-Post The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and a member of the Postmedia Network. Founding The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, ...'', October 19, 2006. References External links Official website(archived) English-language television shows 2005 Canadian television series debuts 2005 Canadia ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Wall Drug
Wall Drug Store, often called simply Wall Drug, is a roadside attraction and tourist stop located in the town of Wall, South Dakota, adjacent to Badlands National Park. Wall Drug consists of a collection of cowboy-themed stores, including a drug store, gift shop, several restaurants, and various other stores, as well as an art gallery and an 80-foot (24 m) brontosaurus sculpture. Unlike a traditional shopping mall, all the stores at Wall Drug operate under a single entity rather than being run individually. ''The New York Times'' has described Wall Drug as "a sprawling tourist attraction of international renown hatdraws some two million annual visitors to a remote town." History The small town drugstore made its first step towards fame when it was purchased by Ted Hustead in 1931. Hustead was a Nebraska native and pharmacist who was looking for a small town with a Catholic church in which to establish his business. He bought Wall Drug, located in a 231-person town in what he re ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tourist Trap
A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) that has been created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps will typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenirs and other products for tourists to purchase. Tourist trap derives from the information asymmetry between tourists and the market. United States In some areas, simple facilities may be a sufficient draw to entice tourists to stop. Wall Drug, in South Dakota, began its tourist trade by offering free ice water. Breezewood, Pennsylvania represents a physical tourist trap at the intersection of Interstate 70 and Interstate 76, where the two major highways are not directly connected; forcing transiting drivers off the interstate and "into several suddenly urban blocks with traffic lights and a dense bazaar of gas stations, fast food restaurants and motels." South of the Border is an attraction on Interstate 95 (I-95), US Highway&nb ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Roadside America (other)
Roadside America may refer to: * Roadside America, an indoor miniature village and railway in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania created by Laurence Gieringer in 1935 * ''Roadside America'', a travel book series by American author Doug Kirby See also * Roadside attraction A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than actually being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboards. ...
{{disambiguation ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Novelty Architecture
Novelty architecture, also called programmatic architecture or mimetic architecture, is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes for purposes such as advertising or to copy other famous buildings without any intention of being authentic. Their size and novelty means that they often serve as landmarks. They are distinct from architectural follies, in that novelty architecture is essentially usable buildings in eccentric form whereas follies are non-usable, ornamental buildings often in eccentric form. Overview Although earlier examples exist, such as the planned but never completed Parisian Elephant of the Bastille, the style generally became popular in the United States, and later to some other countries, as travel by automobile increased in the 1930s. The Statue of Liberty in New York is a statue that is part sculpture and part monument, which like many subsequent examples of novelty architecture, has an accessible interior and be ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

List Of Largest Roadside Attractions
This is a list of verifiably notable roadside attractions. Asia Thailand * Great Buddha of Thailand Europe North America Canada Alberta * World's Largest Dinosaur, Drumheller, Alberta *Vegreville egg (Ukrainian Easter egg), Vegreville, Alberta New Brunswick * World's largest axe, Nackawic, New Brunswick * The World's Largest Lobster, Shediac, New Brunswick Ontario * Big Apple, Cramahe, Ontario * Big Nickel, Sudbury, Ontario Manitoba * The World's Coke Can, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba United States Alabama *World's Largest Office Chair, Anniston California * World's Largest Hammer, Eureka * World's largest paper cup, Riverside * World's Tallest Thermometer, Baker Georgia * Big Chicken, Marietta Illinois * Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower, Collinsville * World's largest windchime, Casey Kansas * Biggest ball of twine, Cawker City Michigan * Uniroyal Giant Tire, Allen Park * Grand Haven Musical Fountain, Grand Haven Minnesota * Big ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


John Margolies
John Samuel Margolies (May 16, 1940 – May 26, 2016) was an architectural critic, photographer, and author who was noted for celebrating vernacular and novelty architecture in the United States, particularly those designed as roadside attractions. Starting from the mid-1970s, he began to photograph sites during long road trips, since he was concerned these sites would be displaced by the growing modernist trend. He was credited with shaping postmodern architecture and recognizing buildings that would be added to the National Register of Historic Places through his documentary work. Starting in 2007, the Library of Congress began to acquire his photographs, and created the public domain John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive in 2016, consisting of 11,710 scans of color slides taken by Margolies. Early life John Samuel Margolies was born on May 16, 1940 in New Canaan, Connecticut, the son of Asher and Ethel (née Polacheck). During childhood road trips, he would beg ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Giants Of The Prairies
The Giants of the Prairies are a group of "world's biggest" roadside attractions found in Western Canada, especially in small towns populated mostly by Ukrainian Canadians. List In popular culture These attractions are referenced in the Kubasonics The Kubasonics are a Ukrainian-Canadian speed-folk band based in St. John's, Newfoundland. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, The Kubasonics are honoured in the Ukrainian Canadian community for recreating traditional Ukrainian melodies, with a tw ... song "Giants of the Prairies". References * {{Cite web , url= http://www1.travelalberta.com/en-north/index.cfm?pageid=423 , title= Unusual Attractions , author= Travel Alberta , access-date= 2007-02-22 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070805083523/http://www1.travelalberta.com/en-north/index.cfm?pageid=423 , archive-date= 2007-08-05 , url-status= dead Big ThingsAlberta Big TourWorld's Largest and Large Things Google map Canada's Largest Baseball Glove Ukrainian-Canadia ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Enchanted Highway
The Enchanted Highway is a collection of the world's largest scrap metal sculptures constructed at intervals along a stretch of two-lane highway in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of North Dakota. Description The road has no highway number, although its northern portion is th Avenue SW (counting from Bismarck, ND, which is to the east). The Enchanted Highway extends north from Regent to the Gladstone exit on Interstate 94 east of Dickinson. Each sculpture has a developed pull-out and several have picnic shelters; the highway passes through scenic farm country with intermittent buttes. ''Geese in Flight'' is visible from I-94, standing 110 feet tall and 150 feet wide. In 2002, it was recognized as the world's largest scrap metal sculpture by the '' Guinness Book of World Records''. History Local artist Gary Greff conceived of the project and began building it in 1989, and continues to maintain the sculptures. He took inspiration from local wildlife and historical f ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Australia's Big Things
The big things of Australia are large structures, some of which are novelty architecture and some are sculptures. There are estimated to be over 230 such objects around the country. There are big things in every state and territory in continental Australia. Most big things began as tourist traps found along major roads between destinations. The big things have become something of a cult phenomenon, and are sometimes used as an excuse for a road trip, where many or all big things are visited and used as a backdrop to a group photograph. Many of the big things are considered works of folk art and have been heritage-listed, though others have come under threat of demolition. List of big things (by state or territory) Australian Capital Territory New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia In popular culture *The London production of '' Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: the Musical'' references the Big Prawn ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]