When you are viewing these images I'll bet you are reminded of something Big. If so, let me know what's near you. If you want to see the Big Things already reported go to my "Bird Dog Tips" page.

This Big Ice Cream carton is part of an ensemble. Together with a Big Cow see ("Big Animals") for the story on getting this image which is part of a traveling promotional event sponsored by Turkey Hill Dairy. Mounted on a trailer along with the cow it is one of my new classifications - "Mobile Big Things."

I was searching for a Big Campbell's Soup Can alongside the Maumee River outside Napoleon, Ohio. We spotted the can seen here on the left and thought, "Hm, not so big, but still bigger than life." So we went back to get the image. The gate to the parking lot next to the guard's station was open. so we drove through without stopping. Using a little hustle we got this image and were returning to the car when the security officer arrived and informed us that just because the gate was up, we couldn't simply drive through. After explaining the Mission, he said we were looking for the water tower just past the building. This is the image seen on the right.

These Big Loaves in Urbana, Ohio (in Champaign county by the way) were a kind of disappointment. The image seen on the left is near the entrance to the American Pan company and is in pretty good shape. The image seen on the right is in the rear of the building and is not really out for public consumption. Urbana was a great find, nice downtown and home to Urbana University. There was supposed to be a Johnny Appleseed Museum but we couldn't find it. We did find the Mumford's Potato Chip store on north Main Street and bought two 2 pound boxes of kettle chips, yum. Stop in if you are passing through.

This Big Coffee Pot is on US-30, the Lincoln Highway, in Bedford, PA. It was designed and built in 1927 by Bert Koontz to stand out front of his gas station. It served snacks and ice cream until 1937 when it became a restaurant and bar. There was a Greyhound bus stop there providing plenty of customers. It was moved to it's current spot in 2004.

On the way to the Indiana Dunes during Fall Break we took a side trip to Toto, Indiana to get a photo of a Big Guy. Along US-31 we spotted this large ear of corn outside Rusty's Farm Market on the side of the road. This was just before Halloween as you can probably guess.

This is Woody the Root Beer Man in Oglesby, Illinois. Wow, a drive-in! I was holding my root beer float when Henry Moore - that's M-double O-R-E, (he made a point of getting the spelling right) introduced himself. Makes you wonder how many times he delivered that line. At any rate he was delightful. He owned the restaurant for 50 years, purchased it after WWII, and tehn sold to his son. Now he an employee. This was a man living his dream. Thanks Mr. M-double O-R-e. The float was good too.

At some point during a prolonged car trip, like this one through eastern Wisconsin, there comes a point - well you know the rest. Going after this Big Silo was one of those points. All this for a pretty lousy Big Thing shot. On top of that Meyer's Market was equally disappointing.

On the Wisconsin trip I wanted to stop at the Mustard Museum in Mt. Horab. We planned to stop there on Saturday morning. At breakfast in the Wisconsin Dells Friday morning the USA Today I bought to get the Soduko featured a story on the museum - it was National Mustard Day Saturday. Mt Horab was planninga big blowout since the Museum was moving to another town. Anyway, when we got there Main Street was blocked off for the celebration.

The Oscar Mayer car was there, of course. And Mr. Mustard as well. I can't begin to tell you how much unexpected fun this experience was. They even had a car show, of course all the cars were painted mustard yellow. Are you ready for a good pun. This cheese photo makes for a pretty "cheesey" photo. Get it? Not much to get anyway.

Southbound from the Wisconsin Dells we were crusing down US-12 to get a Muffler Man in Baraboo. We never did find the Muffler Man - turns out it was laying in pieces behind a wall. Anyway, we spotted the Big Corn in front of Mark's Market. Did a quick u-turn and pulled into the open air market. After introducing ourselves Mark invited us to take all the photos we wanted. That's when we noticed the Big Strawberry. Not quite as large as the one in Indiana but good size all the same. They also gave us the tip on the Big Bed.

