My affection for Roadside Kitsch, the actual term by the way, started a long time ago, probably as a child. I love overgrown silly statues. They amuse me and their engineering impresses me. Think Paul Bunyan and Babe the Big Blue Ox. Which, by the way, I was introduced to as a very young person. So yes, my affection started early.
It has rolled into being mildly obsessed with finding all 500 and some Peanuts statues around the Twin Cities. I have probably seen about a tenth of them. And these are the only ones scrapbooked.
My affection for large cartoonish silly statues has grown so much I have my own scrapbook for them. My title page for it, is the one that started it all, and the one that anyone from the lower 48 states likely knows the best - the giant Paul Bunyan Statue with Babe in northern MN.
The affection really took off when a friend had a cabin which you had to drive through a large chain of lakes and cabins on the eastern boarder of MN located about mid state, the Chisago Lakes chain, aka Little Scandinavia. There are sister cities to Sweden cities along the way. And a lot of my Kitsch.
Take, for instance, the giant old style Swedish coffee pot that is Lindstrom's water tower. Or for that matter, there is BOB the pizza chef, which was located just miles from our previous house. They all amuse me and make me smile.
I do not include Franconia Sculpture Garden located in Franconia MN as part of this. Even though some of the sculptures are really kitsch, they are serious artists who take their art very seriously. And the park is beautiful to visit if you are ever in the area. They have music festivals and pours and other art events throughout the year. I'm digressing again...
And add to my kitsch obsession now is trying to see all 500 and some Peanuts sculptures around the Twin Cities. I'm going to need a bigger book!
Along the way I found I am not the only Roadside Kitsch lover. I follow Roadside America which is dedicated to the kitsch I love. There are books. Minnesota is home to a lot of the statues. Some say Minnesota has the largest collection. I am not sure I would agree. But we certainly have enough to keep one busy for years to come. I have seen the giant walleye statue in Garrison MN. The last time we were there, around 2013, Wally was out of maintenance. I have never seen the giant corn statue in Mitchell SD. Though I have likely driven by it.
Globally, I know kitsch exists in small doses. I believe the UK is home to a few kitsch statues. But most statues in Europe tend to be serious art or historic places, such as Stonehenge. Here in America, we do ridiculous really big!
Here I share some of my Peanuts statue finds. I should share some of my other kitsch since I know I am not alone in my affection, ridiculous as it is. Sadly a lot of my pages are done, just not printed. Since it is a low priority to print, it just keeps getting put off. I am the only one likely to look at the book anyway.
This is another explanation of why I do it. It is a different way to document my travels. Everyone can scrapbook pictures of beaches or mountains, which I certainly do too, but finding that kitsch, always accidentally, just adds to my travel fun. It puts a different perspective on travel and I usually find interesting places. This was also true when we were geocaching a lot. We found some interesting and historic places in our own backyard. I'm digressing again...
With this post I encourage you to document your affections (obsessions) and collections. In my case it is a collection of photographs of silly large roadside statues (roadside kitsch). I like to note the date, location and any history of the piece, sometimes there is actual history. And if I can get in a photograph with it, I will. Any way that you can, get those pictures documented. They are doing you, nor anyone else, any good sitting on your phone or computer. Document using traditional scrapbooking, pocket pages such as Project Life by Becky Higgins or Memories & More by Stampin' Up! (a brand new product), or go digital. Just promise me you will get them documented. You will thank me one day for encouraging you to do it now!
Thank you for stopping by! Go and document your silly today! ~Sandy
Supplies: Project Life App and Explore Edition card collection.
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