Statue of Liberty Crown to Reopen

Beginning July 4, the public will once again be allowed to climb up into the crown of the Statue of Liberty. The entire statue was closed for security reasons after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The base and other areas have since reopened, but the crown and spiral staircase remained closed. About 30 people an hour will be able to visit the crown at a time. New security measures and improvements eventually will enable about 200,000 people a year to get inside Lady Liberty's head and the view from small windows. Presented to America by the people of France in 1886, the statue sits on 12-acre Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It is just over 305 feet tall from the ground to the top of the torch flame. The crown has 25 windows and seven spikes. National Public Radio recently found Seven Obscure Facts About the Statue Of Liberty.

Spike Meaning - Do the seven spikes represent the seven seas and seven continents of the world? That’s the explaination according to the Web sites of the National Park Service and the Statue of Liberty Club. However, "That's not true," says Barry Moreno, author of The Statue of Liberty Encyclopedia and the park's official librarian. The spikes are sun rays, he says, and the circle is "simply a halo or what in art is called a nimbus, showing she is divine." He adds that the Web site needs to be changed.

Weight, Weight, Don't Tell Me! - The statue is fashioned from copper atop an undergirding of steel. The copper in the statue weighs 31 tons, the steel weighs 125 tons and the concrete foundation is 27,000 tons.

Do Not Torch -The statue's torch has been closed to the public since the "Black Tom" explosions in 1916. German agents sabotaged a munitions depot on a nearby island on July 30, 1916, and shrapnel damaged the statue's torch and skirt. Today, members of the National Park Service must scale a 40-foot ladder to maintain the floodlights in the torch.

Winds of Change - When the wind blows 50 miles an hour, the statue sways three inches and the torch shifts five inches.

Give Me Liberty and Give Me Death - Though the statue symbolizes hope and optimism to millions, it has been the setting for at least three suicides over the years, says Moreno. He believes the first may have been in 1929, when a young fellow, turned down by his girlfriend, threw himself from the crown. In 1997, the New York Daily News reported that a 30-year-old man from Senegal plunged 100 feet to his death. "All indications are that it was a suicide," said Manny Strumpf, the National Park Service spokesman at the time. There have been no murders that Moreno is aware of, but there was a 2006 novel titled Murder at the Statue of Liberty by Manny Strumpf.

Liberty Goes Hollywood - Besides showing up at the beginning of every Columbia Pictures production, the Statue of Liberty has starred in films since cinema's early days. Charlie Chaplin featured it in his 1917 film The Immigrant. And Alfred Hitchcock used the statue as a backdrop for his 1942 feature film The Saboteur.

The Statue's Trident - Vandalism is a perennial problem, park service officials say. When the crown was open, people stuck chewing gum everywhere and wrote their names with lipstick.

If you go to Liberty Island, be sure to also check out the miniature building sculptures there too. Check out my other Liberty posts as well here.

Liberty Building: Buffalo NY

Building Collector reader Mike M. reminded me of another large Statue of Liberty replica -- two in fact. The distinctive features of the 23-story, Liberty Building in Buffalo, N.Y., are twin Statue of Liberties created by sculptor Leo Lentelli. Standing tall on stepped pyramids, one statue faces west and the other east, representing Buffalo's once strategic location for trade and shipping along the Great Lakes. Built in 1925, the Liberty Building was first erected as headquarters for Liberty Bank and is now an office tower owned by the Main Liberty Group. Originally, three of the building’s name-sake statues adorned the structure including one over the Main Street entrance. However, only the 36-foot-tall rooftop statues remain today. Ms. Liberty’s torches are illuminated with 1,000-watt light bulbs. See more Statues of Liberty.

Statue of Liberty Souvenirs are all in the Family

The souvenir shop on Liberty Island is a third-generation family business.  Check out this fun article I discovered from 2009 in the Downtown Express, a newspaper in Manhattan.  How many of the Statue of Liberty souvenir pictured in this family photos to you own?  Here’s part of the article:   “The first private concession on Liberty Island for tourists opened in 1931 by the current owner’s Grandmother. Brad Hill’s father was born on the island. And Hill has spent more days in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty than he can count, especially since he joined his family’s concessions business full-time 28 years ago. But no matter how many times Hill, 53, has stood at the base of the Statue of Liberty looking up at the sea-green arm stretching skyward, the sight never gets old. “I’m not jaded at all,” Hill said as he walked the island’s breezy perimeter on a recent afternoon. “It’s still a special place to me.” Hill’s concession business, called Evelyn Hill, Inc. after his grandmother, has come a long way in the 78 years since it started as an outdoor table covered in small statue replicas and letter openers. Today, the 3.25 million people who visit the statue annually shop at Evelyn Hill’s indoor gift shop, stacked floor to ceiling with memorabilia, and eat in Evelyn Hill’s cafe, which serves T.G.I. Fridays-style food. Hill has put a green spin on his family business’s operations, diverting over 75 percent of the island’s trash into recycling.”  Of course today, they also have an online shop.

