Roadside Giants

by Brian Butko, Sarah Butko

From Lucy, the colossal elephant-shaped building on the Jersey Shore, to the grand donut atop Randy's in Los Angeles, this full-color guide profiles the commercial giants that loom over America's highways. Created to sell products and promote tourism in a big way, they can be found all over the United States. The authors have traveled far and wide to bring readers the world's largest duck in Long Island, an enormous Amish couple in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and towering Paul Bunyans all over the Midwest. There are buildings shaped like hot dogs, ice cream cones, and baskets, as well as the roadside phenomena known as "Muffler Men," giants who originally advertised mufflers but now have been converted to cowboys, Indians, spacemen, and pirates. Big fun!

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 27, 2005

About the author

My 2024 resolution is to become more active on Goodreads! My most recent book is about Isaly’s Dairy and its Klondike bar. I’m also quite proud of “Luna: Pittsburgh’s Original Lost Kennywood” and “Kennywood: Behind the Screams.” Other books explore diners, roadside attractions, and the Lincoln Highway.

I’m working now on a book about the daring women and men of Bettis Airfield and other early Pittsburgh aviation stories. Big Kennywood book #3 is also underway, and I’m 95% finished with my first novel, a paranormal mystery inspired by a nearby quarry and surrounding woods.

Reviews

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this at my favorite public library. I wish there were more pictures of the landmarks. Nice to have some background on some of the Giants that I have already seen. It is so sad that the Giants are fading into history.

[Jana Eichhorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating is not objective. This is a favorite subject of mine, and I just feasted on this little book.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had fun going through this book! I'd heard of and even seen some larger than life roadside landmarks like the Mieneke Man, but this book takes things even further, with a wide variety of "roadside giants." I enjoyed not only the pictures, but the history and numbers behind the featured landmarks. I also enjoyed the "If you like _____, you'll also like.." sections, which listed similar "roadside giants" around the country. It's hard to pick a favorite, but the huge Longaberger's Baskets looked pretty neat in the pictures. :

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how I found out about this book but I got it from my library. Saw a documentary on PBS about some of these roadside giants that are listed in this book, like the big shoe and the big goose. This book even included a Tampa location - the Twistee Treat Ice Cream Cones. Also not far from me on I-4 is Dinosaur World. Had no clue that there was another one just like it located in Kentucky. This fits right in with all my books that I've read on wacky and wonderful subjects.