• Thursday-What'sUP April 22 - 06:54 pm

Recently, Patti Gerbig, her daughter and several friends went on a road trip together and happened to leave and re-enter the U.P. in the border town of Ironwood. There are several welcoming symbols over there on the western end, including this Pure Michigan sign, which painted bright blue like that, makes me think of the PURE air we often boast of being able to breathe UP here. An even bigger greeting in the area, though, is Hiawatha, the 52 foot tall, 18,000 lb. Indian that stands there, guarding the town of Ironwood. Patti snapped a distant shot of the statue with her daughter and friends sitting on the feet of that giant man. It shows quite well how large that statue really is, because the girls look so tiny, you barely notice they're there. But then she zooms in on them, so we can see their smiling faces. I especially like Patti's last photo, since it gives a good perspective of the height of Hiawatha, just like you're standing there looking up at him yourself. Thanks for taking us along on your adventure, Patti (and girls)!

We enjoy snowmobiling in that area!

Recently travelled to Michigan, entering at the Indiana border. I
noticed the new Pure Michigan welcome sign there.

Those are some wild foot stools.

Is he attired as a Woodland or a Plains native American?

When I first saw the pictures,it reminded me of a little 15 minute show for kids called 'The Friendly Giant' that was on channel 9 in Detroit. It remind me of it because part of the intro to the show has the giant saying, 'look up, look wayyyyyyyyy up'. ;O) fond memories

Wow!, Mickill... thanks for giving me that memory back. I had forgotten about the friendly giant. How could I have forgotten "Look up.. Look way up.! You are right, fond memories. =0)

Therese, He is an amalgamation of types. Remember 1964 was the era of the TV western (Bonanza, Big Valley, etc), and an Indian was an Indian to most folks. The stereotypical Indian had a war bonnet and a vest, so that was what Americans thought an Indian looked like. As a representative depiction of what Hiawatha would have looked like, it is a pretty poor example. As a piece of Americana, it is really pretty cool. I am a sucker for these types of things. I used to love the big Paul Bunyan in Manistique before age and wind took him down.

Theresa:

Do you remember the little 15 minute show that came on after the friendly giant? It was all in french? I do not remember the name of that one.

Does anybody remember when the Michigan border signs used to say "Say YES to Michigan!"?

Love the new Michigan sign. The first time I saw it, I had to take a picture of it also!!

Reminiscent of two other signs: "You are now breathing the most vitalizing air on earth" upon entering the Keweenaw, and, upon entering Houghton, "End of Earth 2, Houghton 4."

Chez Hélène was the following program I believe, with the English speaking mouse Susy.

These flashbacks are a hoot. I thought of a commercial that played years ago and all I can remember is the last four digits of the phone number. It was in a foreign language and the announcer said; “oyshum-oyshum, zero-zero" (I know that is incorrect spelling.)

James: Does anybody remember when the Michigan border signs used to say "Say YES to Michigan!"?

Yes, and "say YA to da UP, eh!" bumper stickers! :)

Love the pictures. I lived in Gogebic County for several years, so I'm very familiar with the Hiawatha statue.

I sold a gazillion Say Yes to Michigan shirts back in early 80s. The funny part is that I don't have a Say Yes to Michigan shirt of my own. Sigh.

JAD, I like your Houghton sign...reminds me of when we lived in North Dakota. The 'saying' out there was "N.D. may not be the end of the earth, but you can see it from here.":)