Where Is The Largest Ball of Twine?

Cawker, Kansas, claims the world's largest ball of twine--no kidding! The ball originated with Frank Stoeber who started it in 1953 and in four years it grew to be 5,000 pounds and 8 feet high. It was donated to the city of Cawker in 1961. Kansas has not been on our destination map in all the years we have traveled but we always teased the kids when they were little that we would take them to see it--not really knowing it even existed.

Just what else is on that list of World's Largest? For that matter where is the list? A little searching turned up the World's Largest Things, Inc. website. And yes, there are t-shirts. But more importantly there's a whole list of the world's largest things in the United States. I see road-trip potential here.

For example, Kansas not only claims the world's largest ball of twine but Topeka claims the largest spur, Lawrence, the largest tepee and Oakley, the largest prairie dog. You might want to check some of these out first before gassing up the car. They are a little hokey.

But while we're on the topic, here are a few more I found interesting:

• Alama, Arkansas - spinach can
• Chico, California - yoyo
• Riverside, California - paper cup
• Wilmington, Delaware - ball of rubber bands (don't want to think about what would happen if this let loose!)
• Douglas, Georgia - cuckoo clock
• Stanton, Iowa - coffee pot and cup
• Boy's Town, Nebraska - ball of stamps (I want to know who licked them all?)

And the list goes on. . .

But wait! How does Ohio fair? Well, Newark, Ohio, has the world's largest basket thanks to the Loganberger basket people and Cleveland. . . .We have the world's largest ink stamp! And they said it was only art.