In need of a sewing machine table Deb and I visited Steve’s Sewing and Vacuum in King of Prussia along Rt. 202. I know there was a Big Vacuum in front of the store and could swear that I had an image that I took when I went by with Andy a number of years ago. But I don’t see it on the site. Need to investigate further. At any rate we came away with this image and a new sewing table.
Steve’s Sewing Vacuum
We’ve been past Rhoads Garden a number of times and didn’t stop to grab this Big Chair. Nice chair and I understand Rhoads Garden is a very good garden center. If you are in southeast Pennsylvania stop in. They’re at 570 DeKalb Pike in North Wales.
Rhoads Garden Chair
We moved to the Philadelphia area last June. When exploring the area we found the Philadelphia Premium Outlet Mall just 20 minutes away. Well we had a little time and decided to stop by. Quite a surprise, a nice outlet mall. Best of all, right after getting there and looking at the store directory I spotted this Big Ornament. Had to get this photo.
Outlet Mall Ornament
Ben had told me about this Big Chair previously and when we were on the way back from shopping we stopped by to grab this image. The chair is in front of a farmer’s market on PA940 at the corner with Long Pond Road.
Farmer’s Market Chair
I was up at the Ben and Annie’s “Lake House” when they closed and we made a trip to the Big Box stores in nearby Mt. Pocono to pick up some items for the new property. While leaving we stopped at Gelco Paints since they had this Big Paint Can and Painter out in front. Gelco is on PA 940 and looks like a great place to pick up some Benjamin Moore paint.
Gelco Paint Can
Gelco Painter
We were in New Jersey for Grandparents Day at Nate’s preschool. Actually it was more like Grandparents Hour. Anyway we took Nate out to lunch and then spent the afternoon at Johnson’s Corner Farm in Medford. A great place to spend time with Nate. They have a very nice playground, animal feeding, and hayrides out to pick the crops in season. For us it was apples and pumpkins. On the playground was this big baseball glove with a hole in the palm to throw beanbags through.
Johnson’s Farm Glove
On the way back from the ACE Hardware in Harleysville (see below) Andy and I stopped at Isabelle’s Kitchen to grab this Big Whisk. In truth, Deb spotted this earlier but I didn’t stop for the photo.
Isabelles’s Kitchen Whisk
Andy and I ran to the local ACE Hardware in Harleysville to pick up some items I needed to get the new house in order. Most of them I had but they were packed away. He took this photo of another Green Egg Grill. I captured one previously from the display at the Sullivan Hardware store on Keystone Ave. in Indianapolis.
ACE Hardware Grill
Our last Home Show in Indianapolis. In the dead days of January it was a break to go, get out of the house and think about improvements we were considering. The Home Show in the past offered Big Thing photo opportunities. 2016 was no different. We got this Big Xfinity Handset.
Indy Home Show Phone
Young Nate knows the Franklin Institute, he showed his favorite places to Deb and me. Along the way we found the Big light switch, Big power outlet and Big heart. A great time.
Franklin Institute
A second visit to Casey, Illinois revealed a few Big Things we missed on the first trip. Here is a Big Wooden Token (nickel) in front of the Casey Statek. There must be a lot of traffic since they had signs at the entrance to the parking lot directing visitors to parking locations to view the token. Actually, it wasn’t such a big deal. Just a sign for the bank.
Casey Bank Token
During our last visit in October we drove right past this yardstick a couple of times. I don’t know how we missed it. Probably since we were looking for the World’s Largest Windchime. Funny how you can miss a Big Thing. By the way, since we visited in September, the Guinness Book sent a representative to Casey to verify their claims to World’s Largest wind chime, rocking chair, pitchfork and maybe some other things.
Casey Yardstick
Here’s the Big Mailbox that we captured on our visit in September. At the time it was still at the metal fabricator. Now it mounted on a post in downtown Casey. The area around the mailbox still needs some landscaping but I’m sure this will happen. I really like this town and their mission. They even have a website www.BigThingsSmallTowns.com for you to visit.
Casey Mailbox Update
While we were in Grand Rapids to see our niece Erica we followed up with time to get some Big Things. This Big Trowel was a nice surprise. It was in the Meijer Garden and Sculpture Park. What a great place. This trowel was, like all the sculpture installations, located outside and, in this case, a field of tall grass. This Big Garden Trowel was created by Claes Oldenburg and his wife Coosje van Bruggen. The Meijer web site states, “Plantoir is the first monumental sculpture created specifically for a garden context. It was sited specifically by the artists.” I liked it a lot.
Claes Oldenburg Trowel
We planned to visit McClure’s Apple Haus and get an image of their Big Apple reported by my Bird Dog Erica. We spotted this Big Chair with a Michigan mitten forming the back. After getting this image and the apple we went inside to get some fresh cider and newly baked cinnamon donuts. Only in Fall!
McClure’s Apple Haus Chair
I got this tip from Dan Mitchell who knows the Indianapolis area as well as anyone I know. It’s on East 65th street just west of Binford Blvd. in front of the Collegiate Housing Services office. I don’t know if the pencil was formed from a unused telephone pole or how it came to be there.
Dan’s Big Pencil
On the way home from St. Louis the Chief Photographer spotted some small signs on the roadside promoting the “World Largest Chimes.” Well, there was no way to pass this up. We exited at Casey, IL to see the Wind Chimes and to see additional signs for the “World Largest Golf Tee.” Another find. We found the wind chimes, the first of many Big Things in this town.
Caesy IL Wind Chime
Right across from the “World’s Largest Chimes,” we found this Rocking Chair. Now in the past I’ve seen some Big Chairs, this one may be the very largest.
Casey IL Chair
This Big Golf Tee at the Casey Country Club is another find in Casey, Illinois. I don’t know when I ran into this many Big Things in a single town. With a population of 2,716 and 8 Big Things, this is probably the most Big Thing concentrated place in the United States.
Casey Country Club Golf Tee
There seems to be no end to Big Things in Casey, case Illinois. I wonder what it is like to live in this town. People stopping in all day long to see all the Big Things. Someone has a vision to attract visitors.
Casey IL Pitchfork