Golden Driller Tulsa Oklahoma

by Janette Boyd

Title

Golden Driller Tulsa Oklahoma

Artist

Janette Boyd

Medium

Photograph - Photo/texture/digital

Description

Photo of the Golden Driller of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Golden Driller
A beloved Tulsa landmark, the Golden Driller is a one-of-a-kind monument weighing in at a whopping 43,500 pounds and standing 76 feet tall, making it one of the tallest freestanding statues in the United States. The Driller was first erected by the Mid-Continental Supply Company at the 1953 International Petroleum Exposition. The Driller received such favorable reviews that it was temporarily brought back for the 1959 trade show as well. Afterward, the company donated the statue to the Tulsa County Fairgrounds Trust Authority. In 1979, the Golden Driller was even adopted as the state It was originally built in 1952 by the Mid-Continent Supply Company of Fort Worth for the International Petroleum Exposition. Six years later, it was temporarily erected again for the 1959 show. Due to the positive attention it attracted, the company donated the statue to the Tulsa County Fairgrounds Trust Authority which had it anatomically redesigned and permanently installed in front of the Tulsa Expo Center for the 1966 International Petroleum Exposition. The statue's right hand rests on an oil derrick which had been moved from a depleted oil field in Seminole, Oklahoma.

An inscription at the base of the statue reads: "The Golden Driller, a symbol of the International Petroleum Exposition. Dedicated to the men of the petroleum industry who by their vision and daring have created from God's abundance a better life for mankind."

In 1979, the Golden Driller was adopted by the Oklahoma Legislature as the state monument.

As part of an online promotional contest sponsored by Kimberly-Clark in October 2006, the Golden Driller was named the grand prize as a top ten "quirkiest destination" in the United States, winning its nominator a $90,000 international vacation for two.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Driller

Uploaded

June 30th, 2016

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