A Look at the "World's Largest" Phenomenom in Canada

Yesterday, I went to lunch with a couple of friends after an interesting morning learning about World War II history in the Stavanger region.  Our conversation started by debriefing the morning and our thoughts on all that we had heard which eventually led to talking about the Holocaust Museum in Houston and then to civil rights in the US and then into me chronicling my family's summer road trips through the US which bear many resemblances to National Lampoon's family vacations.  After laughing over our experiences at Mount Rushmore & Old Faithful, we got talking about random, large monuments.

You see, every time we drive from Edmonton to my hometown in Saskatchewan, we inevitably pass by the World's Largest Bunnock.  (What's a bunnock you ask?  It's a game of bones similar to bowling invented by Russian soldiers while passing time in Northern Siberia.)  Joe finds it hilarious and personally, I think he looks forward to this little highlight on our trips to Canada.  The American friend knew all about this "World's Largest..." phenomenon and talked about a giant cactus in a town she visited as a child but our Scottish friend was perplexed.  I told her about the giant gopher in Eston, Saskatchewan and the giant teepee in Medicine Hat, Alberta and there's a giant baseball bat in downtown Edmonton and a giant dinosaur in Drumheller when it dawned on me - damn, we have a lot of large & obscure objects.

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Later that evening while attempting to find a photo of said bunnock to send to my friends, I came across a website detailing similar attractions in every province in Canada.  Saskatchewan alone is home to the world's largest tomahawk, the world's largest turtle, and the world's largest oil can.  Joe's hometown in Northern British Columbia is home to the world's largest gold pan and I couldn't help but be intrigued by the world's largest burl in Port MacNeil.

I'm curious - how did these things come about?  Did someone in Macklin, Saskatchewan show up at a town hall meeting with a dream of constructing the world's largest bunnock and due to the immense popularity of the game, the town emphatically agreed?  Is there a certain world's largest attraction that sparked the wildfire that would become communities constructing their claim to fame in a mass furry to outdo neighbouring towns?  Is this what started the construction of the Burj Khalifa as the world's tallest building?

My hometown isn't home to the largest anything however it makes the list for the Canada goose monument along the highway where as Edmonton claims the world's largest Western boot as well as a supersized baseball bat, Stanley Cup, a wire dove, milk bottle & an oil derrick (among others.)  Grande Prairie, our last Canadian home, has a giant sundial yet I don't think I've seen anything similar in Stavanger.

Tell me - do any of your homes have a similar claim to fame?

(In case you are wondering, the Scottish friend is still perplexed.  I told her that castles & whisky can only get you so far.)