BIRTHPLACE OF BIG TEX:
Updated January 2022:
At the intersection of Colket and Third streets in downtown Kerens, a Texas legend was born. Eugene Howell Brister, manager of the Kerens Chamber of Commerce in 1949, was inspired to create something big to lure customers to shop locally. He researched what building a giant Santa Claus might involve, from size to cost to sourcing materials. Finally, he chose two of his friends, Ottis F. Spurlock and Hardy P. Mayo, to model for dimensions, eventually deciding to multiply their measurments by seven. When he presented his idea for a 50-foot-tall Santa during a November meeting, everyone was for it - except one man, the town banker, who happened to be Brister's brother-in-law! Brister perservered, spending $68 (a value today of nearly $800) on the tubing pipe which would become the framework for his creation. Women from the Kerens dress factory took the 168 yards of red oilcloth he bought in Dallas to sew his Santa suit, and art students from Baylor University crafted his face from papier mache. In true small-town spirit, everyone pulled together and worked around the clock. He was standing within two weeks!
Word spread fast, and a picture of the newest Kerens resident appeared in the Dallas Morning News the next day. People were coming from all over to see him! However, three days later, Kerens suffered damage from a windstorm, and Santa took a hit. To the town's horror, he was stripped of his suit and hat, leaving him with only his hemp beard, which had been glued on. But, convinced by the boost he was already giving local economy, bank president Earl Seale agreed to whatever funds were needed to restore Kerens' new tourist attraction. Better cloth was bought, and the ladies at the dress factory worked in shifts to quickly make his suit. When each section was finished, it was taken to an empty downtown building where it was painted red and hung to dry. This new suit was even more spectacular and the Kerens Santa returned, phoneix-like, to greet eager visitors which flooded downtown. He was such an attraction, the trains which passed by would stop to let passengers look down Colket Street to see Santa!
In 1951, after serving Kerens well, it was decided that Santa might be sold - possibly to a west Texas town, in hopes he could do for them what he had done for Kerens. Brister advertised around, at one point contacting the State Fair of Texas, where an employee saw the potential and brought the idea to fair manager James Stewart and president R. L. Thornton (soon-to-be mayor of Dallas). They bought him for $750 (about $8000 today). There he was given a completely new look: Fair officials didn't think a Texas cowboy should have pink cheeks, or that "lascivious wink". The first year he was at the fair, he wore a sombrero, but that was replaced the next year by his trademark ten gallon hat. He was then transformed into the Big Tex we knew for many years, before his most recent (2012) reconstruction.
Big Tex has made several appearances outside the State Fair, including a trip to Minneapolis in 1953 and also to Abiline and at SMU, as well as a return to his hometown of Kerens. He also co-starred in the movie State Fair with Ann-Margaret and Pat Boone!
<<Info taken from "Remembering Kerens" book (1998) specifically the articles in Chapter VI submitted by Anna and Ottis Ray Spurlock, part of which was written by Betty Jean Clay and published in the Corsicana Daily Sun in 1978., and the article Birth of Big Tex by A.C. Greene.>>
At the given coordinates, you'll find a historical marker. What year did Big Tex return to visit his hometown?
A. 1981 (N 32° 07.826)
B. 1971 (N 32° 06.902)
C. 1961 (N 32° 07.508)
For part two, proceed down the street to N32 7.789 W96 13.619, where you'll be facing one of the panels in the Veterans Memorial. In the fourth column from the left, you'll find a name familiar to Big Tex history. Is it:
A. Hardy P Mayo (W 96° 13.681)
B. Ottis F Spurlock (W 96° 13.670)
C. Eugene H Brister (W 96° 13.659)
Parking is available at all places. Cache container is a small camouflaged pill bottle. Please be stealthy during business hours or festivals. -Thanks!