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November 16, 2015 by tomdalzell

Gabby’s Paul Bunyan Collection

 

A few summers ago, our friend Gabby took the oldest daughter of his daughter Marie-Louise, on a three-week road trip that started in his hometown Nekoosa.  His parents were no longer alive, but his sisters all still live in Nekoosa and Wisconsin Rapids.

GL_Tribes_1760

The first theme of their road trip was the displacement and genocide of native American tribes of the Great Lakes region.

The second was Paul Bunyan.  Folklore is an interest of Gabby’s, especially worker folklore – John Henry, Gib Morgan, Joe Magarac, Pecos Bill, and Paul Bunyan.

Over the course of the three-week road trip, Gabby and Danielle learned a lot about the Great Lakes tribes and collected a lot of Paul Bunyan stuff.

A few weeks ago he taught Nicole one more lesson.  Yes, collecting is fun.  But yes, most collections need to Go Away before long. The two of them packed up the entire Paul Bunyan collection and sent it to my friend.

They found fewer figurines than they hoped for, but the haul wasn’t bad:

$_35 ptsbunyan656e s-l225 s-l1000PaulBunyan02Screen Shot 2015-11-12 at 5.59.21 AMptsbunyan656a 134536129_ispanky-paul-bunyan-and-his-ox-figurine-ebay 2891719 $_1

And snow domes / snow globes:

8e9425c91cc8452b02b4a1450c435276paul_bunyon_babe_brainerd_minn02paul_bunyon_babe_bimidji_minn3441953585_74cdf265fa41z-wyjHCmL._SX300_

And then maps with depictions of Paul:

mapMN1941 enhanced-buzz-19330-1428946923-9 8aa65e86c3cf1d1c48821b4f72f25512 $_35OtherZine_3PBL2131218_MAP_folk.jpg.CROP.original-original8332000

And comic books and comics:

the_adventures_of_paul_bunyan_by_blitzcadet-d36zdil 054a1979917588720cc95f78ee7604e8sam 73clydemightycomicMighty Bunyan7

And Gabby’s go-to media, postcards:

brainerdPaul bigpaul bigBabeW b_me_bangor_paul_65720 5234992840_6b1bcd9b33 16cec6bcab12f1cd7bbc77a540311641PaulBunyanPrint fishing_lin_paulbunyan postcard_8_by_10_paul_bunyan_brainerd 400 LUCKPOSTCARDS17472 paul-bunyanjpg-78df33bdf734a3b4 paul_bunyan_gas_station_bemidji_minnesota_1939_postcard-ree5cf8607de9401db59abd4e2491f12f_vgbaq_8byvr_1024rrfair05222010b Screen Shot 2015-11-10 at 6.52.20 AM Blind River, Ontario

Paul Bunyan Center Brainerd

6801684853_0acbe94dbc Paul-Bunyan-4 Trees of Mystery, Redwood Highway, California Blog-Paul-Bunyan-Bemidji 124074_max Rosevi9 Image (937) child Rosevi31 Bemidj43

Henry the Squirrel  Sport the Reversible Dog, Paul Bunyan Center Brainerd

6801684449_0a28fb9a2f 6279169931_af93e5de5a_b paulandbabe paulBemidji PBW1 e3259bc224f596b56edbf5046191c99b 4118321659_6338de376a_b Paul_Bunyan MNhibbingPaul MNpaulBunyanCountry 20140612_paulbunyan2_33 paul_bunyan_in_bangor_postcard-rd68c2298bb84409a96de7abc1f06ed83_vgbaq_8byvr_324 tumblr_l2g11cDKhg1qa49ego1_1280 PBL3 8205713642_39c9a7deb2_b tumblr_lgfdqyPODr1qbyf2jo1_1280 PBL1 Bemidji_BunyanandBabePostcard Screen Shot 2015-11-10 at 6.42.40 AM

Gabby also sent photos of a few of the places where they ate.

Milwaukee paulbunyanLoggng Camp All You Can Eat Wisconsin Dells

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Meals

And he sent a note saying what he would do the next time that he found himself in Coeur D’Alene:

Coeur D'Alene

Coer d'alene

I took my laptop to show my friend the draft of this post, made after all with the collection that Gabby had sent him.

s-l500

He was hanging a Robert Shaw  Sunburst/Atomic Starburst wall clock in his kitchen.  He found the clock at the Ashby BART flea market and was pretty excited about it.

He scrolled through the post and then flipped a photo for me to see.

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From his childhood, before things went off the tracks.  He stands here with his sisters and brother on a family vacation.  He remembers his Detroit childhood fondly, but does not remember this giant Paul Bunyan fondly.  “That giant freak freaking freaked me out” were his words.

What about Gabby’s collection, now his collection?

IMG_3677

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