If you are as old as me, you will remember the commercial, "Ho, Ho, Ho...Green Giant!" That commercial worked on me as a kid, I used to beg my mom to buy Green Giant Vegetables. To assure my consumption, my mother always showed me the Green Giant label when she was cooking. It opened my world to vegetables! Today, I actually collect Green Giant ads and other paraphernalia as part of my pop icon collection. You will see some of my ads in the photos and also some photos of my visit to the Land of Giants several years ago. read more

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Stopping in Blue Earth feels like wandering into an old time tv commercial with a sense of humor. The Jolly Green Giant stands tall and watchful, a quirky landmark that manages to be both kitschy and oddly comforting. What makes the park especially memorable is its musical instrument park--a pocket of creativity where kids and adults alike can strike giant chimes, tap on outdoor drums, and strum oversized metal harps. It's playful enough to bring out anyone's inner child, yet beautiful in a way that makes you want to linger. And yes, travelers rejoice: there are clean, well-kept bathrooms nearby, the kind you'd actually recommend to fellow road-trippers. That, combined with the friendliness of the place, makes Green Earth not just a stopover but a small adventure--quirky enough to be fun, wholesome enough to restore a little faith in community. read more

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For what it is, it is kinda neat. We stopped only cause we were driving through. I would not have gone out of the way for this. I will be honest, the face in this is pretty creepy to me. read more

Jolly Green Giant - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Blue Earth, Minnesota

A jolly good stop on our road trip! Hardy-har, I know. But seriously. I'd stop here again which is way more than you can say for your average roadside attraction. The giant is cool. The museum inside was cooler and made for an excellent rest stop on our trip. Our cooler is now adorned with an awesome Green Giant sticker to remind us of our fun stop. read more

Jolly Green Giant - Lots to see in the museum. You don't have to be a Green Giant fan to enjoy some well organized nostalgia. We even learned stuff! - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Blue Earth, Minnesota

On a recent road trip, we stopped in Blue Earth, Minnesota to view the Jolly Green Giant statue. The stop was delightful! The park has cute musical instruments that can be played, a walking path and a guide to find Little Sprouts in town. The sizes of the giants shoes are listed and other trivia which makes it fun!! All-in-all it brought many smiles to us and turned out to be a highlight on our trip. read more

Jolly Green Giant - Photo opportunity - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Blue Earth, Minnesota

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Set realistic expectations. This is a cute statue of a giant green man. As a retro type of road trip roadside attraction it is excellent! You are provided a ladder to climb up to the Jolly Giant feet. There is a Sprout too! A cut out lets you put your face as either a giant or Sprout and someone else as the other. Off to the side is a music park. If you arrive at the right time, there is a little building with a great little history of the guys and a couple souvenirs. Lots of outdoor fun for 10 - 30 minutes. read more

Jolly Green Giant - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Blue Earth, Minnesota

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When planning our trip to the Dakotas I did my homework on the Roadside America website and saw this TV icon and knew we had to stop. The big green guy is definitely worth the detour and great for some selfies but unfortunately due to Covid the museum was not open thus why only 3 stars. I was hoping to learn more about the history of the green giant. The other know is that we bought a few postcards and the two elderly volunteers battled each other to do the transaction and it took over 10 minutes. Unbelievably inept even for volunteers. It's not that they didn't know how to ring us up but they each wanted to do it their way - it would have been funny but it really was a waste of time. read more

What a fantastic attraction. Very happy. Would definitely come again. The museum was open and the man working could not have been better. I would definitely come again. My grandma had such a good time. read more

What a great little stop on our road trip! There was more history here than I initially thought. Make sure to stop in the visitor center building and catch up on the background of this statue. This statue is bigger than what you might think and you can climb up to take your picture with it. There are informational plaques as you walk up and a smaller statue off to the front for your little kiddos to take a picture with. Best part, it's free so if you're in the area take advantage of this great little icon! read more

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The museum was closed when we got there but it was still something to stop by and see the Jolly Green Giant is available 24/7 and so is Sprout. read more

Jolly Green Giant - Jolly Green Giant - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Blue Earth, Minnesota

