Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s the Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, Minnesota

Partially out of curiosity, and partially out of the need to break up a long, boring drive down I-35 between Minneapolis and Kansas City, I made a detour.

At Albert Lea, Minnesota, I headed west on I-90 for about 40 miles out of my way. Why?

I wanted to see the Green Giant Statue in Blue Earth, Minnesota.

The small, (population 3,236) southern Minnesota city of Blue Earth gets its name from the Blue Earth River that surrounds the town. Blue-black clay soil is found in the river’s banks.

Blue Earth, I learned, is also the center point of the 3,020.54 mile-long Interstate Highway 90 (I-90) that runs across the United States from Seattle to Boston. In 1978, construction teams working from the east and west met here to lay the final mile of I-90. As a tribute, there is a golden stripe of paint on the shoulder portions of the roadway at Blue Earth, and details describing this special segment of I-90 pavement can be found at the Blue Earth rest areas.

Why is this Giant in Blue Earth, Minnesota?

Blue Earth also has a long history with the Green Giant company. Peas and corn are still grown and canned in Blue Earth.

In 1978,  local businesses donated money to have a statue of the Jolly Green Giant created to coincide with the Interstate 90 dedication. The 55 ft tall giant cost $43,000 to manufacture. He arrived on a flat bed truck two days before the dedication, and was hoisted in a sling by a 65-ft crane to oversee the event.

The 8,000-pound fiberglass statue was completed and placed in his current location off Giant Drive in Blue Earth on July 6, 1979.

Every winter the Green Giant is draped with a red scarf. This pays homage to the 1961 Green Giant logo when the company first entered the frozen food market.

Visiting the Green Giant is free, and visitors can get a close-up view of the statue’s back side by climbing the stairs at the back of the monument.

What’s the history of the Green Giant?

The Minnesota Valley Canning Company first introduced the “Green Giant Great Big Tender Peas” brand in 1925 in response to the discovery of a new variety of pea that were huge compared to other pea varieties. The original Green Giant mascot was a scowling caveman wearing a bearskin rather than foliage.

In 1935, when a young copywriter named Leo Burnett revised the brand icon, trading the bearskin for a leafy suit, giving the Giant a smile, and putting the word ‘Jolly’ in front of the Giant’s name. The Jolly Green Giant made his first television appearances in 1954, while the booming “Ho, ho, ho” became the Giant’s signature tagline in 1961.

In 1972 the Little Green Sprout was introduced to represent the consumer. In Blue Earth, the Little Sprout character decorates a water-collection barrel.

I learned about the location of the Green Giant through the Atlas Obscura website that promises to help you “discover 9,743 curious places—in your neighborhood and around the world.” The website is a terrific source of random, fun and often bizarre places to visit.

Now there’s a book

Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders

Have you visited the Green Giant Statue in Blue Earth, Minnesota?