There are multiple claims to the world's biggest ball of twine record in the
United States. As of 2014, the ball of twine with the largest circumference is
located in Cawker City, Kansas. Largest ball of sisal twine built by a
community In Cawker City, Kansas, Frank Stoeber
created a ball that had 1.6 million feet of twine and 11-foot-diameter when he
died in 1974. Cawker City built an open-air gazebo over Stoeber's ball
where every August a "Twine-a-thon" is held and more twine is added to the
ball. By 2006, the twine ball had reached 8,111 kg, a circumference of 40
feet, and a length of 7,801,766 feet. In 2013, its weight was estimated at 19,973
pounds. In August 2014, the ball measures 41.42 feet in circumference,
8.06 feet in diameter and 10.83 feet in height, and it still growing.
Largest ball of sisal twine built by a single person
Darwin, Minnesota, is the home of a ball of baler twine rolled by Francis A.
Johnson. It is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 17,400 pounds. Johnson began
rolling the twine in March 1950, and wrapped four hours every day for 29
years. It is currently housed in an enclosed gazebo across from the town
park on Main Street at to prevent the public from touching it. The town
celebrates "Twine Ball Day" on the second Saturday in August every year. An
adjacent volunteer-run, free to visit museum and gift shop has information on
the history of the ball, as well as selling a variety of souvenirs. It was
the long-standing holder of the "biggest ball of twine" title in the Guinness
Book of World Records, holding the title from its completion in 1979 until 1994,
and was referenced by "Weird Al" Yankovic in his 1989 song "The Biggest
Ball of Twine in Minnesota." Heaviest twine ball
In Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin, James Frank Kotera claims to have made the
heaviest ball of twine ever built. He started it in 1979 and is still working.
Kotera estimates, by measuring the weight of each bag of twine that he
winds on, that the ball weighs 8,770 kg, making it the heaviest ball of twine
ever built. The ball is housed in an open-air enclosure in Kotera's lawn. The
ball has a smaller companion, "Junior", that is made of string.
Largest nylon twine ball In Branson, Missouri, a ball of nylon
twine built by J. C. Payne of Valley View, Texas, is on display in Ripley's
Believe It or Not museum. The ball, which measures 41.5 feet in
circumference, was certified as the world's largest ball of twine by the
Guinness Book of World Records in 1993. It is, however, the lightest of the four
contenders, weighing 12,000 pounds. Cultural references
"Weird Al" Yankovic's album UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and
Other Stuff has a song called "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota".
Although ostensibly about the ball in Darwin, Minnesota, Yankovic takes
artistic license with the statistics. In a case of life imitating art,
postcards that read "Greetings from the Twine Ball, wish you were here," a
fictitious invention of Yankovic's, are now an attraction in Darwin. The
Twineball Inn was a restaurant that has since closed.
Yankovic refers to the ball itself, and thus his previous work, in the video for
"White & Nerdy", wherein a Trivial Pursuit card which includes the question
"In what city is the largest ball of twine built by one man?" appears on
screen. The Sam & Max Hit the Road adventure
game by LucasArts includes a stop at a Biggest Ball of Twine, which is about 50
feet tall with a rotating restaurant on top - this fictional ball of twine is
located at Central Dis, Minnesota. An exhibit in the museum at its base claims
that its mass will eventually cause the Earth to gravitate towards the sun,
destroying the planet. When the characters look at the ball of twine,
the following exchange takes place: Sam: It's things like this that make me
wish I were Canadian. Docent: They've got one of these too,
but half of it's French. In one episode of Time Squad, George W.
Bush tries to lift the spirits of Americans by building the biggest ball
of twine. The Cawker City, Kansas ball of twine
was the subject of Garry Trudeau's comic strip, Doonesbury, on July 16, 2012.
References External links
The Battle to Be the World's Largest Ball of Twine, The Atlantic Magazine,
September 2014 Ripley's Believe It or Not! in Branson,
Missouri