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 The Mid-Continent Supply Company of Fort Worth first introduced the Golden Driller in 1953 at the International Petroleum Exposition. It was temporarily erected again for the 1959 show and attracted so much attention that the company had it rehabilitated and donated it to the Tulsa County Fairgrounds Trust Authority. It was permanently installed at the 21st Street and Pittsburg Avenue site for the 1966 International Petroleum Exposition. His right hand rests on an old production oil derrick moved from an oil field in Seminole, Oklahoma.
The Driller has been ravaged by weather, survived tornadoes, photo sessions with tourists, attacked by vandals, assaulted by souvenir seekers, shotgun blasts, and has even had an arrow in the back. Art critics have even ridiculed the poor old man.
The basic angle-iron structure made of plaster and concrete will withstand 200 mile-an-hour winds. It was refurbished and painted gold by Gibco, Inc. Tulsa, Oklahoma, in time for the International Petroleum Exposition of 1979. Since then the Golden Driller has guarded the main entrance of the Exposition Center where various trade shows, conventions and consumer events are held. He has collected a host of friends, not only in Tulsa, but also from around the world.
The inscription on the plaque 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."
Golden Driller Statistics
- · Largest freestanding statue in the world
- · Weight - 43,500 pounds
- · Height - 76 feet
- · Belt size - 48-feet in circumference
- · Shoe size - 393DDD
- · Hat size - 112 hard hat
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