The Post Man

 Post Cereals has been one of the giants in the breakfast game for quite awhile now.  From Grape Nuts to Fruity Pebbles, everybody has a favorite.  But cereal dynasties aren't born, they're made.  And this one was made by a guy named C.W. Post.  If you look into his life you'll find out that he wasn't always such a great guy but but that milk of negativity wasn't enough make his legacy soggy enough to deny him a statue...and I just happened to visit it recently.

 And there he sits, perched high upon his throne, welcoming visitors to the Garza County Courthouse in Post, TX.  Yes, he has a town named after him.  And, yes, he named it after himself after he founded it.  Of course, it was originally called "Post City" and it was meant to be a paradise based on his utopian vision which involved prohibiting alcohol and recreational fornication.  But currently, it's not that different from any other small Texas town.

 

 

Right behind the statue is a Texas Historical marker.  It reads:

     "Internationally known creator of Post Cereals, advertising genius, inventor and innovator, founder of Post City in 1906. Through the purchase of the Curry Comb Ranch and adjacent land approximating 225,000 acres he began his dream of building self-contained model community of towns and farms. Mr. Post financed, supervised and built town without profit to himself. Settlers were offered ownership of business or farm sites far below cost. Mr. Post planned community of debt-free private ownership in every field of endeavor, and sought to make his vision true to its purpose."

 

I'm sure this isn't the only monument to a cereal magnate but my travels have yet to take me to Battle Creek, MI to investigate further.  If you want to visit Post's town (and his statue) you can find it in the in the vicinity of the middle of nowhere in the southern end of the Texas panhandle.  Don't forget the milk!

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

 Previously:

Smokey Bear Top 5  - -  Burn Notice

 Legends never die, they just burn out.  And with that bit of bumper sticker wisdom, it's time for a road trip!  This time I found myself in Capitan, NM, the final resting place of the legendary Smokey the Bear.   He's spending his eternal reward at Smokey Bear Historical Park which, in addition to Smokey's remains,  also includes a a short nature trail, museum and gift shop.  

 Here we see his final resting place.  Just like Smokey, it's humble and unassuming.  There's a wood carving of young Smokey as they first found him stuck in a tree during a forest fire and a plaque with information about his life and his life's work: preventing forest fires.  A little further down the trail is a monument to fallen firefighters as well as benches and overlooks providing a tranquil experience.

 The Museum/Gift Shop is a much lighter way to pay homage to Smokey and his life.  It's full of every kind of memorabilia you can slap a bear's face on.  Games, dolls, books, toys and collectibles from throughout the years are on display to show how fully Smokey worked his way into popular culture (no ashtrays though).

Sadly, none of these items were for sale but they had a few souvenirs available for the Smokey-loving traveler.  It's easy to lose track of time as you soak in the Smokey-themed ambience.  The nostalgia is palpable and emotions can run high as life and death converge on small New Mexico town.  If you find yourself on the road in that area I would definitely recommend stopping by and paying your respects.

Sweeping Changes

As a bit of a postscript to from one of my other blogs, and to kick off National Chimney Safety Week, I present a new friend I made on the road. 

The giant Chimney Sweep Statue greets people on I-135 between Wichita and McPherson, Kansas. He's a striking site that comes out of nowhere while you're in the middle of nowhere. His roguish smile and Dick Van Dyke-esque demeanor conveys a sense of old school chimney sweepery that is sadly missing in our modern world of dirty smoke stacks.

However, as many people do, he started out in a different industry before his career change:

Happy Chef is/was a chain of restaurants in the Midwest that each had Happy Chef statues out front greeting hungry travelers with a smile and a spoon. They also had a button you could push to hear the Happy Chef give you, what I assume was, a happy message.

Sadly most chefs are gone but some have been re-purposed like our friend here. If you're one the road in the middle of Kansas, stop by and say "hi." 

Wal-Man

If you're reading this then, odds are, you've probably shopped at Walmart at least once.  Opinions vary on the mega-chain from brand loyalty for its one-stop shopping to hatred for its competition-crushing ubiquitous nature.  Your mileage may vary depending on how often you need to buy motor oil, pet food and milk at the same time, but there's no denying the company's impact on the country.

The man behind the machine was Sam Walton.  He founded his first store in 1962 and with his great success came the tributes.  If you know where to look you can find Wal-Monuments on your next road trip.

In his hometown of Kingfisher, OK, they wave the Walton flag hard.  This sign announces the town's status as his birthplace as soon as you arrive.  Not too far from there is the town's Walmart (every town's gotta have one, right?).  And there you'll find the real tribute:

Sam's eight foot tall disembodied torso and his faithful dog (and dog food namesake) "Ol' Roy" were erected for the grand opening of the town's store in 2007 and were sculpted by a local artist.  Sam's story may have started here but to see the monuments to his professional accomplishments you need to head one state over.

