biggest ball of twine
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There are multiple claims to the world's biggest ball of twine record in the United States. As of 2014, the ball of
twine Twine is a strong Thread (yarn), thread, light String (cord), string or cord composed of two or more thinner strands twisted, and then twisted together (Plying, plied). The strands are plied in the opposite direction to that of their twist, whic ...
with the largest circumference is located in
Cawker City, Kansas Cawker City is a city in Mitchell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 457. The city is located along the north shore of Waconda Lake and Glen Elder State Park. It is one of several places cl ...
, and was measured at in diameter and in height.


Largest ball of sisal twine built by a community

In
Cawker City, Kansas Cawker City is a city in Mitchell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 457. The city is located along the north shore of Waconda Lake and Glen Elder State Park. It is one of several places cl ...
, Frank Stoeber created a ball that had 1.6 million feet (490,000 m) of twine and when he died in 1974. Cawker City built an open-air gazebo over Stoeber's ball where every August a "Twine-a-thon" is held and more twine is added to the ball. By 2006, the twine ball had reached 17,886 pounds (8,111 kg, 8.9 US tons), a circumference of , and a length of . In 2013, its weight was estimated at 19,973 pounds. In August 2014, the ball measures in circumference, in diameter and in height, and is still growing.''Twisted: The Battle to Be the World's Largest Ball of Twine''; The Atlantic; September 9, 2014.
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Largest ball of sisal twine built by a single person

Darwin, Minnesota Darwin is a city in Meeker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 350 at the 2010 census. It is one of several places claiming to be home of the largest ball of twine in the world. History Darwin was platted in 1869, and named f ...
, is the home of a ball of baler twine rolled by Francis A. Johnson. It is in diameter and weighs . Johnson began rolling the twine in March 1950, and wrapped four hours every day for 29 years. It is currently housed in an enclosed gazebo across from the town park on Main Street at () to prevent the public from touching it. The town celebrates "Twine Ball Day" on the second Saturday in August every year. An adjacent volunteer-run, free to visit museum and gift shop has information on the history of the ball, as well as selling a variety of souvenirs. It was the long-standing holder of the "biggest ball of twine" title in the Guinness Book of World Records, holding the title from its completion in 1979 until 1994, and was referenced by
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
in his 1989 song "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota."


Heaviest twine ball

In
Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin Lake Nebagamon is a village in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,069 at the 2010 census. Transportation U.S. Highway 2, U.S. Highway 53, and Wisconsin Highway 27 are located in the Lake Nebagamon area. County Roa ...
, James Frank Kotera claims to have made the heaviest ball of twine ever built. He started it in 1979 and is still working. Kotera estimates, by measuring the weight of each bag of twine that he winds on, that the ball weighs 10,931 kg (24,100 pounds), making it the heaviest ball of twine ever built. The ball is housed in an open-air enclosure in Kotera's lawn. The ball has a smaller companion, "Junior", that is made of string.


Largest nylon twine ball

In
Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postma ...
, a ball of
nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
twine built by J. C. Payne of Valley View, Texas, is on display in
Ripley's Believe It or Not ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' fea ...
museum. The ball, which measures 41.5 feet (12.6 m) in circumference, was certified as the world's largest ball of twine by the
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
in 1993. It is, however, the lightest of the four contenders, weighing 12,000 pounds.


Cultural references

*Most notably, one of
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
's original songs is "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota," from his 1989 album ''
UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack And Other Stuff Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
''. Although about the ball in Darwin, Minnesota, Yankovic takes artistic license with the statistics. The location now sports a street sign reading “Weird Alley.” ** In a case of
life imitating art Anti-mimesis is a philosophical position that holds the direct opposite of Aristotelian mimesis. Its most notable proponent is Oscar Wilde, who opined in his 1889 essay ''The Decay of Lying'' that, "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Lif ...
, postcards that read "Greetings from the Twine Ball, wish you were here," a fictitious invention of Yankovic's, are now an attraction in Darwin. The Twineball Inn was a restaurant (not a motel) that has since closed. **Yankovic refers to the ball itself, and thus his previous work, in the video for "
White & Nerdy "White & Nerdy" is the second single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's album ''Straight Outta Lynwood'', which was released on September 26, 2006. It parodies the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone. The song both satirizes and celebrates n ...
", wherein a ''
Trivial Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question t ...
'' card which includes the question "In what city is the largest ball of twine built by one man?" appears on screen. *The Cawker City, Kansas, ball of twine was the subject of the comic strip ''
Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States The president ...
'' on July 16, 2012.Trudeau, Garry
Doonesbury
July 16, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
*In the movie ''
National Lampoon's Vacation ''National Lampoon's Vacation'', sometimes referred to as simply ''Vacation'', is a 1983 American road trip comedy film directed by Harold Ramis starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid, John Candy, and Christie Brinkle ...
'',
Clark Griswald ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' film series is a comedy film series initially based on John Hughes' short story "Vacation '58" that was originally published by '' National Lampoon'' magazine. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. and consists ...
mentions plans to see a large ball of twine after visiting Cousin Eddie's farm in Kansas. *In the ''
50 States of Fright ''50 States of Fright '' is a horror anthology series that debuted on Quibi on April 6, 2020, for pre-signed up users and on April 13 for the general public. Premise The series features self-contained scary stories, each located in a different s ...
'' three-episode story "America's Largest Ball of Twine (Kansas)", a mother and daughter visit America's Largest Ball of Twine built by Greg Cawker in the fictional town of Francis, Kansas. *The computer game ''
Sam & Max Hit the Road ''Sam & Max Hit the Road'' is a graphic adventure video game released by LucasArts during the company's LucasArts adventure games, adventure games era. The game was originally released for MS-DOS in 1993 and for Mac OS in 1995. A 2002 re-release ...
'' has The World's Largest Ball of Twine as one of the attractions you visit in the game. *The Cawker City, Kansas, ball of twine is mentioned in the Stephen King and Joe Hill's novella ''
In the Tall Grass ''In the Tall Grass'' is a horror novella by American writers Stephen King and his son Joe Hill. It was originally published in two parts in the June/July and August 2012 issues of ''Esquire'' magazine. This is King and Hill's second collabora ...
''. *In the movie Sharknado: The 4th Awakens, the World's Biggest Ball of Twine is sucked into a Sharknado, crushing a bystander in the process.


References


External links


The Battle to Be the World's Largest Ball of Twine
''The Atlantic Magazine'', September 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Biggest Ball Of Twine Tourist attractions in Mitchell County, Kansas Tourist attractions in Meeker County, Minnesota Tourist attractions in Taney County, Missouri Tourist attractions in Douglas County, Wisconsin Roadside attractions in the United States Roadside attractions in Kansas Roadside attractions in Minnesota Roadside attractions in Wisconsin Roadside attractions in Missouri World records Ropework