Giants of the Prairies explained

The Giants of the Prairies are a group of "world's biggest" roadside attractions found in Western Canada, especially in small towns populated mostly by Ukrainian Canadians.

List

Attraction	Community	Province	Image	Date Constructed
World's Largest Badminton Racket	St. Albert	Alberta		2000^[1]
World's Largest Beaver	Beaverlodge	Alberta		2004
World's Largest Bee	Falher^[2]	Alberta		1990^[3]
World's Largest Honey Bee	Tisdale^[4]	Saskatchewan		1993
Aaron the Blue Heron^[5]	Barrhead	Alberta		1984
World's Largest Border Markers	Lloydminster	Alberta and Saskatchewan		1994^[6]
World's Largest Bucking Saddle Bronc and Rider, "The Legacy"	Ponoka	Alberta		2004^[7]
World's Largest bunnock	Macklin	Saskatchewan		1994^[8]
World's Largest Curling Rock	Arborg^[9]	Manitoba		2005^[10]
World's Largest Coke Can	Portage la Prairie	Manitoba		1994^[11]
World's Largest Chuckwagon	Dewberry	Alberta		1995^[12]
	Drumheller	Alberta		2001
World's Largest Fire Hydrant	Elm Creek^[13]	Manitoba		2001^[14]
World's Largest Animated Grizzly Bear	Innisfail^[15]	Alberta		2013^[16]
Goose Statue^[17]	Hanna	Alberta
World's Largest Golf Tee	Trochu^[18]	Alberta		2009^[19]
World's Largest kielbasa		Alberta		2001^[20]
World's Largest Mallard Duck	Andrew	Alberta		1992^[21]
World's Largest Mosquito	Komarno	Manitoba
World's Largest Mushroom	Vilna	Alberta
World's Largest Oil Can	Rocanville^[22]	Saskatchewan
World's Largest Oil Derrick	Redwater	Alberta
World's Largest Oil Lamp	Donalda	Alberta
World's Largest painting on an easel (reproduction of Van Gogh's Sunflowers)	Altona	Manitoba		1998
World's Largest Piggy Bank	Coleman	Alberta
World's Largest Putter	Bow Island	Alberta
World's Large Pinto Bean, "Pinto Macbean"	Bow Island	Alberta
Giant Sunflower	Bow Island	Alberta
Giant Prairie Crocuses	Daysland	Alberta
World's Largest Softball, "Susie"	Chauvin	Alberta
World's Largest Railroad Spike	Hines Creek^[23]	Alberta
World's Largest Sundial	Lloydminster	Alberta and Saskatchewan
World's Tallest Teepee	Medicine Hat	Alberta
World's Largest Wagon Wheel and Pick	Fort Assiniboine	Alberta
World's Largest Western Boot	Edmonton	Alberta
Giant Baseball	Edmonton	Alberta
Giant Horse		Alberta
David Thompson Monument	Lac La Biche	Alberta
Giant Pumpkin	Smoky Lake	Alberta
World's First UFO Landing Pad	St. Paul	Alberta
	Glendon	Alberta
Giant Vegreville egg (Pysanka)		Alberta		1975
Giant potatoes	Vauxhall	Alberta
	Vulcan	Alberta
	Torrington	Alberta
	Gladstone	Manitoba		1993
Canada's Largest Baseball Bat	Battleford^[24]	Saskatchewan
Canada's Largest Baseball Glove	Heisler^[25]	Alberta
Canada's Largest Buffalo	Wainwright	Alberta
Canada's Largest Dragonfly	Wabamun^[26]	Alberta
World's Largest Moose, "Mac the Moose"	Moose Jaw	Saskatchewan
Battle between Bear and Swan	Swan Hills	Alberta
Giant Skunk, "Squirt"	Beiseker	Alberta
Alberta's Largest Northern Pike	Rochon Sands	Alberta
Giant Cornstalks	Taber	Alberta
Giant Pinecone	St. Albert	Alberta
Giant Walleye	Shaw's Point	Alberta
Giant Crow	Bellevue	Alberta
Giant Black Diamond	Turner Valley	Alberta
World’s Largest Fishing Lure	Lacombe	Alberta
Canada's Largest Turtle, "Ernie"	Turtleford	Saskatchewan		1983^[27]

In popular culture

These attractions are referenced in the Kubasonics song "Giants of the Prairies".