Ms. Liberty’s Star

Normally a common souvenir to find, Statue of Liberty replicas can sometimes have variations which make them a bit more unusual and interesting. I bought this one because the souvenir building replica includes the star-shaped structure which surrounds Ms. Liberty. The real statue stands upon a granite pedestal inside the courtyard of the star-shaped walls of Fort Wood (which was originally built for the War of 1812.) The United States Lighthouse Board had responsibility for the operation of the Statue of Liberty until 1901. After that, care and operation of the Statue was placed under the War Department. A Presidential Proclamation declared Fort Wood (and the Statue of Liberty within it) a National Monument on October 15th, 1924 and the monument's boundary was set at the outer edge of Fort Wood. In 1933, the administration of the National Monument was transferred to the National Park Service. On September 7, 1937, jurisdiction was enlarged to encompass all of Bedloe's Island and in 1956, the island's name was changed to Liberty Island. Do you have an uncommon replica of a typically common souvenir?

Statue of Liberty Creators

The creators of the Statue of Liberty still stand on Liberty Island. During a trip to the island, I noticed a series of sculptures of the men holding metal replicas of their most famous works. They are commemorated in bronze statues created by Sculptor Phillip Ratner. Gustave Eiffel designed the iron skeleton for Ms. Liberty. Eiffel was a master of elegantly constructed wrought-iron lattices, which also formed the basis of his bridges and his name-sake, the Eiffel Tower. Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor who designed the statue and the face of the Liberty is said to be that of his mother. Richard Morris Hunt designed the pedestal on which Lady Liberty stands.

Souvenirs Save Stature of Liberty

The people of France and Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi were prepared to give the U.S. a grand and colossal statue in recognition of their friendship established during the American Revolution. However, Miss Liberty had no place to stand and welcome those arriving in NY harbor. America was responsible for building a granite pedestal, but little money had been raised for the project. In 1885, Publisher Joseph Pulitzer spearheaded an effort to raise money by selling…you guessed it, souvenir buildings. The American Committee of the Statue of Liberty sold what they called "miniature statuettes” in both 6 and 12 inch sizes which sold for $1and $5 respectively. Described as "a perfect facsimile of the model furnished by the artist," at least fifty thousand of the six-inch were produced. Even though so many were produced, this souvenir replica of the statue of Liberty is still somewhat scarce due to its age. Standing 7.25 inches tall, the liberty figure is bronze, the base I believe is lead and the platform is sheet steel inscribed with "LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD"

Liberty Memorial Tower Souvenir

The National World War I Museum in Kansas City is offering a replica of the Liberty Memorial Tower on their online gift store. The resin tower measures 8 inches tall and costs $26. Fellow building collector Dick B. alerted me to this available souvenir. The Liberty Memorial, located in Kansas City, Missouri houses the The National World War I Museum, as designated by the United States Congress in 2004. The real World War I Memorial Tower stands 217ft tall. Architect Harold Van Buren Magonigle designed the Beaux Arts Classicism, Egyptian Revival style tower. It was dedicated on November 11, 1926, by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. The Liberty Memorial houses the official World War I museum of the United States. Among other landscaping, its grounds include two large sphinx sculptures, the centerpiece 217-foot (66 meter) tower and the museums around and under the tower. Commensurate with the memorial's congressional designation as the "national" memorial and museum, a new, much larger museum opened in 2006 beneath the main memorial to form a huge museum complex. The Memorial and Monument are managed by a non-profit organization in cooperation with the Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners. On September 21, 2006, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne declared Liberty Memorial a National Historic Landmark. This would make a great compainion piece to the Astronomers Monument souvenir.

Chocolate Architecture

If you celebrate Easter, budding architecture fans would be delighted to find not only chocolate bunnies in their Easter basket, but a chocolate building or statue as well. Children and those who are a child-at-heart, can appreciate eatable architecture. Check out some examples below of tasty towering treats.

