PICTURE PERFECT FRIDAY ~ QUIRKY

      PICTURE PERFECT FRIDAY        

    Our Hostess this week is Heather!!! And she chose the great theme:   QUIRKY   If you want to get us out taking pictures (and I know you do), you did a good job with this theme! I left work yesterday morning just wanting to get home and get to bed!!! Talked to a friend on the phone who thought about the quirkiest thing in town was:   Moon Over Homewood   So downtown I headed in the rain... It did let up long enough for me to take the picture from a dangerous curve (as there was no place to park on the roadside).... I changed the picture to B%W in Picnik as the sky was not very colorful from the mist and the cloud cover. (Link below to other pictures people have taken of it.)         If you would like to view others or join in the fun click on the icon here:           Moon Over Homewood   Vulcan's buttocks showing from under his loincloth over the upper middle-class, over-the-mountain city of Homewood.  An Alabama DJ Jack Voorhies even sang a song on the radio, "Moon Over Homewood" (sorry can't find the lyrics or the music or I would have shared)                 A little History if you are interested!       The Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry. The 56-foot (17 m) tall statue depicts the Roman god Vulcan, god of the fire and forge. It was created as Birmingham's entry for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 World's Fair) in St. Louis, Missouri.  It is the seventh-tallest free-standing statue in the United States.

The Vulcan statue consists of 29 cast-iron components with connecting flanges that are  bolted together internally. The heaviest section is his whole head, which weighs 11,000 pounds (4,990 kg). Iron forge men designed and executed the connection details for the statue, which originally had no internal framework and was self-supporting. The grey iron castings were made in Birmingham entirely from locally-produced iron.  The completed weight of the god Vulcan's figure alone is 100,000 pounds (45,359 kg). When Vulcan's anvil, block, hammer, and spear point are added, the statue weighs a total of 120,000 pounds (54,431 kg) and it now stands on a pedestal that is 123 feet (37 m) tall. The statue has a chest circumference of 22 feet 6 inches (7 m) and a waist circumference of 18 feet 3 inches (6 m).

The Vulcan statue was eventually re-erected at the Alabama State Fairgrounds,  but the statue's arms were installed incorrectly, and the god was without his spear, which had been lost on the way from St. Louis.  

With nothing to hold in its hands, Vulcan soon became an advertising figure. Over the years, Vulcan held an ice cream cone, a Pepsi-Cola bottle, and even Heinz pickles. In the late 1920s, the statue was disassembled for inspection. During this time, children would often play around the disassembled statue. It was painted a flesh color and was reassembled in the early 1930s.

It was not until 1936 that the statue found a suitable home, thanks to the Works Progress Administration, which partially funded a new park in the city at the top of Red Mountain. A 126-foot (38.4 m) pedestal was built of local sandstone, and Vulcan was hoisted into place. A new spear was fabricated to be held high in his right hand while his left hand held a hammer at his side. Vulcan was repainted in an aluminum like finish. The statue's naked buttocks have been source of humor for many years. A novelty song, "Moon Over Homewood," refers to the fact that the statue "moons" the neighboring suburb of Homewood, Alabama.

1949 marked another strange time for Birmingham’s iron giant, though nowhere near as degrading as his stint in the 1930’s. A group of safety conscious individuals decided that Vulcan would be a wonderful symbol for traffic safety for the city of Birmingham. Once again Vulcan’s outstretched hand would come into use as he became the holder of a torch. This torch would shine green on good traffic days and shine red when someone died during a traffic accident. While originally planned as a short public service advertisement, the torch ultimately became a permanent fixture of the statue until it’s restoration in 1999. To this day you can visit Vulcan Center and view the torch, even pushing a button that will make it shine  green.

 

 

 

If you would like to see more pictures of Vulcan through the years and by several people, you can follow this link to flicker pictures:  http://www.flickr.com/groups/magic_city/pool/tags/vulcan/