Giant (ahem) Roosters and other monuments.
The giants of American advertising.
World's Finest Frozen Custard & Family Fun Center
Chesterfield Michigan
This mini golf and frozen custard spot in Michigan features a number of extra large statues including a giant chicken, golfer, bulls and cows as well as swan boats from Detroit’s former Boblo Island Amusement Park tunnel of love.
The Plycrete Mold Co
Some of the large sculptures in this mini golf were products of the Plycrete Mold Company who shipped them all over the country. Ben Robinson started the Plycrete Mold Company in Elk Rapids Michigan.
Glori (Hutchcraft) Crowell wrote: " That chicken, and many other giant fiberglass animals were all made by my grandfather Ben Robinson. He started a business in Elk Rapids in 1941 called Plycrete Mold company on Ames St. My family produced fiberglass animals, molds for ornamental concrete and poured ornamental concrete until the early 90's when my Dad, Bill Hutchcraft, retired the business. To this day it's a game my family and friends play, trying to spot the chickens when they are traveling. Some of the family legacy lives on with my uncle Larry Robinson, who has a concrete business north of Kalkaska on 131. Many of the original large fiberglass animals are still there on display.”1
This Bull used to grace the front of a steakhouse.
Compare this “golfer” to the lone cowboy from Joshua Tree, California:
This is 20 ft tall Big Josh, formerly known as The Mecca Cowboy and stood in front of Poor Richard’s Pawn Shop and Mini Mart since 1965, now moved to Joshua Tree, CA
From Roadside America:
International Fiberglass' Cowboy model was essentially a Paul Bunyan statue with a cowboy hat and longer pants that came down to his feet. The Paul Bunyan's pants are tucked into the tops of his boots. Some of these Cowboy statues have suspenders buttons at the top of their pants but most of them do not. Most of the Cowboys' shirts have chest pockets. The Paul Bunyan statues did not have these. The mold for the Cowboy's head had a filled-in beard which gave the statue a clean-shaven face and jutting jaw. These statues could be accessorized with revolvers or rifles. These statues are 22 feet tall.2
Wilson’s Dairy
Detroit, Michigan
High above the corner of Mack and Lenox sits a giant architectural curiosity.
The fourteen foot cow head used to mark the site of Wilson’s Dairy in the 1950’s and ran it until the mid to late 60’s. The building now sits vacant.
The Giant Cow had a memorable cameo in Eminem’s “8-Mile”:
The Cow-lossus
Manorville, NY
This giant bull has a tremendous pasture all to himself. Rumor has it that the farm owner found it at a steakhouse that was going out of business.
The Greenport Pirate
Little Creek Oysters
Greenport, NY
This advertising sculpture for the Captain Morgan rum brand stood sentry over the docks of a Greenport restaurant for decades before new management threw it in a dumpster.
Tiny Little Creek Oysters rescued the icon and it stood guard over the demise of their original location and led the parade to their new location.
I guess people have been doing this for some time. Advertising works.
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Giant-Chicken-Question-Answered-.html?soid=1121542470052&aid=dEX6J3cdDaA
https://www.roadarch.com/giants/ifcowboys.html
https://usagiants.com/2013/04/18/the-phillips-66-cowboy/