Chocolate Statue of Liberty - Confectioners put final touches on the 13-foot tall Chocolate Statue of Liberty created using 2.5 tons of chocolate in Paris in 1986. The chocolate lady liberty is made from a mold by French artist Auguste Bartholdi, who designed the real Statue of Liberty.

Chocolate Castle - Visitors look at a 6-foot-long, 2-foot-tall chocolate replica of the Smithsonian Castle at the Ripley Center in Washington, D.C. The confectionary creation was produced in 1996 when The Smithsonian Institution was celebrating its 150th birthday.

Chocolate Notre Dame - Ron Rivers, a visitor at the New York Chocolate Show, inspects a 12-foot-high chocolate replica of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral in 2000. The sculpture was made by the Choc Expo team of architects, model makers and pastry chefs.

Chocolate Pagoda - Visitors look at a chocolate pagoda during the Chocolate Show which gathers chocolate makers from all over the world in Paris, 2004.

Chocolate White House - White House pastry chef Bill Yosses shows First Lady Laura Bush a white chocolate White House in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington in 2007.

Statue of Liberty...in Paris

We all know the Statue of Liberty. "Liberty Enlightening the World" was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States to commemorate the 100th anniversary of American independence. In fact, there are three Lady Liberty statues. The most famous stands at the entrance of New York harbor . . . a 151-foot statue of a woman holding a book and a torch on-high. Another, smaller statue casts her gaze from Swan Ally Island in the Seine River near the Grenelle Bridge in Paris. A third SOL stands among the flower gardens and fountains of Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens, which is home to the French Senate. This one is the original ‘life size’ cast created by architect and sculptor Frédéric Auguste Batholdi. She’s about 15 feet high on her pedestal and purveys the garden’s flowers and trees.

Human Statue of Liberty

The year was 1918. The place, Camp Dodge in Des Moines, Iowa. Eighteen thousand soldiers gathered on an open field with one purpose…to use their bodies to form an image of the Statue of Liberty. Like the pointillism painting style or pixels in a digital camera, the men together make up pieces of the image with their location and clothing color. With Col. William Newman commanding and Col. Rush S. Wells directing, the men collaborated to form an enduring image of Ms. Liberty. It’s no small effort to create an image so large. As the group stretches farther away, the perspective changes and more men are needed to complete the image. Photographers Arthur Mole & John Thomas of Chicago created the image and many others. The Lady Liberty photograph was part of a promotional campaign to sell war bonds during World War I.

Statue of Liberty From Original Bartholdi Mold

For just $1.1 million, you can own a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Already have one you say? Not this replica. For this lofty price you get a replica made from the original plaster sculpture that Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi used to create the Statue of Liberty. Standing roughly nine feet tall instead of 151 feet tall for the lady in the harbor. The plaster model is from the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris where It has been since Bartholdi’s widow bequeathed it in 1907. But now, as reported by the New York Times, a French art dealer has been able to scan the delicate lady without harm and produce a limited number of bronze casts. Two have been sold already.

Antiques Roadshow Washington D.C. Report

Earlier this year, when I heard the Television show, Antiques Roadshow, was planning a summer visit to Washington D.C. for a taping, I just had to go. We signed up online a few months ago and were lucky enough to win the lottery for free tickets. It was a great deal because, while standing in line, someone told us he made a donation of $400 to PBS to get tickets for the appraisal event. I also found out 23,000 people signed up and vied for only 5,000 allowed tickets for entry. For 14 years, Antiques Roadshow appraisers have been discovering hidden treasures in American's attics and revealing the finds on the PBS TV show. The organizers did a great job with our assigned-time tickets and keep the line moving inside the Washington Convention Center. We waited in the serpentining line for and hour and 45 minutes and chatted with others who brought a plethora of antique items to be appraised. One woman inched along atop a vintage metal peddle car which she used herself as a child. A man carried an antique print for which he claimed to have paid $10,000. Another man jokingly offered anyone who would listen big money for their items. Daniel V. said, "This is actually like show-and-tell for adults." As we approached the show floor, we described our items - only 2 per person allowed - and got tickets to specific item categories: collectables, furniture, paintings, Sports memorabilia and so on. Naturally, I bought some souvenir buildings and was sent to the collectables table for an appraisal. After another short line, we arrived at the table and I displayed the buildings I brought. I chose two miniature architectural replicas from my collection which were antique and had stories behind them. The Statue of Liberty I brought was originally sold for $1 to raise money to fund the construction of Ms. Liberty's base. The original Union Dime Savings Bank is very rare and made by Rehberger. Our appraiser, however, didn't think much of them. "You and get these Statue of Liberty's all over New York." He said. When I told him the history behind this miniature statue, he didn't seem too impressed and gave it a price of $35. Hummm. He priced the Union Dime the same and I had to smirk. I'm sure anyone who reads this blog knows the value of this baby is in mid 3 figures. I forgive the appraiser as he has to be a generalist and can't know the details and nuances of each type of collectable. I was happier with what the decorative arts appraiser told me about the mid-century Eero Saarinen-designed floor lamp I brought. Alas, in the end, our items did not deem worthy of an on-camera interview and appraisal, but we did record something in the Feedback Booth. We tried to say something unique and interesting and will cross our fingers until next year when this episode airs. We also got to meet the rockstars of the antique world, the Keno brothers, and had both Leigh and Leslie autograph the back of our tickets. It was a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at this popular TV show - the ONLY show I must watch each week.

