Welcome to this weeks edition of Bruce on the Backroads. I have to say the muse has not been with me lately. I feel like the same things that stop us all from doing the things that we love have made writing a little difficult. Work, friends, family, relationships all are great parts of your life but also cause a certain amount of stress. It has been said by many people much smarter than I that you have to block time in you life for certain things, for instance going to the gym, which is the context in which I have heard this advise the most. I would say this is also true of adventure. I believe if you are the type of person that really loves adventure, as we do here at the Backroads, you need to find a way to block time to look for adventure. Try a new restaurant, see a play, be a tourist in your own city. I feel that the best way to support local business, and help people commercially is to keep finding new people, learn about the things that go on in the areas, and most importantly find some adventure.
Well that was plenty enough time on my soapbox now time to talk about this weeks Scavenger Hunt item. On a trip to Atlanta a few months back to see my fiancées family, we heard about this place he HAD to see. We HAD to see this place so much that her aunt sent us a greeting card with a single picture on it, it was a picture of The Big Chicken. That card looked almost like this picture that my fiancee Rocki Yost took while we were there.
Constructed in 1966 The Big Chicken was a new and unique answer to an age old problem, “How do I get people to come to my restaurant?” The man with the question was Tubby Davis owner of the Johnny Reb's in Marietta, GA and the man with the answer was Georgia Tech grad Hubert Puckett. The idea was that Johnny Reb's burgers were no longer an item that grabbed the public, however Tubby believed his chicken might do the trick and get his business back on track.
This is the point where as a person that loves these kinds of things, you can just not clearly tell where the initial idea of “Boy the chicken is good” lead to the final conclusion of “Let's build a 57 foot tall chicken with googly eyes and a moving beak.” However the idea was brainstormed, the conclusion was a 57 foot tall red chicken building built on Highway 120 and U.S. 41 (both big arteries) in Marietta. From this point on the locals used the Big Chicken as a landmark to give directions all over the area, and even as the building began to deteriorate they still used it as a major landmark the way anywhere else in the country we might use a stadium or theater to give directions. (“Go four blocks east of the Big Chicken, then take a left...”)
In 1993 the Big Chicken was in horrible disrepair and was going to be demolished. This upset the local community so much they petitioned the KFC franchise that was in the chicken to reconsider the idea of demolition. The final decision by the KFC franchise was to keep the Big Chicken and they even had a design vote to either change the chicken to a big white chicken that looked a big more feminine with big eyelashes, or to keep the building as it stood. The overwhelming response was to keep the building as it was, and as it still stands today.
This is another moment where I just love being an American. You can have your amber waves of grain and purple mountains majesty, the idea of a problem being solved with a 50 foot chicken with googly eyes and a moving beak makes me proud to be an American. This building is a five story tall monument to the creative thinking that spans from sea to shining sea. This is another example of why being in a country where this is a reasonable and acceptable idea is a unique experience that everyone should appreciate and experience was much as they can possibly manage.
On to the actual scavenger hunt item the plush Big Chicken. When you walk in the doors of the Big Chicken you will find your first disappointment, this is essentially the same KFC you can see anywhere in the country. The one cool thing you will notice is two support beams the run from the ceiling to the ground have feet at the bottom of them, which I think is very cute.
The other thing you will notice is a case of souvenirs, and they have some cute things, however the item to add to our scavenger hunt is the bean bag plush Big Chicken. This thing really is stunning on so many levels, but I think my feeling is best articulated by trying to recall the last time you saw a plush stuffed Brooklyn Bridge, Big Ben or Sears Tower. No one makes plush buildings, they just aren't cuddly. Clearly we have found the first of what I am sure are a small group of “cuddly buildings.”
So my friends I present you with this weeks Great U.S. Scavenger Hunt item, the plush stuffed bean bag replica of the Big Chicken in Marietta, GA.
If you have any questions or ideas please feel free to talk about them in the facebook group, or feel free to send a message to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Thank for reading, and remember… Read the Blog! Tell your Friends! Join the Facebook Group!
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