Would you like some fries with your hot dog? This group of 4 images were part of the jackpot at Mel Schettl Sales outside Oshkosh, Wisconsin. My, how many big things. It was nearly overwhelming for Big Thingologists like Debbie and me. We've left feeling battle fatigue. I didn't even get a image of the Jolly Green Giant you see in the background.

After leaving Mel's I had a taste for pizza. Vegatarian by the way. Where does your favorite pizza come from? I grew up in Detroit, down the street from Shields Bar which later became famous for the deep dish type pizza. My good friend Frank Parachetti was one of the pizza makers at Buddy's which had the same style. Buddy's bar was an old style Italian bar with a bocci court on the side of the building.

Seymour, Wisconsin claims it is the home of the hamburger - and they have a statue of of Charlie to prove it. See him in the Big People section. Across the street is this grill that cooked the World's Largest Hamburger. I think the burger is a replica now to stand up to the Wisconsin winters. Seymour was planning a "Burger Fiesta" for August 8th. We were too early.

This was the 2nd image taken in Manitowoc, Wisconsin after taking the ferry across Lake Michigan. The Cedar Crest cow in front of the dairy was the first. This in questionable as a Big Thing but since I've downed a few Bud's in my time and I thought only fitting to add to the site

Along the Fontana Corridor of the famous Route 66 is Bono's Market. Right next to the market is the Orange stand. Not open of course on Christmas day when we were out getting some Big Pictures. The gifts were opened, the traditional Hejl Christmas breakfast eaten so what else was there to do but track down my Big Thing sightings. This one worked out well.

In Lemon Grove, California they celebrate their namesake with this large lemon. If you look in the background of this image you can see what may be the last remaining lemon tree in all of southern California. Just kidding because on the way to Mentone to get a Big Guy and a Big Chicken we drove through many, many citrus orchards, some of them must have been lemon trees, but it was December and I can't tell an orange tree from a lemon tree in December.

We were on our way from Indianapolis to the cottage Up North in Michigan and stopped to see my Uncle Ed in St Johns, Michigan. We went out for lunch and then downtown to find some Czech pastries. We missed out on the pastries since the bakery closed at 1pm, but these was a celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the St Johns Fire Department. We came accross this big Miller Lite bottle right there in downtown.

This is kind of a famous Big Peach if you are a BigThingologist like me. I had my sights on this but just needed the opportunity. And or course that came on the way home from New Harmony. This peach of a Peach sits out front of a fruit market on Rte 41 between Vincennes and Terra Haute.

My thanks to Liz Bailey for Bird Dogging this Big Strawberry. Liz works as a teacher with Debbie at Fishers High School (Go Tigers!). While she lives outside Indy, she is from Vincennes and sees this Big Strawberry on her way to visit her family. The berry is out in the middle of a field, lucky for me it hadn't rained recently

I just filled up the Big Thingsmobile (See the Kissmobile and Oscar Meyer Mobile below) and was going into Sam's when out in the parking lot was a NASCAR showcar. It was the weekend of the Brickyard after all and the town was celebrating NASCAR. One of this car's sponsor was Heinz and there was this inflatable Heinz squeezable bottle. Since Debbie was out of town I was on my own to get a photo. Fortunately Ann Wilson was working the exhibit with her husband. She was most gracious and took this photo.

It was a HOT and sunny day in Tulum, Mexico. We had walked out to the Mayan ruins, poked around for a couple of hours and then walked back. I was feeling pretty wiped out. When, lo, Debbie said "look at that will you." And there it was, this big Corona bottle. So I went into the park store and had a couple to cool down. Hey, Karen, I bet if you drank this whole bottle of Corona, you would get up and dance the Macarena!

A favorite Bird Dog gave me a call Thursday morning telling me about the visit of the Hershey's Kissmobile Cruiser to the Indianapolis area. Since I have the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile she knew I had to have the Kissmobile. She was right. Debbie and I got this Saturday morning right after the Big Sunblock bottle at the CVS (see "Big Objects".) At any rate the Kissmobile collects donations for the Childrens Miracle Network and makes visits at affiliated Children's Hospitals. What nice service at the same time as advertising.

