The Lost Giant Cow Heads of Denver

[00:00:00]Hey, this is Joel Baker with American Giants here to bring you another really interesting episode. We often talk about the Muffler Man and the Giants, but there is such a big fiberglass world out there that was in the 1950s and especially in the 1960s that uh I keep running into more and more and more which expands, you know, the research uh outside of International Fiberglass. There are so many different figures and animals that were made and today's episode is really going to center on uh cows and especially large cow heads. A particular set that was located in Denver, Colorado.

[00:00:42]International Fiberglass actually did make quite a few cows and they did make cow heads. Sometimes large cow head that was from a large statue was actually removed and sold separately so it could be hung on the side of a business. Uh but they certainly were involved uh with making a lot of different kinds of cows.

[00:01:03]They made a silly cartoon-looking cow as well as many cows that were life-size and then they also made a gigantic cows uh which were much larger than any cow would be in real life. Our story today focuses on two cow heads that were in Denver and after looking at the pictures, I've decided that these cow heads actually have nothing to do with International Fiberglass or any [music] of the cow products that they made.

[00:01:34]There actually seems to be a much closer connection to a man named Bob Johnson from Minnesota who was a contractor who [music] worked for an advertising company who made a lot of large uh fiberglass figures and signs and so on.

[00:01:50]I learned of all of this late last year when I was contacted by a man in Denver who said, I have these original cow heads that were on top of a dairy uh many many years ago in the 1950s."

[00:02:04]And as I've researched and dug into this, I've realized that these are very very iconic cow heads that really defined uh part of Denver back in the 1950s and that many people who were alive back then would have remembered them as a common landmark. Probably most people figured these uh cow heads were long gone. But today in this episode, we are going to uncover their entire history >> [music] >> and also talk about Chris who is now selling these cow heads uh and hoping [music] that they can find a new home. So, let's dive in.

[00:02:42]This sale is something truly special.

[00:02:45]Two enormous vintage fiberglass cow heads from Denver, Colorado.

[00:02:50]These are not small decorative pieces.

[00:02:52]These are massive roadside advertising sculptures measuring approximately 10 ft tall and 12 ft wide.

[00:02:59]They are the original giant cow and bull heads that once sat high above the Carlson-Frink Dairy billboard in lower downtown Denver.

[00:03:09]>> [music] [music] >> Carlson-Frink was one of Colorado's important historic dairy companies.

[00:03:23]Its roots went back to two early Denver businesses, the Carlson Ice Cream Company established in 1886 and the Frink Dairy Company which began in 1902.

[00:03:35]These companies merged in 1926 creating Carlson-Frink.

[00:03:40]By the late 1950s, Carlson-Frink [music] had grown into a major regional dairy operation with branches in places like Boulder, Colorado Springs, Greeley, [music] Granby, Sterling, and even Sidney, Nebraska.

[00:03:56]By 1959, Carlson Frank was operating from its major Denver plant [music] at 1230 13th Street, near Speer Boulevard in lower downtown Denver. According to Denver native Chris Stames, who grew up in Denver during the 1950s, the dairy was on the south side of Speer Boulevard.

[00:04:15]On top of the two-story building was a massive billboard featuring these two giant cow heads.

[00:04:21]These heads were not just signs, they were landmarks. People remembered them.

[00:04:26]They looked down over Denver traffic and became part of the city's visual landscape during the golden age of roadside advertising.

[00:04:34]The commonly reported date for their installation is around 1955.

[00:04:39]That date is especially interesting because it places them right in the same era as another famous set of giant dairy cow heads.

[00:04:48]The Ewald Brothers Golden Guernsey billboard cows in Minneapolis.

[00:04:53]Those Ewald dairy heads were sculpted by commercial artist Bob Johnson in 1954 for Naegle Outdoor Advertising. Bob worked in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, and most of his commercial work centered in the Twin Cities. Bob Johnson's work predates anything from Bob Pruitt and International Fiberglass, and he could, by some, be considered the father of giant outdoor dimensional advertising.

[00:05:19]Moving from paper mache parade flow items to 10-ft fiberglass cows in the mid-1950s.

[00:05:27]The cow heads Bob created almost exactly matching the dimensions of the heads in Denver. The style is remarkably [music] similar. The eyes, ears, horns, forehead, wrinkles, and overall billboard-ready design all appear to come from the same roadside advertising world. To be careful, we cannot say with certainty that Bob Johnson sculpted these Denver heads or that Nagely supplied the Carlson Frank billboard.

[00:05:54]But, the connection is extremely compelling.

[00:05:58]At minimum, these heads appear to be part of that same mid-1950s movement of giant three-dimensional fiberglass dairy advertising.

[00:06:08]Bob would have created the massive heads in much the same way Bill Swan made the Muffler Man for Bob Prewitt as a contractor doing artwork for a company that would make a mold of it and market the copies to other interested companies and businesses.

[00:06:26]In 1959, Carlson Frank was purchased by Borden Dairy, famous for the Elsie the Cow and Elmer the Bull. In 1940, Elsie the Cow was paired with a fictional cartoon husband, Elmer the Bull, who later became famous for the face of Elmer's Glue.

[00:06:45]Chris believes that may be around the time that the billboard came down and was not retained or used by Borden Dairy.

