1940s Paul Bunyan and Babe
Ossineke, Michigan
Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox were built out of colorful concrete in the 1940s by Paul N. Domke (1886-1981), who also built the giant creatures at the nearby Dinosaur Gardens Prehistoric Zoo. According to the back of an old postcard, Bunyan is 25.5 feet tall and weighs 11.5 tons; Babe is 10.5 feet tall and weighs 4.5 tons. Paul has especially overinflated shoulders and biceps, the result, no doubt, of his prodigious tree-chopping.
Bunyan has a loudspeaker in his shirt pocket, long silent, but at one time likely connected to the Look Out Inn tavern that stood across the street. Small children may have been traumatized -- or at least confused -- by the occasional slurs of a boozy Bunyan. We were told that in the 1950s a drunk shot off Babe's balls, and a week later the same gun was used in a murder! Babe's balls were never replaced.
At some point Bunyan and Babe were moved from Ossineke to Lookout Hill in the town of Spruce, then in June-July 2006 they were trucked back to their original spot (minus the tavern), which had been developed into a roadside park. At the base of the statue we found this inscription: "It is a misdemeanor to deface or climb on Paul Bunyan or Babe."