A Giant Among Giants

Looking back at Day 3 of my Route 66 tour through Illinois.

Roll out the carpet! The American Giants (open air) Museum in Atlanta (Illinois!) is a quirky stop. We arrived as a jumbo viking was being hoisted into place.

Bill Thomas of the Atlanta Betterment Fund gave me a backgrounder on the viking. Texaco also had 300 giants manufactured in the 1960s, then ordered them destroyed due to fallout from both the dealers and public.

Dealers were required to move them from station to station, and they kept falling over. One woman complained “He looks in my window.” Six giants remain and are all on loan to the museum.

For the full story:

https://www.travelingmitch.com/mostrecent/illinois-route-66-attractions

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d357ab_842c7a2cf1fd40408c977c148555b122/360p/mp4/file.mp4

Bill Thomas of the Atlanta Betterment Fund gives a backgrounder on the viking giant as it's hoisted into place.