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Pink elephant. Talking cow. Potato masher. Visit the ‘world’s largest’ things of Wisconsin

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Pink elephant. Talking cow. Potato masher. Visit the ‘world’s largest’ things of Wisconsin

They say bigger is better and whole lot of people from around Wisconsin have taken it to heart.

Dozens of the world’s biggest things are scattered across Wisconsin. There is the world’s largest soup kettle in Laona, the world’s largest talking loon in Mercer and the world’s largest muskie sculpture in Hayward, not far from the spot where the world’s record muskie, a real one, was caught by Louie Spray in 1949.

Often these objects were created to promote an area, pay homage to a significant industry or commemorate a community victory. We’ve highlighted five more of the state’s world’s largest objects here. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, but they do reflect a certain kind of Wisconsin pride. Many of these things are related to the important role agriculture has had in the state’s history: A huge barn, a giant talking cow and a monster potato masher.

Pinkie the world’s largest pink elephant, DeForest

According to the World Record Academy, the world’s largest pink elephant statue stands tall on the property of a Shell gas station located just west of I-94 on Dane County V. The pink elephant has no official name, according to the information sign posted alongside the pastel pachyderm, but folks have taken to calling him “Pinkie.”

Pinkie is roughly 20-feet tall, and he sports heavy black eyeglasses of the kind worn by Vietnam War era soldiers. His hair is parted in the middle, like Alfalfa on “Little Rascals.” He’s been watching traffic flow on the freeway since the mid-to late ’60s, when the owner of the gas station at the time had him installed to lure in customers. Pinkie, and other elephants like him, were produced by Sculptural Advertisings in Sparta, according to the posted information.

These pink elephants got scattered around the Upper Midwest and beyond. One of the first was installed in front of a supper club in Marquette, Iowa. Others could be found at Arco gas stations. Still more beckoned people to visit car washes, antique malls and car dealerships in a handful of states.

“The Pink Elephant has had several owners over the years,” the sign said, “and has endured too much graffiti, but with each change of hands the Pink Elephant has been loved and cherished.”

World’s largest Round Barn, Marshfield

The members of the Central Wisconsin Holstein Breeders Association were big thinkers in the early 1900s. They set out to build a show barn and arena, and built a doozy. Paid for with funds from the Central Wisconsin State Fair Association, the Wood County Board and private donations, the barn is still used for its original purpose today.

According to the Central Wisconsin State Fair website, the barn was designed by W.W. Clark, and construction was done by Felhofer brothers, who bid $6,000 for the work. They started building the barn on Thanksgiving Day in 1915 and worked through the winter to complete the first phase of the project in the spring of 1916. The second floor was completed by 1917.

The diameter of the barn is 150 feet, and the cupola rises 70 feet. The wood used on this behemoth was white oak, red oak, hemlock and pine. Workers used 188,000 shingles on the roof, and when completed, the show ring had seating for about 1,000 people.

Why did the Central Wisconsin Holstein breeders opt for a round barn? It made for more efficient stanchion arrangements, especially for showing cows, according to a brochure titled “The World’s Largest Round Barn.” A round building is more wind resistant, stays cooler in warmer weather and has stronger walls.

World’s largest talking cow, Neillsville

Chatty Belle, the world’s largest talking cow, stands less than 30 miles from the world’s largest round barn, at 1201 Division St., Neillsville. Standing 16 feet tall and 20 feet long, the fiberglass Holstein was created for Wisconsin’s exhibit at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.

The futuristic Wisconsin Pavilion from the World’s Fair, looking as if it was dropped straight out of ” The Jetsons,” also stands not far from the big bovine. It houses the broadcasting center for the radio group Central Wisconsin Broadcasting.

Chatty Belle was named in 1967 by a first-grader from Loyal named Jody Hartl. Jody entered a contest held by Grassland Butter and Central Wisconsin Broadcasting, and she won 100 pounds of Grassland butter and a tour of the Grassland factory.

World’s largest potato masher, Plover

In keeping with Wisconsin’s agricultural themes, the world’s largest potato masher stands 38-feet, 11-inches tall over the flat fields of Central Wisconsin. The monster masher was designed to beckon visitors into Plover’s Food + Farm Exploration Center, a hands-on education family destination that teaches people about agricultural, food production and nutrition.

Located at 3400 Innovation Drive, the center features a kitchen lab, farm equipment exhibits and farm demonstration fields.

The center opened in December 2023, but the masher was erected months before that in May. “The potato masher honors the agriculture industry, growers, innovators, and consumers in a fun, unique way,” according to the center’s website.

World’s largest penny, Woodruff

The world’s largest penny is in Woodruff, a reminder that small towns can do big things. The penny is 15 feet tall, a foot thick and weighs 17,452 pounds, according to the World Record Academy. The penny is forever linked to Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb, the resilient doctor who practiced in the area in the ’40s and ’50s. She visited patients in the most inhospitable weather conditions, sometimes using snowshoes to make her rounds when roads were impassable for vehicles. Her dedication led to her nickname of “Angel on Snowshoes.”

In 1953 — the date on the penny — Pelham Newcomb started a fundraising effort to build a hospital in Woodruff. A group of the town’s high schoolers started a penny drive to help her in her efforts. The students ended up raising $17,000, and their efforts drew attention, which in turn led to Pelham Newcomb being invited to appear on the national television show, “This Is Your Life.” All the fame led to a successful fundraising effort. The penny is located adjacent to the Dr. Kate Museum (opened from mid-June until Labor Day) at 923 Second Ave.

Almost the world’s largest hex nut, Ashwaubenon

Terry Albrecht, the president and owner of Packer Fastener & Supply, had the world’s largest hex nut built in 2015 to commemorate the business, which sells and supplies nuts and bolts. “Nuts and bolts may be as dull as you get, but it all comes back to culture,” Albrecht once told the Green Bay Press Gazette. That culture features ideals such as hard work, generosity, delivering results and “keep it fun and positive.”

At 10-feet tall and 3.5 tons, the Packer Fastener hex nut exemplifies that spirit. But after five years of its installation, its title of “world’s largest” was usurped by copy-cat companies which created larger hex nuts, first in Slovenia in 2020, then in Texas in 2023. Albrecht was undaunted and pivoted with humor and a bit of swagger. The hex nut, which is located at 500 Pilgrim Way, is now billed as “the original world’s largest hex nut.” And a plaque in front of the piece explains that “when built in 2015, this hex nut became the 8th modern wonder of the world.”

Keith Uhlig has been writing about Wisconsin, its people and all it has to offer since 2000. Raised in Colby, he loves wandering around the state. He can be reached at kuhlig@gannett.com, and is on Facebook, X and Threads.

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