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2014/07/05

Neatorama

Neatorama

A Simple But Beautiful Musical Tattoo

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 04:00 AM PDT

DeviantART member Tea, an artist in Norway, got her first tattoo. The forms and colors are simple, but it's a striking design. It's also personally meaningful to her. Tea has always loved music. She has experience in both a brass band and an orchestra. She has played clarinet, trombone, and tuba. Tea writes:

Since I started in a Brass band, we don't use the bass clef, but the treble clef, and I wanted to have something that means so much to me as my music, so it had to be the treble clef.

Stop calling us 'Scaredy Cats'!

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 02:00 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

When it comes down to it, your timid little house cat can be as brave as his lion and tiger cousins. Cats can go into attack mode in an instant, whether their nemesis is a mop, a computer, an apple, …all the way up the food chain to a bear or alligator! This compilation by Robert Jones, who brought us the “Push It” dance video, shows that a cat’s inflated opinion of his abilities often serves him well in bluffing his way through trouble. Do not try this at home. -Thanks, Robert! 

15 Empowering Illustrations for Women

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 12:00 AM PDT

"It has always bothered me, the world's attempts to control women's bodies, behavior and identities," Carol Rosetti said to Mic, "It's a kind of oppression so deeply entangled in our culture that most people don't even see it's there, and how cruel it can be."

So Rosetti decided to do something about it. The Brazilian artist decided to post a series of artwork centered around the issues of gender identity and sexuality, body image and other topics on Facebook. The response was tremendous: thousands of people shared her empowering illustrations worldwide, and Rosetti's series "WOMEN in english" has gone viral.

Originally written in Portuguese, Rosetti is now working on translating her artwork into other languages. "I can't change the world by myself," Rosetti added, "But I'd love to know that my work made people review their privileges and be more open to understanding and respecting one another."

Here's a few of Rosetti's empowering artwork:

View more over at Rosetti's Facebook page.

My Little Kanye West

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 11:00 PM PDT

As we all know, Kanye West is the greatest living artist. As the man himself once put it:*

I am Warhol. I am the number one most impactful artist of our generation. I am Shakespeare in the flesh.

Let us now venerate him before this idol made by Mari Kasurinen. She's a custom pony artist who has recreated a vast array of celebrities, including The Beatles and Lady Gaga. To depict Kanye West, she covered the face of the pony with sequins. This is wise, for to gaze upon the unveiled face of West is fatal for motal.

*NSFW language.

<i>Game of Thrones</i> Wedding

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 10:00 PM PDT

(YouTube link)

You have to have a lot of faith to take the plunge in a Game of Thrones-themed wedding. After all, the series doesn’t have the greatest track record for such ceremonies. But blinkbox gave a fantasy Game of Thrones wedding to super fans Darren Prew and Kerry Ford of Hereford.

A team of costumers, hairstylists, and makeup artists transformed the couple and their wedding party into their favorite Game of Thrones characters (otherwise, you’d never see Daenerys Targaryen marrying Jon Snow -I don’t think) and held the wedding in a real castle! Let’s hope that they really do live happily ever after. -via Geeks Are Sexy

15 Literal Movie Posters

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 09:00 PM PDT

We've covered plenty of movie poster parodies on Neatorama, but these ones by Danish Ahmed have got us laughing. Literally. See, that's because the Indian illustrator created movie posters as literally defined by their titles.

Take a look:

View more at Danish Ahmed's Behance page - via Lost at E Minor

Axl Rose Made of Rose Petals

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 08:00 PM PDT

Nadia Luongo is a highly talented food artist whose work we've featuredpreviously. She can create convincing portraits of people using common kitchen ingredients.

For this recent work, she departed from food for flowers. Here she shows the soft, romantic side to the gruff Axl Rose, the front man for the hard rock band Guns N' Roses.

The Real Life Avengers

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 07:00 PM PDT

Every superhero in the Avengers group has a real-life counterpart! Who knew? And you probably know all these people! Andy Kluthe and Andrew Bridgman bring us a rundown of how you, too, can be one of the real-life Avengers, from Dorkly. Scroll down the picture to see them all.

Why Shame Animals When You Can Shame Your Polyhedral Dice?

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 06:00 PM PDT

(Image Via Nerd Approved)

Dog shaming never made much sense to me, considering dogs can’t read English and therefore have no idea what their master has written on the sign hanging around their neck.

Chicken, guinea pig, baby and cat shaming likewise don’t make much sense for the same reason, but it’s really all about what’s written on the sign, right?

(Image Via Ian Davison/Kotaku)

Well now there’s a new form of shaming directed at inanimate objects, in this case polyhedral dice, created by frustrated roleplaying gamers who are tired of bad die rolls ruining a perfectly good campaign:

(Image Via Bishoop47/Kotaku)

That’s right folks- Polyhedral Dice Shaming is sweeping the RPG nation, and now we can let those low rolling dice know how we feel about their poor performance:

(Image Via LonoXIII/Kotaku)

So, the next time your dice don't live up to your expectations, take those low rolling suckers out of play and write up a die shaming diatribe of your own!