[00:06:52]What happened immediately after that is still unclear, and those missing years are one of the greatest mysteries of this story.

[00:07:00]But, by 1984, Chris Stames had returned to Denver after being away from the state. He first spotted the heads again at Cadet Sheet Metal, stored upright and leaning against a fence on 41st Avenue.

[00:07:14]From there, they moved through several Denver industrial locations.

[00:07:19]They were later stored near South Broadway and Louisiana at Jordy Construction Company, and then eventually at a Volvo repair shop on Santa Fe.

[00:07:29]During this period, Chris was actively trying to buy and save them. At one point, Chris told a friend about the heads and his interest in preserving them.

[00:07:39]That friend went behind his back and obtained them himself by working a deal with the owners for him to restore them.

[00:07:47]Unfortunately, he did not have the fiberglass experience needed for proper restoration.

[00:07:53]He began applying latex paint directly to the old fiberglass without doing the necessary repair and prep needed underneath.

[00:08:07]Around 2004-2005, the heads became connected to a project involving the Cherry Creek WinCo Restaurant Group associated with John Hickenlooper.

[00:08:18]Around that same time, Denver was preparing for the 2006 Cow Parade, a major public art event featuring painted fiberglass cows all around the city.

[00:08:29]There was interest in bringing these historic giant [music] Denver cow heads back into the public eye for that event, but that never materialized.

[00:08:38]Eventually, the early restorer realized he was in over his head and called [music] his friend Chris, who he had left out of the original negotiations.

[00:08:48]Chris was the right person for the job.

[00:08:51]He was a professional model maker, exhibit builder, and trade show display fabricator. He moved the heads to a warehouse on Colorado Avenue and built a special rotating rig to suspend the heads in the air. These cow heads are so huge that you cannot simply lay them on the ground and work on them.

[00:09:09]Chris built a system that allowed the head to rotate so he could access all sides properly.

[00:09:16]He began with a cow head and painstakingly removed every bit of improperly applied latex paint. That was before the real fiberglass restoration could even begin.

[00:09:27]Then in 2007, tragedy struck. Chris was hit by a car and his injuries forced him to stop work. The restoration was abandoned and the heads were moved to his backyard for storage >> [music] >> while he recovered.

[00:09:48]Now with these two massive cow heads in his backyard, Chris liked to joke that he was Colorado's largest cattle rancher with the fewest head.

[00:09:57]But the reality is these heads have been stored in his backyard for nearly 20 years. The project was never resumed.

[00:10:05]They were never picked up. Storage was never paid. According to Chris, the restoration project was ultimately abandoned and the heads were never reclaimed and they became his property.

[00:10:15]But what an opportunity.

[00:10:18]These are massive 1950s fiberglass roadside advertising sculptures tied to one of Denver's historic [music] dairies. They connect to the era of Carlson-Frank Borden, Speer Boulevard, and early three-dimensional billboard advertising and possibly the same creative lineage as Bob Johnson and the famous El Wal Dairy Golden Guernseys. This is fantastic Denver history and after all these decades, these two giant cow heads are finally [music] ready for the next chapter in their life.

[00:10:51]A few months ago, Chris invited me down to Denver and I was able to spend some time with [music] him on his front porch talking about all the intricate details and the history [music] of these cow heads and since then we've continued to piece everything together to tell this story.

[00:11:08]>> [music] >> But it was an incredible thing to go into the back storage unit and yard where Chris >> [music] >> has these cow heads and to see them. So many so few people have actually seen them that it was really neat for me to go in and check them out. They've been [music] in storage a long time and I'll say right up front that removing and restoring these cow heads is not for the faint of heart. I think their history is incredible and personally, I would love to see them go back up on a billboard, even recreate the original one that was on top of the building. I think would be super cool.

[00:11:48]That's up to the buyer, whoever gets these.

[00:11:51]Transportation is going to take a lot of thought and work [music] and also even getting them out of Chris's storage yard where he has them.

[00:12:02]One of them can be fairly easily moved to the left of where it is is a gate.

[00:12:07]So, I think clearing some brush, clearing some debris, picking the the cow head up and moving it out the gate will be fairly simple.

[00:12:17]The other one I've inspected closely and I believe the best way to get it out is to lift it up. So, some kind of lift or crane would need [music] to lift it straight up vertically from where it sits and pull it over that fence that it's leaning up against into [music] an alley and load it directly onto a truck.

[00:12:38]That's the way I would do it.

[00:12:41]But, we are here for all of your questions. If you are interested in these cow heads, please email me. Chris has asked [music] that all communication and contact happen through American Giants. So, we're just [music] the facilitators in this to help Chris find a buyer for these cow heads.

[00:12:58]So, you can ask us your questions. We'll work with you as much as we can [music] for answers and then when the deal is finally made, you will work directly with Chris on on payment and removal.

[00:13:11]So, this one has been a lot of fun for me to research, to to piece this history together. You know, that's what I love to do. I want to thank Dave Dissler with the real Giant Hunters. He does a lot of research into all kinds of fiberglass statues and figures and he's been a big help Uh as we've researched these cow heads out of Denver to get their full history.

[00:13:37]We want to let people know that these cow heads have survived and we are hoping that they find the perfect new home for the next chapter of their lives.