Lady Liberty’s Little Sisters

From 1949 to 1951, over 200 little liberties were placed in parks and municipal areas by Boy Scout Troops around the country. Building Collector reader Scott sent me this tip and found a site with photos and locations of many of the statue replicas. The original project was launched in 1949 by the late Jack Whitaker, a Kansas City, Mo., Scout volunteer. The stamped copper statues, built around wooden frames, were made by Friedley-Voshardt in Chicago. To celebrate Scouting’s 40th anniversary theme, "Strengthen the Arm of Liberty," troops purchased the statues for about $350. Standing over 8 feet tall without the base, the Statues of Liberty weigh 290 pounds and are constructed of sheet copper. Each town provided its own base, so the designs vary from town to town. According to the Boy Scouts of America National Council, miniature statues were placed in 39 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone and the Philippines. Weather and vandals have claimed some metal replicas and some are being restored. Currently, about 100 little liberties have been accounted for by SOS! (Save Outdoor Sculpture!), a joint project of Heritage Preservation and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Souvenir Buildings as Advertisement

In my humble opinion, it is an astute business leader indeed who commissions a company advertisement in the shape of a building. Think about it…clients are given a well-made replica of a landmark and what do they do? They display it proudly on their desks as a reminder to them and to others who visit their office. I’ve collected photos and information of some advertisement building replicas with photos and info below. If you know of others, send me some photos and I’ll add it to this grouping. 

The Grue Guild Watches store display is a building replica made of metal. The engraved text reads, “Display feature wrist watch on regular velvet box pad here” and “display copy-card pocket watch and regular velvet box pad here.” The metal display is a replica of the Gruen office & factory. The Gruen Watch Company was formerly one of the largest watch manufacturers in the United States. It was in business from about 1894 to 1958 and was based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In the 1930’s & 40’s, Patent and Trademark Attorney A. Clarence O'Brien advertised his services via two finely made metal paperweights of the U.S. Capitol dome and the Supreme Court building. Both were produced by the A.C. Rehberger Company. According to the capital replica's base, O’Brien had an office “opposite the U.S. Patent office in Washington, D.C.” The Supreme Court replica advertised an office address in New York’s Woolworth Building. While the originals are difficult to find, these replicas were recast in the 1990’s from Rehberger molds, but have a different finish. 

I’ve seen two different versions of a replica of Egypt’s Sphinx, which was also made by Rehberger, that are promotional advertisements. One advertises ‘Miller, Franklin, Basset and Company New York,’ which was an accounting and engineering firm in New York City. The company may have used the Sphinx due to the ancient engineering feat it took to build the structure and the money it took to construct. I’ve also seen references to this company with ‘Sphinx Talks,’ which may be a publication. Another version is nearly identical except for the writing on the base. “Ask the Spinks” C.C. Spink & Son St. Louis, Mo.” is clearly a play on words of the two similar names. C.C. Spink & Son were magazine and book publishers including an early Sporting News.  

A small replica of Charminar has words on its base, which read, “The Vazir Sultan Tobacco Company Limited Silver Jubilee 1930-1955.” 

A brass replica of the Statue of Liberty has on its base, “Liberty National Life Insurance Company. Frank P. Samford, President. September 1958.” 

A Metal replica of the Washington Monument has words on its base, which read, “First in building usefulness McGrath Sand and Gravel Lincoln Illinois.”

