World's Largest Ball of Twine
in Cawker City, Kansas..... with Molly!
Now, this was one place we really wanted to see, but when we got there, I had forgotten that because of a ceiling leak the World's Largest Ball of Twine has a pungent smell of moist rot!!!
YUK. It may smell bad but what an amazing feat it was to wrap all that twine.
Now there was a Twine Battle with Darwin, Minnesota, as Francis A. Johnson had been rolling his own twine since 1950. He kept it up, 4 hours a day until he died in 1989. Though twine ball battle statistics from the critical early years are hard to come by, it is believed Stoeber, starting later but Johnson, matched and surpassed his achievement in the late 1950's. But, when Stoeber stopped rolling and eventually died in 1974, Johnson surged back, broke the 11-ft diameter "Twine Barrier" and continued until his own death in 1989. Darwin's 12-ft diameter ball continues as a celebrated town shrine, and not an inch of twine has been added that wasn't wrapped by Johnson's own hands. Because Cawker City wanted to preserve Stoeber's accomplishments the town picked up where Stoeber left off and continued to roll sisal twine.
Now, anyone can step up and wrap more twine onto the ball.....Which we did.