This image is a little closer to home than Hong Kong, etc. It's in Mentone, Indiana, "The Egg Basket of the Midwest." Steve and I were driving from Grand Rapids and picked this up on the way back. I had this beauty in my Big Things to Photograph file for years but never had a chance to get to Mentone. And what do you know, we arrived as the town was getting ready for their Egg Festival! Main street was blocked off and booths were being set up. We didn't stay around but I bet you could get a nice Pork Tenderloin or Elephant Ear there.

We are at a Dan Ryan's restaurant in Hong Kong for a taste of an American style grill. Lo and behold, there hanging from the ceiling was this Big Tums. Greg, of course, had his camera and I grabbed an extra chair to stand on trying to elevate my game so to speak.

Ray's Ice Cream, right next to Bolero Bowl and down the street from The Oak Drive-in. A walk down memory lane, "take me back," says Debbie. My neighborhood was a little farther south but I did bowl at Bolero, 16 lanes, and ate a cone or two at Ray's. We were driving past last summer when I spotted this cone in the window. We had a nice interaction with the folks on duty at Ray's. Stop in if you have a chance, Royal Oak, Michigan on Livernois, just north 13 1/2 (which is Normandy).

I was on my way to Hong Kong last Spring and had a looooonng layover in the airport in Minneapolis. Jack and I took the tram over to the Mall of America to take a look around. If you haven't been there the Mall has an amusememt park right in the middle. We found this cone and Jack snapped my picture. It's been MIA for a while, but now it's found!

We were driving down US-13 in Delaware on the way to the Eastern Shore on Maryland. Always on the lookout for Big Things Debbie spotted this big Dunkin' Donuts cup at Tybouts Crossing at Delaware in a BP station. We had to go to the next exit before we could reverse direction to get this image.

Down the road from the Dunkin' Donuts at Millcreek Farms I found this Big Strawberry. Actually it was a car from an amusement park ride, probably a Tilt-a-Whirl ride. I always like the tilt-a-Whirl, but never sat in a strawberry car.

I was knee deep in Soybeans to get this image in Maryland at the Rainbow Farms on Rt 50 near MD 662. Maybe you don't think it looks like much but there was some workmanship put into this roadside attraction, and attract me it did!

Oh, I had a bunch of fun at a Walmart Grand Opening in Arkansas. Some suppliers brought out their inflatables. Here's one from Wheaties.

Spotted these cans in Southwest Missouri on the way to Springfield. Mike B, the intrepid, grabbed this shot on the return from our boondoggle, excuse me, store audit.

In Springfield, Missouri is this office building for Solo products. It looked pretty deserted and the parking lot in front was empty so I guess it has seen better days.

This could be one of my favorites, the elusive Weinermobile from Oscar Meyer. Debbie took an image of one of these in Indy on her phone but the quality wasn't great. Any way, at the end of the trip to Springfield, Missouri to make a store visit we returned to the hotel and when we pulled into the parking lot there was a collected gasp as we spotted this beauty.

Julia and I were on our way to College Park when we stopped to have some lunch on the last leg of the trip. We ate lunch at this place. A very homestyle restaurant were almost everyone know each other. try the meatloaf.

Debbie and I drove to Columbus to see the Crew play DC united and the phenom Freddie Adu. This was a birthday present for Debbie, we spent the night there and it was a lot of fun. On the way back we found the highest point in Indiana. What a thrill!

On the way in to Columbus to see the soccer game we stopped to see this field of corn. I guess some people call this art. it was kind of nice and made for a good Big Picture.

Got this corn carved from a tree trunk on M-59 in Michigan between US-23 and Pontiac. I don't remember exactly where it was.

Julia and I were on our way to College Park when we stopped to have some lunch on the last leg of the trip. We ate lunch at this place. A very homestyle restaurant were almost everyone know each other. try the meatloaf.

Got this ice cream cone in Stratford-on-Avon during our England trip in 2004. I have received some emails from Brits with Big Thing sightings but didn't have time for anything but opportunistic shots. I wonder if the Bard likes ice cream.

