Teh One Who Knocks
09-14-2011, 10:13 PM
By Mike Brownlee, The Daily Nonpareil
http://i.imgur.com/X2Mwb.jpg
The call came in around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 2.
A man in a hot dog suit was standing near Harmony Court and Benton Street, waving to people. The caller was worried because the man was across from a school bus stop where children congregate and, well, you never know these days.
When police arrived, they found the man was … a statue.
Standing 6 feet tall, the statue depicts a hot dog applying ketchup atop his head, with mustard at the ready in his other hand. His eyes strain upward to watch his work, while he’s licking his lips, possibly because he’s hungry and ready to eat himself. The horror.
An American flag drapes over his back, cape-style, while his spindly legs end with a pair of high-top sneakers, his socks pulled up.
The statue found in Council Bluffs is beat up, with both hands missing, possibly because the hot dog was caught stealing the ketchup and mustard. Or the appendages broke off during transport.
Daily Nonpareil reports indicate the statue’s been spotted on South Eighth Street and Eighth Avenue in the past. How it got from there to Harmony and Benton is a hot dog whodunit.
“Nobody knows anything about it, other than that we have it in our property (section),” said Council Bluffs Police Department Capt. Terry LeMaster.
LeMaster said he has no idea where the statue came from or who it belongs to. As of Monday, no one had claimed the Hot Dog Man, who currently resides at a police department storage facility.
Even before the question could be asked LeMaster, a 28-year veteran with the department, said, “No, I have not seen anything like this before.”
Hot Dog Man statues have been around since at least 2003, when Jim Haverkamp and Joyce Ventimiglia shot a short film titled, “Hot Dog Man: A Case Study,” about a statue in Durham, N.C. A great quote from Haverkamp’s narration:
“I can’t say I really trust it.”
An Internet search shows Hot Dog Man’s been sighted across the country, from Seattle to Earlysville, Va., a small town outside Charlottesville. He’s been spotted abroad as well, in Japan.
The current asking price for Hot Dog Man is $650 online. Zazzle.com sells stickers with a picture of the statue for $5.60, for those lacking the necessary means to purchase the statue.
The Bluffs Hot Dog Man case remains open. Anyone with information or seeking to reclaim the statue is asked to call police property.
“Someone asked me, ‘Why not just throw it away?’” LeMaster said. “Well, it’s not ours to throw away. Someone’s missing a 6-foot hot dog.”
http://i.imgur.com/X2Mwb.jpg
The call came in around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 2.
A man in a hot dog suit was standing near Harmony Court and Benton Street, waving to people. The caller was worried because the man was across from a school bus stop where children congregate and, well, you never know these days.
When police arrived, they found the man was … a statue.
Standing 6 feet tall, the statue depicts a hot dog applying ketchup atop his head, with mustard at the ready in his other hand. His eyes strain upward to watch his work, while he’s licking his lips, possibly because he’s hungry and ready to eat himself. The horror.
An American flag drapes over his back, cape-style, while his spindly legs end with a pair of high-top sneakers, his socks pulled up.
The statue found in Council Bluffs is beat up, with both hands missing, possibly because the hot dog was caught stealing the ketchup and mustard. Or the appendages broke off during transport.
Daily Nonpareil reports indicate the statue’s been spotted on South Eighth Street and Eighth Avenue in the past. How it got from there to Harmony and Benton is a hot dog whodunit.
“Nobody knows anything about it, other than that we have it in our property (section),” said Council Bluffs Police Department Capt. Terry LeMaster.
LeMaster said he has no idea where the statue came from or who it belongs to. As of Monday, no one had claimed the Hot Dog Man, who currently resides at a police department storage facility.
Even before the question could be asked LeMaster, a 28-year veteran with the department, said, “No, I have not seen anything like this before.”
Hot Dog Man statues have been around since at least 2003, when Jim Haverkamp and Joyce Ventimiglia shot a short film titled, “Hot Dog Man: A Case Study,” about a statue in Durham, N.C. A great quote from Haverkamp’s narration:
“I can’t say I really trust it.”
An Internet search shows Hot Dog Man’s been sighted across the country, from Seattle to Earlysville, Va., a small town outside Charlottesville. He’s been spotted abroad as well, in Japan.
The current asking price for Hot Dog Man is $650 online. Zazzle.com sells stickers with a picture of the statue for $5.60, for those lacking the necessary means to purchase the statue.
The Bluffs Hot Dog Man case remains open. Anyone with information or seeking to reclaim the statue is asked to call police property.
“Someone asked me, ‘Why not just throw it away?’” LeMaster said. “Well, it’s not ours to throw away. Someone’s missing a 6-foot hot dog.”