By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
When we were young, we watched a cartoon hour called The Quick Draw McGraw Show which debuted a segment called Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy. They then went on to have their own segment of the show. The show was on for three seasons from 1959 to 1962.
We hadn’t thought about them for years, but just this spring on our way home from our Missouri photography trip, we came through a small town in Illinois. I had marked a restored advertising mural and a historic library. We pulled up and parked on the street next to the advertising mural, but glancing across the street, there in front of a gas station was a statue, and I told Joann it looked like Augie Doggie.
Actually, it looks like Doggie Daddy, which we found out when we got home and looked it up. It might be a repurposed Doggie Daddy statue, or maybe it never was and just has a strong resemblance. All we know is, he was very cute, and he reminded us of fond childhood memories.
So when you’re out and about, keep your eyes open because, “Augie, my son, my son” (as Doggie Daddy used to say), you never know what you’ll find when you look around.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Showing posts with label statues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label statues. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Quick Pic - Pantsless Pierre
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
At the end of June of 2010, Joann and I took a marathon four-and-a-half-day photography trip to Minnesota. On the third night, we had reservations at a mom and pop motel in Two Harbors. When we’re on the road for so many hours each day, we get rather punchy and everything gets funnier. As we pulled into the parking lot of the motel, there was a statue of a large voyageur, but something looked wrong. I said to Joann, “He’s not wearing any underwear!” This resulted in a hysterical fit of giggles, and it was all we could do to get checked in to the motel.
The next morning we decided to get a photo, and only later did we find out that he’s known as Pierre the Pantsless Voyageur.
Pierre had stood for over 50 years at that site, overlooking Two Harbors. For a while his future was unknown when the lot he was standing on was sold, but the owners of the Earthwood Inn, Bar, and Grill bought him and had him moved to their location about a mile south of town where they are restoring him. In the beginning, his head moved, his eyes glowed red, and thanks to an employee in the old motel he stood near, he talked to visitors. The people at the Earthwood Inn hope that eventually he will be talking again.
If you visit Two Harbors, be sure to visit the Earthwood Inn, Bar, and Grill and say hello to Pierre. Who knows, he might have something to say in return!
Happy shunpiking!
Ruth
At the end of June of 2010, Joann and I took a marathon four-and-a-half-day photography trip to Minnesota. On the third night, we had reservations at a mom and pop motel in Two Harbors. When we’re on the road for so many hours each day, we get rather punchy and everything gets funnier. As we pulled into the parking lot of the motel, there was a statue of a large voyageur, but something looked wrong. I said to Joann, “He’s not wearing any underwear!” This resulted in a hysterical fit of giggles, and it was all we could do to get checked in to the motel.
The next morning we decided to get a photo, and only later did we find out that he’s known as Pierre the Pantsless Voyageur.
Pierre had stood for over 50 years at that site, overlooking Two Harbors. For a while his future was unknown when the lot he was standing on was sold, but the owners of the Earthwood Inn, Bar, and Grill bought him and had him moved to their location about a mile south of town where they are restoring him. In the beginning, his head moved, his eyes glowed red, and thanks to an employee in the old motel he stood near, he talked to visitors. The people at the Earthwood Inn hope that eventually he will be talking again.
If you visit Two Harbors, be sure to visit the Earthwood Inn, Bar, and Grill and say hello to Pierre. Who knows, he might have something to say in return!
Happy shunpiking!
Ruth
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Brief Encounters - “You’re Out!”
By Joann M. Ringelstetter
Today, we are introducing the second of our three new short blog series. This one is called Brief Encounters and it will feature subjects for which our images are few or the information about them is limited.
In June of 2011, Ruth and I passed through the small town of Ryan, Iowa, which has a population of approximately 400. In spite of its small size, through the donations of money, labor, equipment, and materials, this town’s residents developed an impressive city park and ball diamond.
According to the second edition of the book, “Iowa Curiosities,” a local priest named Father Beelner wanted to find something to distinguish Ryan’s new City Park. When the owner of a Happy Chef restaurant in nearby Cedar Rapids decided to “retire” his Happy Chef statue, he offered him to Father Beelner. It took more than 20 men to lift the 20-foot tall fiberglass statue onto a flatbed truck to be transported to its new home in Ryan.
Through the creativity of a local auto-body worker, the statue’s chef hat was replaced with a baseball cap and wire face mask. And the spoon in his raised right hand was replaced with a raised thumb to signal, “You’re out!” Finally, he received a paint job that finished the transformation from chef to umpire.
Talk about an amazing career transition!