Designer Souvenir Buildings by Merci Gustave

A French company, aptly named Merci Gustave as a tribute to Alexandre Gustave Eiffel the French civil engineer and architect of the Eiffel Tower, is producing a series of metal building replicas. These are not ordinary souvenirs, but more like works of art. Painted with bright colors and adorned with hearts, stripes, flags or a happy face, the monuments beam with excitement. They also created a set of 3 metal replicas depicting the construction stages during the building of Gustav’s name-sake Tower. Need a VERY large Eiffel tower in your collection:  ZE BIG Stunning Merci Gustave Limited Edition Paris Tower (H 43.25ins/1.10m; Zinc Alloy: Toro Red) They also make a series of unusual Statue of Liberty models Stunning Merci Gustave Limited Edition Mini Statue of Liberty Stars & Stripes (H 8ins/20cm; Color: Mini Miss Sam-Red/White/Blue) Looks like they also have plans to produce Burj Al Arab, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, and the tower of Big Ben

The Singer Building

Nine years ago, InFocusTech began producing souvenir buildings. Mike and his sons recently reached a milestone that no company before has – they have created 500 different cast replicas buildings. To commemorate this event, they are offering a very limited edition souvenir of their favorite skyscraper of all time: The Singer Building. They replicated just the top of the tower and only 50 will be cast, signed and numbered. This replica is 5.5 inches tall. Congratulations, Mike, We’re looking forward to 1000! Back in 1996, Microcosms also produced a souvenir replica of the Singer Building. Standing approximately 7.5 inch tall and marked "AT 96" inside the bldg. the base reads, “singer building” and “new york.” I believe they came in gold, nickel and copper finishes. One sold recently on eBay for $78 and another for $195. The real Singer Building once stood majestically at Liberty Street and Broadway in Manhattan, NY and was an office building and the headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company. Completed in 1908, the architect, Ernest Flagg, was a supporter of height limitations and restrictive zoning and showed his solution to tall-building crowding with the Singer's set-back design. The 12-story base of the building filled an entire blockfront, while the tower above was very narrow. At 612 feet (187 m) above grade, the Singer Building was the tallest building in the world until the completion, in 1909, of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower also in NY. Tragically, the building was demolished in 1968. Resoning at the time claimed that the building was functionally obsolete and planners wanted to make way for the subdued U.S. Steel Building (currently known as One Liberty Plaza). The Singer Building remained the second-tallest building ever to be destroyed, after Avala TV Tower in Serbia destroyed during NATO bombing, until the September 11, 2001, collapse of the nearby World Trade Center. It is still the tallest building ever to be lawfully demolished. Its sad that ‘laws’ allow short-sighted people destroy such wonderful architecture in the name of ‘progress.’

Statue of Liberty Lamp on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow

Did you catch PBS’s Antiques Roadshow's recent episode of hour 3 from Chattanooga, Tennessee? At the end of the show, two women in the Feedback Booth show off their antique pot-metal Statue of Liberty lamp and reveal it was appraised for $20. Umm...only twenty bucks? I’m sure some building collectors who don’t have this one would be willing to pay more than that. It’s a nice, well-made and vintage item that looks great surrounded by other souvenir buildings. Watch the full episode. I wrote previously about my own experience having items appraised during the Roadshow’s stop in Washington, D.C. 

Live Webcams on Statue of Liberty

Happy 125th birthday Lady Liberty! Your gift? A party and five cameras so the world can watch your every non-move. A company has mounted webcams which will be switched on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, during a ceremony to commemorate the statue’s dedication. The cameras, which will be on 24 hours, 7 days a week, were donated to the National Park Service by Earthcam Inc., a New Jersey-based company that manages a network of webcams around the world. The webcams on her torch will let online viewers gaze out at New York Harbor and read the tablet in her hands or see visitors on the grounds of the island below in real time. Friday's ceremony also will be marked by a water flotilla, actress Sigourney Weaver reading Lazarus' poem and a naturalization ceremony for 125 candidates for citizenship representing over 40 countries.

Statue of Liberty Sculptures on Antiques Roadshow

Antiques Roadshow Appraiser Eric Silver and Host Mark L. Walberg view and discuss miniature replicas of the Statue of Liberty which are part of the New York Historical Society's collection.

Art Ratner’s Miniature Souvenir Building Collection

I recently discovered this story about souvenir building collector Art Ratner on a website called QuirkyBerkeley. From the website, “In 1984, he began to collect miniature souvenir buildings.  You see what happened was – as a nine-year-old boy, he lost a miniature Statue of Liberty somewhere between acquisition and getting home from a special outing with his mother to Liberty Island.” The article has lots of great photos of his collection.