The founding of Walmart got its own Topp's collectible trading card (above) and the refurbished Walton's Five and Dime (his first store) can be visited on the town square in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas as a part of the Walmart Museum.

The museum is a shrine to the origins of the retail giant and houses store memorabilia like bags, buttons, aprons, early branded merchandise and other pieces of ephemera.  But most of the exhibits are dedicated to the life of Walton and they collect his personal belongings. 

It's an odd memorial for someone who lived so recently.  You might expect too see a life size diorama of an Egyptian tomb or a neanderthal's cave at a natural history museum but this place goes so far as to recreate Walton's office and display it behind glass:

On one hand, I'm glad they resisted the urge to put a mannequin "Sam" in the chair.  But on the other hand, I'm disappointing they didn't go to the expense of building an animatronic "Sam" to push papers around on his desk and occasionally look up to tell his tale to visitors. 

I sometimes wonder what it would look like if my work area was one day put on display for posterity.  Would historians know which order to pile the scraps of paper I no longer need on my desk?  Would they line up my Oscar Mayer Wiener Whistles just right?  I guess history will decide.

The other big piece on display of Sam's is his old 1979 Ford F150:

Apparently he liked to take long drives with the dogs on hunting trips (his Texas hunting license is also on display at the museum) in the truck.  They say that if you look closely at the steering wheel you can see Ol' Roy's teeth marks. 

It's an exhaustive remembrance of a man who made it slightly cheaper and easier for many people to buy tube socks and, like it or not, a big piece of Americana.

Rubber Made

You may think of the Michelin Man as the quirky, bloated fellow who serves as a beacon of warmth when you have car trouble and have to go to the auto parts store, but the ribbed gentleman also serves as a reminder of economic prosperity to the people of Ardmore, Oklahoma.  And he's always there to greet you at their Michelin Plant:

The plant has been here for years and if you are like me and constantly on the search for photo ops with life sized advertising mascots then it's definitely worth a stop as you travel along I-35.  This tall drink of water is practically begging you to slap some skin and give him five:

Michelin has been so good for central Oklahoma that our lumpy buddy was even honored by the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City by displaying this smaller version of the legendary icon in one of their exhibits:

So around this area there is clearly some love for when the rubber meets the road.  And if you want to pay a visit to an advertising icon, you know where to go.

Shell Stop

Billboards come and go by legends never die.  That seems to be the motto of the Planter's facility in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  They wave the flag loud and proud in the form of a 30 foot Mr. Peanut on their lawn who points in the direction of where the nuts are.

Mr. Peanut has been one of the top advertising icons for a long time and the folks at the Fort Smith plant are happy to see him around.  So much so, that the visage of the legendary legume decorates the premises' perimeter with these smaller statues along the fence:

There are two realities in the world:  you can never have enough Mr. Peanut and you can never have enough photo ops.  Planters seems to understand this quite well and have provided a nice opportunity for a sit down with the Big Guy:

So on your next road trip to Arkansas, you've got a great opportunity for a pit stop to sit and tell your story, "Forrest Gump-style," to one of the top Promotional Mascots in the business.  Just be careful if you have a peanut allergy, because even Mr. P's bench is shaped like a peanut.

The Sinclair Dinosaurs of Oklahoma

Years ago, in Route 66's prime, the roads were packed with vacationers, salesmen and entrepreneurs who drove up and down the back roads and highways chasing the American experience.  Gas stations and motels were in fierce competition to get the attention and patronage of these weary travelers so many of them got creative.

Sinclair Oil had a dinosaur theme in their advertising and so it was only natural to have some dinosaurs at their stations welcoming the empty tanks of road weary wanderers.  The bright green statues are few and far between these days but lucky travelers can still find a few at select Sinclair stations.  And, of all places. the great state of Oklahoma has several you can spot on your next road trip like this one in Tahlequah:

This is a pretty standard example but seek and ye shall find some more colorful examples.  One of the best places to stop on an Oklahoma road trip is Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies in Davis along I-35.  You can pick up lunch, dessert and a selfie with a red version of the dinosaur that stands watch on their roof:

Further north up the interstate you can find an even more colorful guy in a very colorful place.  The Toy & Action Figure Museum in Pauls Valley has pretty much every super hero, cartoon character and scifi monster you can think of.  And among the heroes and villains you can find this guy:

Even farther north is an example of another dino with a dramatic story.  You wouldn't know it to look at him now but a few years back, this dinosaur in Norman lost his head:

As you can see, he's made a full recovery but for a while he was completely headless.  How did this happen?  How did it get resolved?  News 9 reports:

Now, of course, you can find these guys outside of the Sooner State.  You just have to keep your eyes open on the road (which you should be doing anyway).  But if you're lucky, you can see the balloon version from the comfort of your own home.  After a long absence, the Sinclair Dinosaur Balloon returned to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade last year:

So if you want to find a couple of these guys then consider your next road trip to be a dinosaur hunting expedition.  You never know what you'll see on the back roads.