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CONTENTS

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 * (Top)
 * 1 Largest ball of sisal twine built by a community
 * 2 Largest ball of sisal twine built by a single person
 * 3 Heaviest twine ball
 * 4 Largest nylon twine ball
 * 5 Cultural references
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

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BIGGEST BALL OF TWINE

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the multiple balls of twine that claim to be the largest
in the world. For the "Weird Al" Yankovic song, see The Biggest Ball of Twine in
Minnesota.
Title of multiple roadside attractions
Largest community-rolled ball of twine, located in Cawker City, Kansas (2013)

There are multiple claims to the world's biggest ball of twine record, all
within the United States. As of 2014, the ball of twine with the largest
circumference is located in Cawker City, Kansas, measured at 8.06 feet (2.46 m)
in diameter and 10.83 feet (3.30 m) in height.[1]


LARGEST BALL OF SISAL TWINE BUILT BY A COMMUNITY[EDIT]

In Cawker City, Kansas, Frank Stoeber created a ball that had 1.6 million feet
(490,000 m) of twine and 11-foot-diameter (3.4 m) when he died in 1974. Cawker
City built an open-air gazebo over Stoeber's ball where every August a
"Twine-a-thon" is held and more twine is added to the ball. By 2006, the twine
ball had reached 17,886 pounds (8,111 kg, 8.9 US tons), a circumference of 40
feet (12 m), and a length of 7,801,766 feet (2,377.978 km; 1,477.6072 mi).[2][3]
In 2013, its weight was estimated at 19,973 pounds. In August 2014, the ball
measures 41.42 feet (12.62 m) in circumference, 8.06 feet (2.46 m) in diameter
and 10.83 feet (3.30 m) in height, and is still growing.[4][1]


LARGEST BALL OF SISAL TWINE BUILT BY A SINGLE PERSON[EDIT]

Twine ball in Darwin, Minnesota (2021)

Darwin, Minnesota, is the home of a ball of baler twine rolled by Francis A.
Johnson. It is 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter and weighs 17,400 pounds (7,900 kg;
8.7 short tons). Johnson began rolling the twine in March 1950, and wrapped four
hours every day for 29 years. It is currently housed in an enclosed gazebo
across from the town park on Main Street at (
 WikiMiniAtlas
45°05′47″N 94°24′37″W / 45.096332°N 94.410276°W / 45.096332; -94.410276) to
prevent the public from touching it. The town celebrates "Twine Ball Day" on the
second Saturday in August every year. An adjacent volunteer-run, free to visit
museum and gift shop has information on the history of the ball, as well as
selling a variety of souvenirs.[3][5][6][7] It was the long-standing holder of
the "biggest ball of twine" title in the Guinness Book of World Records, holding
the title from its completion in 1979 until 1994, and was referenced by "Weird
Al" Yankovic in his 1989 song "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota."[1]


HEAVIEST TWINE BALL[EDIT]

Twine ball in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin (2022) with creator James Frank Kotera

In Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin, James Frank Kotera created the heaviest ball of
twine ever built. Kotera, known by his initials "JFK," started working on the
ball in 1979 and continued until his death in January 2023.[8] The weight of the
ball, 24,160 pounds (10,960 kg), was estimated by measuring the weight of each
bag of twine. The ball is housed in an open-air enclosure in Kotera's lawn;
since Kotera's death, the town has fundraised to move it to the town hall.[8]
The ball has a smaller companion, "Junior", that is made of string.[7][9]


LARGEST NYLON TWINE BALL[EDIT]

Nylon twine ball in Branson, Missouri (2024)

In Branson, Missouri, a ball of nylon twine built by J. C. Payne of Valley View,
Texas, is on display in Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum. The ball, which
measures 41.5 feet (12.6 m) in circumference, was certified as the world's
largest ball of twine by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1993. It is,
however, the lightest of the four contenders, weighing 12,000 pounds.[3][10][11]


CULTURAL REFERENCES[EDIT]

 * Most notably, one of "Weird Al" Yankovic's original songs is "The Biggest
   Ball of Twine in Minnesota," from his 1989 album UHF, although Yankovic takes
   artistic license with the statistics. In 2019, the town renamed the street
   leading to the ball "Weird Alley" in Yankovic's honor.[12]
   * Postcards that read "Greetings from the Twine Ball, wish you were here," a
     fictitious invention of Yankovic's, are now an attraction in Darwin. The
     Twineball Inn was a restaurant (not a motel) that has since closed.
   * Yankovic refers to the ball itself, and thus his previous work, in the
     video for "White & Nerdy", wherein a Trivial Pursuit card which includes
     the question "In what city is the largest ball of twine built by one man?"
     appears on screen.
 * The Cawker City, Kansas, ball of twine was the subject of the comic strip
   Doonesbury on July 16, 2012.[13]


REFERENCES[EDIT]

 1.  ^ Jump up to: a b c Hwang, Tim (September 9, 2014). "Twisted: The Battle to
     Be the World's Largest Ball of Twine". The Atlantic. Archived from the
     original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
 2.  ^ "World's Largest Ball of Twine". RoadsideAmerica.com. Archived from the
     original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
 3.  ^ Jump up to: a b c Charles Murphy (1993-12-28). "Balls of String". ABC
     Evening News. Vanderbilt Television News Archive. Archived from the
     original on 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
 4.  ^ "Cawker City wins the ball game with massive sphere of twine; The Wichita
     Eagle; September 28, 2014". Archived from the original on September 30,
     2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
 5.  ^ Doug Kirby; Ken Smith & Mike Wilkins. "World's Largest Twine balls".
     RoadsideAmerica.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008.
     Retrieved January 27, 2013.
 6.  ^ "Darwin's Twine Ball Museum". Dassel-Cotako Enterprise Dispatch. Archived
     from the original on January 7, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
 7.  ^ Jump up to: a b "Eye To Eye: On The Road Again". CBS. 2008-11-12.
     Archived from the original on 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
 8.  ^ Jump up to: a b Lockwood, Maria (February 3, 2023). "World's Heaviest
     Ball of Twine poised to move". Superior Telegram. Archived from the
     original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
 9.  ^ "JFK's Twine Ball: World's Largest?". RoadsideAmerica.com. Archived from
     the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
 10. ^ (subscription required) "Texans have a ball, but unraveled twine king
     unimpressed". San Antonio Express. December 4, 1993. Archived from the
     original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
 11. ^ "World's Largest Ball of Twine, Branson, Missouri". RoadsideAmerica.com.
     Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
 12. ^ Reinan, John. "'Weird Al' honored with 'Weird Alley' in Darwin, home of
     giant twine ball". St. Cloud Times. Published August 26, 2019. Accessed
     February 2, 2024.
 13. ^ Trudeau, Garry. Doonesbury Archived 2012-07-18 at the Wayback Machine.
     July 16, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2013.


EXTERNAL LINKS[EDIT]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to sisal and twine.
 * The Battle to Be the World's Largest Ball of Twine, The Atlantic Magazine,
   September 2014

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biggest_ball_of_twine&oldid=1223429986"
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