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What Happens When A Small-Town Family Visits The "World's Largest"... Whatever!

I ♥ Elwood

Thanks to everyone who took a guess at our “Where is it? Wednesday” game yesterday! Liza and Bill both knew that this fellow – his name is Elwood, sigh – lives in Iowa. To be precise, he lives in Reiman Gardens on the Iowa State University campus.  Mike offered a more compelling back story about Hans, Das mad Gärtner, which I think was a product of his new parent sleep deprivation.

Standing 15-feet tall, Elwood is the world’s largest concrete garden gnome. My special guy Chomsky is the second tallest, at just over 13 feet.

Thanks again to Jody at Family Rambling for providing the photo, and this background info: Elwood is modeled after a garden gnome statue made by Created in Johnston, a company which creates concrete statues.

He is named after both an ISU professor who taught Landscape Architecture, and the original street which Reiman Gardens sits on (which is now called University Avenue).

There is a gnome in Poland which is larger, but he is made of fiberglass.

1 Comment

  1. Just Jane said,
    October 2, 2011 @ 9:38 pm

    I hope you will, one day, make your way to Ames, IA and get your very own look at Elwood! He was, by far, my most favorite roadside attraction we encountered on our American Gods and Roadside Attractions tour last month.

    (Also? You posted this on my birthday which seemed oddly fitting given the topic!)