The Big Chicken - Fly By - Marietta, GA
N 33° 57.077 W 084° 31.228
16S E 729137 N 3759524
A well known landmark in Marietta, Ga.
Waymark Code: WM5NQY
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 01/26/2009
Views: 25
Along a suburban fast food highway northwest of Atlanta, the 56-ft. tall Big Chicken exercises an uncanny command of the region.
It's not a realistic replica chicken, but an abstraction of signage -- huge sheet metal flange, painted bright red, with moving yellow beak.
In 1963, Tubby Davis had the Big Chicken built to advertise his Johnny Reb's Chick, Chuck and Shake. Its moveable beak, eyes and comb attracted enough attention that it became a popular landmark in directions to city visitors.
Johnny Reb's eventually went under, replaced when the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain leased the space in 1974 and put its logo about halfway up the bird.
When KFC wanted to build a restaurant in nearby Smyrna, town officials bargained yes, if you build us a big bird, too. KFC decided they would simply move the one from Marietta. Marietta residents were incensed; a populist uprising resulted. The mayors and local politicians got into the act, and the chicken stayed.
In 1996, after extensive tornado damage, Pepsi chipped in to restore the Big Chicken. The new sign, constructed of even sturdier metal to withstand weather extremes, features moving eyes, a beak ... and a Pepsi-Cola logo.
Date the strip ran: 01/20/2004
Strip Name: Fly By
Location of item featured in the strip: Marietta, GA
Link to the Strip: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:Please provide additional photos of the location. Add your own
Zippyisms, if you would like, to your visit log.