One of my favorite bar/restaurants is the Limberlost in Houghton Lake, Michigan. You can sit outside on the deck, view the lake, and have a cold drink and something to eat. I like to go to lunch here. They are kind of party central so if you want a relaxing weekend in Houghton Lake you might stay a little way away from the Limberlost.

Alex "Eagle Eye" Davidson was riding shotgun on our way to the Traverse City Cherry Pie tin (see below) when he spotted Doug Murdick's Fudge store at 4500 US-31 just North of Traverse City. Right on Traverse Bay the view is great. Murdicks also has fudge and ice cream stores in Charlevoix maybe they are related. Not the greatest photo but it was late in the day and the sun was in my eyes.

After Alex's sighting we made it to the Traverse City Cherry Pie. There seems to be some dispute about this pie and the Charlevois Pie regarding size. I don't care since both are pretty big. This pie tin just south of Traverse city has a plaque from the Guinness Book of World Records.

No doubt, the Charlevoix Cherry Pie is BIG as well. Located just south of Charlevoix in front of of Fire Dept Station #2 at 6591 S. US-31 (look for the red and white water tower) this pie rivals the Traverse City Cherry Pie. I'll leave it up to more exacting people. I just know both are BIG and both are cool.

I picked up this site from Roadside America. We were coming down from Prudenville, MI and were passing close by and decided to visit this site. Out in the middle of Michigan farmland is this great silo painted like the New Era chip cans I remember. I don't know who keeps this up, but kodo's to them.

I would expect the New Era chips to create a thirst. Maybe a cool Lite beer could help. In front of of the Limberlost in Houghton Lake, MI, this inflateable invited all in to have a good time. The Limberlost rocks and is a place for good times. Just don't rent one of the cabins next door.

After taking the New Era silo shot we were shooting straight down M-100 to pick up the interstate and made a wrong turn. Well, there in front of the Corner Cone at 201 W Jefferson at the "corner" of Harrison was this ice cream cone. I don't care if it was a fancy trash container, it's still darn big.

On the Northeast corner of the new Comerica Park in Detroit is the Beer Hall with this giant mug out front. You know I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a Big Thing shot.

We were at the 4th of July "Carmelfest" parade when lo and behold a float appeared from Bub's Hamburgers. It's a great little local burger place with a very short menu. Baby Bub's, Bub's and Big Bub's. If you eat a Big Bub you get your picture taken and put up on the wall. Special waffle fries to go with the burgers and ice cream for dessert if you want.

A little later in the parade Julia and I were excited to see this large foil wrapped burrito float going down Rangeline Road. Some of the folks along the curb were wondering why this guy was getting his picture taken. First with the burger, then with the buritto. I was getting hungry by this time.

OK, so I like beer. This may become my favorite image. Imagine, a 47 foot high Big Buck Beer Bottle! Doug Osburn pay attention! This bottle is in Gaylord, Michigan and there is another Big Buck Brewery in Auburn, Michigan that has a "Big Buck" out in front, go figure. By the way they have a great menu as well, go eat there. Credit to Glen McCone for the painting on the bottle. (GPS=N45.02185 W084.68400)

Umm, ice cream! Got this image down in Brown County in a town named Nashville (Indiana, that is) when Debbie and I were celebrating our 30th Wedding Anniversity. It's a town filled with shops to browse in, eat in and walk past. If you are ever down that way and want a very nice dinner I suggest you eat at the Story Inn.

Got this Big Concrete Milk Bottle up in Whately, Mass. Just at the northern Town border is the Whately Central School office with the bottle out front. I don't know why the bottle is outside. Just as we were taking this photo the town policeman pulled in bit didn't ask what was going on. Must be a lot of people getting their picture taken with the milk bottle.

Up in DeWitt, Michigan there is the Edwin J Leyanna VFW Post 671 on Old US-27. There must be something about Apples 'cause they had this one out front on the pole and another painted on the front of the post hall. Anyway, it was the 4th of July and they had the flag flying.

