Ball of Twine

On Thursday, I drove from Salina, KS to Lincoln, with a brief detour to the charming town of Cawker City, Kansas. This town has the distinct honor of housing the World's Largest Ball of Twine.



And it is quite the majestic sight, too. Here it is!



As of 2006, its total length is 7,801,766 feet. That's 1,477 miles. That's approximately the distance between La Grande and Lincoln. That's freaky. It also weighs in at 17,886 pounds, or almost 9 tons.

Unlike in Seguin, TX, which seemed almost embarrassed to have a giant pecan on their courthouse lawn, the town of Cawker City is absolutely ga-ga over their ball of twine. There's twine this and twine that. For instance, here's a place to stay in Cawker City.



The most interesting part, I thought, were the pop art displays depicting balls of twine. For instance, here's a depiction of Stonehenge had it been constructed in Cawker City instead:



And, of course, two of the most famous paintings of all time, "American Gothic" and "Mona Lisa", Cawker City-style.





The ball of twine even has its own URL, although the website doesn't seem to be configured correctly (I get a 403 Forbidden error).



Additionally, the town has a "Twine Walk" where visitors may follow a squiggly yellow line on the sidewalk to various establishments that have a Ball of Twine theme to them (basically, all of them). And there is a "Twine-a-thon" in mid-August where the townsfolk add more twine to the ball.

Thus was my excursion into Twineland.