The Jolly Green Giant Statue
In Blue Earth, Minnesota
Other:
Jolly Green Giant Statue
Deep in cool Blue Earth, Minnesota, stands one lonely Statue. That Statue is the tall, Jolly Green Giant Statue, which got its name from a can of peas of a all things. The statue was designed by a memorable man named Paul Hedberg. Paul designed the statue to attract tourists, which some might say worked, considering the statue got four out of five stars on trip advisor.
How the name got its fame:
The Jolly Green Giant got its name because of the vegetables that the company was selling. This vegetable happened to be their ginormous peas. The company canned large, flavorful peas that were sweet. Despite there flavor, however, no one wanted to sell the peas due to how unusually large and wrinkled they were. However, instead of changing the peas, the company decided to market them by naming the peas "Green Giants". This seemed to be a smart move on their part though because it made the peas more popular, making sales go up.
Who made it all possible:
The man who made the giant statue possible was Paul Hedberg. He decided to use the giant to attract tourists to route 169 in Blue Earth, Minnesota. Not only did Paul accomplish this, but he also founded KBEW, a country radio station, in 1992. He even hosted a show called Welcome Travelers, where they would interview the people coming into town. Paul also secured approval with the Green Giant company to make the statue, despite the strings attached.
Why it was made:
Made to attract tourists into Blue Earth, the statue stands at 55.5 feet tall. Its feet, are six feet long. That means that his shoe size would be 78! And the Giant's base, is eight feet tall! Time to compare. The average whale shark is 41.5 feet long, that is pretty big, but not quite as big as the green giant statue.
Random facts:
The giant is made of fiberglass. It also created some controversy over how tall it was. This is because of the fact that it pokes through the trees, often startling the travelers as they drive by. Paul managed to secure the permission to make the statue, but only if all the funds were made locally. This was probably hard because the project took a total of $43,000 to make, but it did a holiday there the weekend after Independence Day called Giant days.
Without those famous giant wrinkled peas, the world would not be the same. Or at least Blue Earth Minnesota would not be. Not to mention, this fiberglass monster was a major source of tourists. And thanks to the citizens of Blue Earth, the dream of Paul Hedberg was made into a reality.