World's Largest Paul Bunyan

Bemidji's Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox began as a promotional stunt and became, in the Minnesota Historical Society's words, a prototypical “roadside colossus” that inspired dozens of other Minnesota and Midwest cities. According to the society, Bemidji Rotarians sponsored an 18-foot Paul to relaunch the town's winter carnival in January 1937. Cyril Dickinson oversaw Paul, built over a wood framework and reinforcing bars and finished in cement stucco; Dickinson put the statue at 2.5 tons above its footings. Jim Payton supervised Babe. Both were scaled up three to one, with Bemidji's mayor, Earl Bucklen, and an ox from a logging camp as the models; poor light during construction left Paul with almost no neck, the society says.

Babe was built to travel: a wooden frame wrapped in wire, wool and canvas, with tail-light eyes, exhaust piped through the nostrils to mimic frosty breath, and tin horns 14 feet across. Life magazine gave the pair a full page on 1 February 1937. Babe stopped touring by 1939, the Minnesota Historical Society says. The society adds that Eastman Kodak later named the two the second-most-photographed sculptures in the country, after Mount Rushmore. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.