We are now in Springfield, Missouri, and it has to be said – that’s 24 hours from Tulsa. We have never been to Tulsa, but we have been 24 hours from Tulse Hill (that’s in South London for our overseas readers). But we are not alone. According to British DJ Tony Blackburn who interviewed the singer of that memorable song, Gene Pitney had never been to Tulsa either!
Our journey today was 250 miles, taking some six hours. We took the main I-44 interstate highway for much of the journey, but thanks to SatNav we were able to head over to Route 66 to view the Big Rocker in Fanning. Many things along Route 66 are big, and this did not fail to impress.
The Big Rocker (rocking chair) was created by a guy named Danny Sanazaro to attract people to his archery and feed store. He had heard of a 34-foot-tall rocker in Franklin, Indiana, called Big John and he thought it would be a fun idea to beat this.
A friend, John Bland, designed the chair and the owner of a local welding company, Joe Medwick, created it. The end result was a 27,500 pound rocker, 42 feet high and painted red. It was erected on April Fool’s Day 2008. Some say it cost $78,000 to produce.
Once a year Sanazaro would hire a hoist to lift visitors to sit on the chair’s 20-foot wide seat. To be granted a Guinness World Record the rocking chair had to rock, but it soon became clear that this rocking could have disastrous results and hence it was welded in place so it did not tip over with visitors’ exuberance.
By 2015, a 56-foot rocker was established in Illinois, and since then the Fanning rocker has fallen into second place.
Sanazaro subsequently sold the site, and today (now painted black) it sits alongside a pleasant snacks and souvenirs store with most welcoming staff, some attractive artistry, the largest selection of popcorn flavours we have ever seen, and rather tasty fudge.
So tomorrow it is on to Oklahoma City via Tulsa, more than 300 miles. We are hoping the torrential rain which made driving so difficult in the latter part of our journey today may have lifted.
Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022