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Today, we are introducing the second of our three new short blog series. This one is called Brief Encounters and it will feature subjects for which our images are few or the information about them is limited.
In June of 2011, Ruth and I passed through the small town of Ryan, Iowa, which has a population of approximately 400. In spite of its small size, through the donations of money, labor, equipment, and materials, this town’s residents developed an impressive city park and ball diamond.
According to the second edition of the book, “Iowa Curiosities,” a local priest named Father Beelner wanted to find something to distinguish Ryan’s new City Park. When the owner of a Happy Chef restaurant in nearby Cedar Rapids decided to “retire” his Happy Chef statue, he offered him to Father Beelner. It took more than 20 men to lift the 20-foot tall fiberglass statue onto a flatbed truck to be transported to its new home in Ryan.
Through the creativity of a local auto-body worker, the statue’s chef hat was replaced with a baseball cap and wire face mask. And the spoon in his raised right hand was replaced with a raised thumb to signal, “You’re out!” Finally, he received a paint job that finished the transformation from chef to umpire.
Talk about an amazing career transition!
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Monday, October 8, 2012
The Legend of the Hodag
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
At the end of September, Joann and I took a trip to northern Wisconsin. We didn’t have Internet access until the last night of our trip. We didn’t really miss it since we were having too much fun, but it does mean we missed the blog last week. And we spent this past weekend chasing the last of the fall color in western Wisconsin in this year for the weather record books.
Last year on an early fall trip north, we stopped in Rhinelander to photograph some old buildings and signs. I asked Joann if she wanted to hunt up the Hodag. Neither of us was familiar with the legend.
In the late 1800’s, Rhinelander was a frontier lumber town. Lumberjacks had long spoken of the large beast that lived in the forest, which they believed embodied the spirit of dead lumber oxen. When Eugene Simeon Shepard came to town and told everyone that he had seen the creature on a hike in the woods near his home, a group of men went out to the woods to hunt and capture the creature.
The group failed in capturing the creature but did end up killing it and bringing its charred body back to town. In 1896, Shepard captured a Hodag and brought it to the Rhinelander fairgrounds to display to all who paid a dime to see the creature. After this introduction, he took the Hodag on tour at other county fairs and at the state fair in Madison.
After returning to Rhinelander and displaying the beast at his home, it was discovered to be an elaborate hoax. Its body was a carved stump covered with ox hide and its horns were taken from oxen and cattle. Movement was controlled by wires and the growls of the beast were provided by Shepard’s sons who were hidden in the beast’s lair. Even after the discovery of the hoax, people continued to travel to Rhinelander to see the Hodag.
This year the famous Hodag even made an appearance in Scooby Doo as the villain in the episode “Hodag of Horror”.
If you visit Rhinelander, be sure to stop at the visitor center to see the Hodag, and think about encountering one of those in your hike in the Northwoods.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
At the end of September, Joann and I took a trip to northern Wisconsin. We didn’t have Internet access until the last night of our trip. We didn’t really miss it since we were having too much fun, but it does mean we missed the blog last week. And we spent this past weekend chasing the last of the fall color in western Wisconsin in this year for the weather record books.
Last year on an early fall trip north, we stopped in Rhinelander to photograph some old buildings and signs. I asked Joann if she wanted to hunt up the Hodag. Neither of us was familiar with the legend.
In the late 1800’s, Rhinelander was a frontier lumber town. Lumberjacks had long spoken of the large beast that lived in the forest, which they believed embodied the spirit of dead lumber oxen. When Eugene Simeon Shepard came to town and told everyone that he had seen the creature on a hike in the woods near his home, a group of men went out to the woods to hunt and capture the creature.
The group failed in capturing the creature but did end up killing it and bringing its charred body back to town. In 1896, Shepard captured a Hodag and brought it to the Rhinelander fairgrounds to display to all who paid a dime to see the creature. After this introduction, he took the Hodag on tour at other county fairs and at the state fair in Madison.
After returning to Rhinelander and displaying the beast at his home, it was discovered to be an elaborate hoax. Its body was a carved stump covered with ox hide and its horns were taken from oxen and cattle. Movement was controlled by wires and the growls of the beast were provided by Shepard’s sons who were hidden in the beast’s lair. Even after the discovery of the hoax, people continued to travel to Rhinelander to see the Hodag.
This year the famous Hodag even made an appearance in Scooby Doo as the villain in the episode “Hodag of Horror”.
If you visit Rhinelander, be sure to stop at the visitor center to see the Hodag, and think about encountering one of those in your hike in the Northwoods.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
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