Greece has its famous gods and statues. And so does the American Midwest... but the pantheon in the heartland is a bit different. The demi-gods of dairy and agriculture loom large, but instead of thunderbolts or swords in their hands, they have cheese and sausage. I recently discovered one of the Midwest's greater deities while driving in my native state of Minnesota. I'm a documentary TV producer, and I was doing what I often do -- practicing the lost art of Shunpiking, which involves knowing when to "shun" the turnpike and get onto the back roads where the good stories and characters are tucked-away. When you're shunpiking in Southwestern Minnesota and you see a billboard that says "Exit now for world's largest Green Giant statue!" you don't quibble. You obey. The Giant's lair is a small, nicely-landscaped park. At the base of the giant's statue is a printed sign revealing the behemoth's vital statistics. He is 55 feet tall. His six-foot long feet require a size 78 shoe. And after conducting a quick scientific analysis of the Green Giant's face, I was able to conclude that he is in fact jolly: his smile measures four feet across. This Green Giant statue was built and erected through a privately-funded effort back in the 70's - a tribute to Blue Earth's history as a hub for an agricultural community that supplied peas and carrots to the original Green Giant manufacturer, and as the location of a major packing plant for that company. Near the Giant is a tiny barn. It's the museum. It qualifies as perhaps the smallest museum I've ever been in, which is curious, given that the phenomenon it celebrates is a giant. I picked out a souvenir shirt, only to find that I couldn't pay the $25 with a credit card, which left me in a pickle, because I only had $21 in cash. Teri, the preternaturally friendly docent, said, "No problem, I'll spot you the extra four dollars." I replied, "Thank you, but I can't ask you to do that." But she took out the four bills, made up the difference, put it in the till, and declared it a done deal, thereby annihilating any further debate and delivering a potent dosage of Minnesota Nice. The shirt I bought says "Ho Ho Ho," and there's a picture of the Green Giant and the words "Blue Earth MN." It's not puzzling as to why the town is called Blue Earth. It's named for an unusual and rare blue-green Mah-Ko-Tah clay which you could find in the high banks of the town's central river. What was less clear to me about my t-shirt was why the Giant says Ho Ho Ho. I've been familiar with that advertising jingle since childhood. "Ho Ho Ho, Green Giant." But only when I bought the shirt did I realize that I don't understand it. There is no inherent logic behind it. Giants don't say Ho Ho Ho, least of all green ones. It turns out that the lore is not crystal clear on this issue. But here's what the prevailing scholarship indicates... The Green Giant marketing notion emerged as a branding conceit after the Le Sueur-based Minnesota Valley Canning Company discovered a very large varietal of pea, the Prince of Wales, in the 1920's. They decided to market it as a "giant", and set out to create a logo figure to match. But the first iteration of the giant design was rather scary, more a menacing caveman, in keeping with Grimm fairy tales. So they modified the figure, greening him, making him a benevolent agrarian deity, and giving him his famous leaf suit. A fellow named Leo Burnett played a key role in this makeover. The company had a big plant here in Blue Earth, MN. Teri's high school friends went to work in the canning plant decades ago, and they're still there, even though the Green Giant brand is now owned by a new conglomerate. And because the Green Giant is undoubtedly from, and lives in, Minnesota, which is often frozen, like the peas and carrots that bear his name, in early iterations of his brand image, the giant wore a red scarf, which you can see on the original cans and in the original advertisements. The red scarf may in some way summon notions of Santa, hence the Ho Ho Ho and the "Jolly" in Jolly Green Giant. In the winter, the town still has a ceremony where a Santa re-enactor uses a crane to put a giant red scarf on the Giant, in a formal festivity that has come to be called "the Scarfing." And that is not the only sartorial splendor to which the giant is treated. In August, thousands of bikers pass Blue Earth on highway 90 en route to Sturgis. So, to honor the event and the hogs passing by, the town dresses the Giant in a huge Harley Davidson t-shirt. Later, talking to the local coffee shop owner in downtown Blue Earth, I told him how much I appreciated Teri's gesture of taking the $4 out of her museum pay, to cover the cost of my shirt. The Blue Earthling smiled. "What is it?" I asked. "Teri doesn't get paid for working at the museum," he said. "She's an unpaid volunteer." Minnesota Nice, indeed. read more

Jolly Green Giant - 55 feet tall... beaming with Minnesotan pride. - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Blue Earth, Minnesota

Home of the Jolly Green Giant! This is actually his home. Standing taller than a kid who ate all his veggies, this behemoth watches over the town like a large green man...watches over a town! Worth stopping for a photo op and potentially a novelty shirt that screams - I've seen where the mascot on your microwaveable vegetables resides! read more

Bathroom was really nice. The merch they had was also fabulous. Feels like home. Would definitely visit again. If given the chance I will lose my virginity here. read more

Such a fun little stop off on a road trip! Perfect for what it is & a fun photo op. There are little frames for kids to poke their heads through and you can even climb up on the statue's platform for fun pics! read more

Jolly Green Giant - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Blue Earth, Minnesota

So I can't give this anymore stars only because I was unable to see their little museum. I loved seeing the Jolly Green Giant just based on principle really. He was cool even at 5 am. I really enjoyed reading a little about him and his history. I think had I seen the museum this would have more stars. Worth a stop if you are passing by but not worth a special trip. read more

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Great service with excellent help. The woman working here directed us to an awesome restaurant for lunch

Well I guess I've been waiting my whole life to finally meet the Jolly Green Giant. And now it's a done deal. What fun to find this Roadside Attraction of a 55 foot tall Jolly Green Giant he's definitely jolly, and definitely green, and a giant for sure. Ia must stop for the laughs and giggles and one more thing that some people actually add to their bucket list. Immediately after I told a friend that's what he did. Too funny read more

Worth 5 minutes of your time. And a great excuse for my kids to see what great commercials were made in the 1970s on youtube. I can now say I have been next to the feet of a 60 foot statue of a green giant. How many of you can say that? Didn't think so. read more

One of the fun and quirky things to do on your next road trip through the area. Only 1/2 mile off the interstate. Good place to stretch your legs, take a few pics, etc. and there's a Dairy Queen next door. read more

Jolly Green Giant - Green Giant statue, Blue Earth, MN - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Blue Earth, Minnesota

Welcome to the home of the Jolly Green Giant. We visited the site on our way back to South Dakota and it was amazing! Getting to stand underneath him and take a picture for comparisons was really cool! Definitely worth the stop (even tho we were late to the museum.) read more

We had no idea that this even existed until the hotel across the road popped up with vacancy on our x-country trip. Pretty cool statue even though the guy doesn't have any junk! read more