In most places, a giant boot might send a message of get out! But in Gibsonton, Fla., it couldn't be more welcoming.
This morning, the town will unveil a monument featuring the colossal boot of one of its most famous and well-liked residents, Al Tomaini. He reportedly stood 8 feet 4 inches tall.
The granite base of the memorial matches the giant's height, and with the replica of his boot on top, the structure will tower at 11 feet 1 inch tall.
Positioned along Highway 41, just south of Tampa, it will greet drivers at the same site where Tomaini and his wife, Jeanie the half girl (who measured 2 feet 6 inches) built a restaurant and fishing cabins alongside the Alafia River in the 1950s. They called it the Giant's Camp. Tomaini's friend, a three-legged man named Francisco Lentini, suggested the name.
Billed as The World's Most Unusual Married Couple, the Tomainis moved to Gibsonton after a career in the circus and sideshow. In addition to building the camp, the giant also organized the town's first fire department and served as its chief.
Other show folks joined them in the winter and began retiring there. Land was cheap and zoning laws allowed for residential show business, making it convenient for trailers and carnival equipment.
Soon, the little town was filled with curious characters, including bearded ladies, alligator-skinned men, giants, little people, fat men, fat ladies, and others.
Being different was the norm. And Gibsonton became known as Freaktown, USA.
Tomaini passed away at the age of 50 in 1962, but Jeanie persevered and continued to operate the Giant's Camp for decades until her own death in 1999, just weeks before her 83rd birthday.
In 2007 the surviving Tomaini family sold the property to a phosphate company, Mosaic, and all but one cabin was cleared away. The boot, which had deteriorated over the years, eventually disappeared, too.
Read more: http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/a...t-for-8-foot-4-inch-giant-al-tomaini/19652729
This morning, the town will unveil a monument featuring the colossal boot of one of its most famous and well-liked residents, Al Tomaini. He reportedly stood 8 feet 4 inches tall.
The granite base of the memorial matches the giant's height, and with the replica of his boot on top, the structure will tower at 11 feet 1 inch tall.
Positioned along Highway 41, just south of Tampa, it will greet drivers at the same site where Tomaini and his wife, Jeanie the half girl (who measured 2 feet 6 inches) built a restaurant and fishing cabins alongside the Alafia River in the 1950s. They called it the Giant's Camp. Tomaini's friend, a three-legged man named Francisco Lentini, suggested the name.
Billed as The World's Most Unusual Married Couple, the Tomainis moved to Gibsonton after a career in the circus and sideshow. In addition to building the camp, the giant also organized the town's first fire department and served as its chief.
Other show folks joined them in the winter and began retiring there. Land was cheap and zoning laws allowed for residential show business, making it convenient for trailers and carnival equipment.
Soon, the little town was filled with curious characters, including bearded ladies, alligator-skinned men, giants, little people, fat men, fat ladies, and others.
Being different was the norm. And Gibsonton became known as Freaktown, USA.
Tomaini passed away at the age of 50 in 1962, but Jeanie persevered and continued to operate the Giant's Camp for decades until her own death in 1999, just weeks before her 83rd birthday.
In 2007 the surviving Tomaini family sold the property to a phosphate company, Mosaic, and all but one cabin was cleared away. The boot, which had deteriorated over the years, eventually disappeared, too.
Read more: http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/a...t-for-8-foot-4-inch-giant-al-tomaini/19652729
