Collecting Rubber Bands

Who collected the most rubber bands to make the biggest rubber band ball in the world? And where is it? These are the kinds of things I wonder about.

According to Wikipedia, Joel Waul holds the Guinness World Record for the largest rubber band ball. It weighs in at 9,400 lbs and is over 8 feet tall. It was purchased by Ripleys Believe It Or Not.

The previous record holders were Steve Milton and John Bain. 

One last item regarding big balls: In my rubber band ball research I found a most hilarious stream of comments on the wonderful website "Roadside America." (Which if you are not familiar is a great resource for all the wacky and weird roadside attractions worth seeing across America.) The stream starts around 2000 with an entry about a corner store owner in the Mission in S.F. who was constructing a rubber band ball in his shop. Two pages chronicle visitors interactions with this rubber band ball builder over a 10 year period. It is a good read. Starting with "We stumbled upon the rubber band ball (covered up with blankets and an american flag) while trying to buy beer..."

Worlds Largest Record Collection

Paul Mawhinney over time has ammasssed the worlds largest record collection. In traveling for work he began gathering pieces for his collection all over the country. He has over 3 million records. The collection has been valued around 50 million dollars. Despite the price tag, Paul attempted to sell the entire collection on Ebay for a fraction of what it's worth. The bidding rose to 3 million, but the "winner" eventually denied bidding, even stated that his idenity had been stolen. Due to health issues Paul continues to find an interested buyer. He can be reached at Record-Rama .

Here is a short Documentary created by Sean Dunne. "The Archive." 

Worlds Largest Ball of Twine

The "Worlds Largest Ball of Twine," not to be confused with the "Worlds Heaviest Ball of Twine," or the "Worlds Largest Ball of Twine That People Are Still Adding To" is in Minnesota. I saw it once, when I was young, when we were driving  my friends kid brother to a hockey game out in the middle of nowhere. That's where the ball of twine lives, near a water tower, in small-town-nowhere-Minnesota. It was very big, and anti-climactic. The towns folk built it a little house. I love that the guy spent his whole life saving bits of string until the ball became too big for his home, so he rolled it himself, to it's final resting place at the vista point near the water tower. An amazing collection of twine.