In Minneapolis once again. Lot's of Birddogs told me about this famous sculpture and with some time to kill Ernie and I tracked this beauty down. Snow all over the place, slipping and sliding, we got the image. Later it was a nightmare getting home with a lot of air traffic delays. We took separate flights back to Philly.

On the way in to Long Beach Island, NJ is a bar and restaurant, "The Quelle" that had this big inflatable over the deck. Debbie and I had a beer and a frank after a hard day taking Big Pictures, all the while sitting under this gem. Fortunately we met the owner and once again Debbie talked him into taking us up on to the roof for this photo opportunity.

Out on Long Beach Island, in the town of Brant Beach is Lucille's Candy. Taffy, fudge, lot's of different types of candy are available. Also some pretty tacky gifts as well. You have to make a living after all.

I think just about everyone has seen this donut somewhere or other. But that didn't stop me from finding my way to Southern California. Located on Manchester Boulevard near LAX this Randy's Donuts may be one of the most recognized donut shops in the country.

I suppose if there were other people that did what I do they would object to including inflatables as not being "substantial." I take the opposite view. I like finding Big Things and since inflatables are so transitory they are more than found art, they are lucky timing art. Wendy is a case in point. Thanks to Nancy.

There is nothing insubstantial about these fries however. I think this is the only shot where I did a retake at a later time since the original had the photographers finger in front of the lens. I am better dressed here too. Find these fries at the Manchester Shopping Center in Des Peres, MO.

How 'bout some catsup to go with those fries. The famous Collinsville catsup bottle water tower. These folks are serious about this landmark. It even has it's own web site.. Check it out and tell 'em Jim sent you.

Here's a good size tomato that I found out on Rockville Road west of Indianapolis. Debbie and I grabbed this photo on the way back from Andy's graduation

Well while not inflatable, not exactly substantial either. I wonder how the purists (if there were any) would view this six pack. I like Pepsi better than Coke but I'm not a Republican, go figure. This was shot 1/2 mile from home one lucky Saturday during the IGA parking lot sale.

"Gads, another inflatable. Has this man no sense of propriety?" A big Bronx cheer to you. Found this while out with a salesman in Alabama. You can tell by my clothes when I'm working (ha, ha!) Opportunity and chance make up a big portion of this hobby.

Here's an example of timing. Monster Beverages was having their Grand Opening sale in Glassboro, NJ when I spotted this inflatable. Without camera or photographer at the time I wheeled in and asked if this beauty would still be up on Saturday. After a couple of strange looks and consultations I found out it would.

This was a planned shot as a result of an early bird dog report. This wine bottle advertising Renault Winery is on Route 30 in South Jersey. Sometimes people slow down when we're taking one of these pictures, that was the case here.

Another close-to-home-shot outside Duffields Farm Market. Silver Queen Jersey corn was in season. If you haven't been to Duffields in Sewell, NJ, go. They have a Llama, a peacock and other exotic animals for the kids to see. In May you can pick your own strawberries. Nice produce and baked goods too.

A semi planned shot. I knew the gumball machine was in BJ's (a wholesale club) but I hadn't planned on taking the photo. We were shopping at the home center next door and ran in to get a corned beef for dinner. I wasn't dressed for this, note the painting clothes.

If you've ever driven down I-85 through Gaffney, South Carolina you must have seen this "peach" of a Peach. I love stuff like this, it's what maakes America such an interesting place. I can't imagine the French doing something like this. (No E-mail please, I could as easily have said Belgians or Hungarians.)

I call this the Casablanca Cone. This is a more or less stationary inflatable that shows up outside the Casablanca Ice Cream Parlor. Timing is everything in cases like this since, even though you know it appears you have to be ready to take action. One cell phone call and I dropped what I was doing, grabbed the camera and moved. This hobby is not for the faint of heart.

Another bird dog shot thanks to my sister. This ice cream cone is right in front of an elementary school outside St. Louis. (Catherine, I need more directions!)