Roadside America is a book, and also a website now, that is a "guide to offbeat tourist attractions." The website allows you to sort by state, themes (big coffee pots, big bovine, stonehenges) etc. You can even save a list of sites you'd like to visit. I'm thinking about this now because I'm soon having breakfast with a friend who doesn't live too far from a site I'd like to visit.
Years ago I passed the Haines Shoe House in Hellam, PA, which is about 4 miles east of the town of York. It was quite a sight, as you can see here. This was my view when I drove past it. Of course, my immediate thought was "the old woman who lived in a shoe." Turns out an old woman had nothing to do with this. It was the idea of Colonel Mahlon M. Haines, owner of 40 shoe stores in PA and Maryland, who had an architect do this for advertisement purposes. The shoe - 45 feet long, 25 feet high, and about 17 feet wide - was offered to newlyweds and the elderly for get-aways. It was built between 1948 - 1949 and, according to Roadside America,
There's a shoe mailbox out front, and a boot-decorated fence surrounding the yard. The dog house is shaped like a boot. Every window in the Shoe House is decorated with a stained-glass shoe. The front door frames a stained-glass portrait of the Colonel holding shoes.
Tours of the Shoe House are offered. The Shoe House doesn't seem to have it's own website, but you can call 717-840-8339 to learn about the tours. After all, kitsch doesn't get much better than this.
Back of the Shoe House (Fire escape added in the 1960's)
Click here to read more about the Haines Shoe House on the Roadside America website.
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