Friday, June 24, 2011

Skywatch Friday - The Tulsa Driller









The Tulsa Driller was originally built in 1953 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 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.  Just a few weeks ago the Tulsa Driller was cleaned and repainted and given a clean Bill of Health. He should be around for another 50 years.


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8 comments:

Jim said... [Reply to comment]

How interesting. I like it a lot.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Lucy Corrander : Photos said... [Reply to comment]

An extraordinary structure.

Looks as if he could do with a Superman cloak.

Lucy

Yogi♪♪♪ said... [Reply to comment]

Nice pics. The Driller and the Praying Hands are the two icons of Tulsa for me.

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

Big guy, he should play basketball! :-D

x_pEpPeRoNi_x said... [Reply to comment]

What an informative story behind this structure.

He looks pretty cool towering over the building and all.

Leedslass said... [Reply to comment]

I wonder if a coat of paint would give me another fifty years?

Wanda said... [Reply to comment]

I love taking pictures of statues. This Tulsa Driller is a great one.

PHE Fence said... [Reply to comment]

Excellent photo of the Tulsa Driller. I like your blog, thanks for keeping it so nice.

Santos Martinez
PHE Fence
Broken Arrow, OK
(918)852-7823