Videos

A Program About Unusual Buildings And Other Roadside Stuff

Produced in 2004, takes viewers around the United States to see structures in strange shapes - like the Big Duck on Long Island, a duck-shaped structure built in 1930 as a place to sell duck eggs; and the World's Largest Catsup Bottle built as a water tower in Collinsville, Illinois; and also the hot-dog- shaped Tail o' the Pup in West Hollywood, California. Yes, there are still some wacky and hey-look-at-that! buildings all over America, strange structures that attract kids and the curious. These buildings reflect an all-American sort of pride in the big, the unusual and the attention-grabbing.

"We celebrate primarily places that you can walk into," says Producer Rick Sebak. "Size wasn't as important to us as unusual shape. And we wanted to meet the folks who take care of these one-of-a-kind buildings that are the best kind of local landmarks as well as national treasures."

Some of the places are icons of American highway history, like the motel rooms in the shape of teepees (there are still three sets of them left in America), while others are new additions to the world of strange structures, like the building in the shape of an upside down building called WonderWorks along International Drive in Orlando, Florida. "We went to the Mother Goose house in Hazard, Kentucky, that's now a private residence and we visited many places like the Shoe House in York, Pennsylvania, the Frates Milk Bottle in New Bedford, Massachusetts. . . We learned to appreciate these unusual buildings as eccentric and loveable parts of the American landscape," says Sebak, "and we hope that this program-with-the-long-title will make people even more aware of the special status and rare beauty of these places that dare to be different."