The phenomenon was parodied in the sixth episode of the first season of Corner Gas, "World's Biggest Thing". Wherein one of the characters proposes the construction of the "world's biggest hoe" to draw in tourism to the town of Dog River, leaving some citizens unaware of the double entendre the name elicits.^[28]

References

• Web site: Unusual Attractions . Travel Alberta . 2007-02-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070805083523/http://www1.travelalberta.com/en-north/index.cfm?pageid=423 . 2007-08-05 . dead .
• Big Things
• Alberta Big Tour
• World's Largest and Large Things, Google map
• Canada's Largest Baseball Glove

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2022-09-02 . Going big on the road . 2024-09-02 . St. Albert Gazette . en.
2. Web site: World's Largest Bee. roadsideattractions.ca. 2018-05-08.
3. Web site: World's Largest Bee . 2024-09-02 . Mighty Peace Tourism . en-US.
4. Web site: World's Largest Honey Bee. roadsideattractions.ca. 2018-05-08.
5. Web site: TChizma . History of Barrhead . 2024-09-02 . www.barrhead.ca . en.
6. Web site: Border Markers . 2024-09-02 . www.lloydminster.ca . 23 May 2023 . en.
7. Web site: World’s Largest Bucking Saddle Bronc and Rider. 2024-09-02 . Travel Alberta.
8. Web site: Matejko . Agnieszka . 2023-07-17 . Big Art, Big Smiles . 2024-09-02 . Galleries West . en-ca.
9. Web site: World's Largest Curling Rock. roadsideattractions.ca. 2018-05-08.
10. Web site: Arborg, MB, Canada - World's Largest Curling Stone . 2024-09-02 . RoadsideAmerica.com . en.
11. Web site: Did you know this about Portage la Prairie's iconic Coke can? . 2024-09-02 . PortageOnline.
12. Web site: Chuckwagon of Dewberry, Alberta . 2024-09-02 . www.bigthings.ca.
13. Web site: World's Largest Fire Hydrant. roadsideattractions.ca. 2018-05-08.
14. Web site: Historic Sites of Manitoba: Elm Creek Fire Hydrant (Elm Creek, RM of Grey) . 2024-09-02 . www.mhs.mb.ca.
15. Web site: World's Largest Animated Grizzly Bear. roadsideattractions.ca. 2018-05-08.
16. Web site: 2013-08-01 . Giant metal bear mascot a dream come true . 2024-09-02 . Red Deer Advocate . en.
17. Web site: Dalene . 2017-07-17 . Travelling in Alberta: An Offbeat Roadside Attractions Road Trip . 2024-09-03 . Hecktic Travels . en-US.
18. Web site: World's Largest Golf Tee. roadsideattractions.ca. 2018-05-08.
19. Web site: World's Largest Tee – Town of Trochu . 2024-09-02 . en-US.
20. Web site: The World's Largest Sausage . 2024-09-02 . Atlas Obscura . en.
21. Web site: Andrew, AB, Canada - World's Largest Mallard Duck . 2024-09-02 . RoadsideAmerica.com . en.
22. Web site: World's Largest Oil Can. roadsideattractions.ca. 2018-05-08.
23. Web site: World's Largest Railroad Spike. roadsideattractions.ca. 2018-05-08.
24. Web site: Canada's biggest baseball bat arrives home in Battleford CBC News.
25. Web site: Alberta's Premier Village: Village of Heisler .
26. Web site: World's Largest Dragonfly . 2018-05-08 . roadsideattractions.ca.
27. Web site: Don Foulds biography. Saskatchewan Network for Art Collecting. 2024-09-04.
28. Book: Paquet . Laura Byrne . Wanderlust: A Social History of Travel . 1 January 2007 . Goose Lane Editions . 978-0-86492-606-7 . 264 . 12 September 2023 . But perhaps the most outrageous roadside statue ever proposed was never actually built. In probably my favourite episode of the sitcom Corner Gas, a small group of civic-minded souls in fictitious Dog river, Saskatchewan, are sitting in the local diner brainstorming ideas for a new roadside attraction that will inspire drivers to stop in the little town. What’s unique about Dog river? they ask each other. Well, it’s a rural community, so they decide their “world’s biggest thing” should be a farm implement. they discuss various options and finally settle on a hoe. But it shouldn’t be a shiny, new-looking hoe, someone says. Dog river is a hardworking town, after all. It should have clumps of earth on it and look as though it’s been well used. What the town needs, the mayor’s grandmother concludes, is “a big dirty cracked hoe.”.