Fourth Doctor Scarf Dress

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 05:00 PM PDT

The fourth known incarnation of the Doctor, who was played by Tom Baker, was noted for wearing a very long scarf with various shades of red, brown, green, and purple (see below). Laura Ducros crocheted this ankle-length dress in imitation of it. She's also wearing a very thin version of the Doctor's scarf around her neck and his hat.

Bonus item: here's Ducros posing in her dress with Sylvester McCoy, the actor who played the Seventh Doctor.

The Most Patriotic Video of All Time

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 04:00 PM PDT

(YouTube link)

Vanity Fair posed a hypothetical situation to the members of the band OK Go. Imagine this: The president requests them to make a video of "The Star-Spangled Banner," and money is no object. With an unlimited budget, what would be in the video? Everything that would not only make it perfect, but also make it viral! It gets weirder as it goes along. -via Laughing Squid

Funny Pictures of the Day - NeatoPicto July 4, 2014

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 03:12 PM PDT

So That's How Guile Keeps His Hair So Perfect!

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 03:00 PM PDT

(Image Via Dragonarte)

Have you ever wondered how Guile’s hair remains so perfectly flat on top, no matter how many matches he’s been in, or how many fireballs he’s been hit with?

No? Okay, maybe I spent a few hundred too many hours playing Street Fighter II at the arcades as a kid, but that was always my main question about Guile, that and “Does his haircut conform to military regulation?”

Brazilian comic artist Dragonarte presents us with a plausible explanation as to how Guile’s hair is so perfect all the time, but I think he left out the half gallon of hair gel they use to keep it in shape!

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

7 Awesome Beards by James Myrick

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 02:00 PM PDT

James Myrick is a master beard artist. He's rather secretive about his methods, but my guess is that, by precise mental concentration, he can grow his beard into different shapes. The results are amazing, such as this hypnotic spiral.

Myrick, like all of us, needs money to live. But he lives in order to beard.

You can find him on Twitter at @hospitalcup.

Myrick once tried to shave with a kryptonite razor. The blade broke.

In the X-Men universe, Myrick would be considered an alpha level mutant. He would teach bearding at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Wolverine would seek out his advice on how to manage his mutton chops.

As a serious Breaking Bad fan, Myrick suggests that we look upon his beard and despair.

But he's also a romantic and sentimental person at heart.

-Thanks, James!

Inside a Fireworks Display

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 01:37 PM PDT

(YouTube link)

We’ve seen fireworks from the ground, fireworks from a distance, and fireworks in slow motion. Heck, we’ve even seen fireworks in reverse. Now Jos Stiglingh has taken the next logical step and launched a drone to take a video of fireworks inside the display! He was really lucky to get his expensive drone and camera setup back in one piece. This was recorded West Palm Beach, Florida. A bit of it is even in reverse. -via Digg

Tales from the Fireworks Tent

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 01:00 PM PDT

Redditor FredFltStn operates a seasonal fireworks tent. He occasionally posts stories about customers: some are touching, some are funny, and some make you despair for the future of mankind. Here's a good one:

We offer an unconditional no dud guarantee on everything we sell. Basically, if it doesn't work, bring it back and we'll replace it or give you your money back. We occasionally have items returned, but it doesn't happen very often.

The morning after NYE, one of our regulars showed up for a return. He was moving pretty slow and was nursing an obvious hangover. He wanted to return our 16,000 firecracker roll because it was a dud. He was pretty bummed, since this was supposed to be the big midnight finale at his friends house.

I was immediately confused, since I have no idea how 16,000 firecrackers could have all been bad. I told him we would take care of it and asked him if it had gotten wet. He told me that it just wouldn’t light, no matter how hard they tried, and it was in the back of his car if we wanted to check it out.

Now this particular roll is packaged to look like a giant firecracker, with a piece of rope coming out of the top to simulate a fuse, like this. At the base of the rope are pictures and written directions explaining how to unwrap the package to get to the real fuse. You can then roll it out, so the firecrackers go off individually, or light it as a bundle, with all 16,000 firecrackers going off in about a minute.

To prove his point, he pulled out his phone to show my dad and I a video they had taken of him trying to light it. In the video, he was obviously LOADED, and was stumbling around with a lighter trying to light THE PIECE OF GREEN ROPE! I could hear people laughing in the background and egging him on, as they had filmed him trying to drunkenly light a piece of rope for 5 minutes. As we’re watching the video, I’m dying inside, and trying to think of a nice way to tell him what his mistake was. Suddenly, he paused the video, slowly looked up at us and said,

CUST: That’s not really the fuse is it.

ME: (Starting to chuckle) Nope.

CUST: Those Bastards!

ME: (Dying laughing now) Look, I’ll give you your money back AND give you another one for free if you’ll send me that video.

I think he considered it for a second, but then he figured out that I was DEFINITELY going to post the video on my website. Hell, I’d have given him triple his money back for a copy of that video. He quickly hit the delete button and shook his head no. I tried to give him his money back, but he wouldn’t accept it. He asked us to check out the firecracker roll in his car to make sure it was still good, and my dad walked out to check on it with him.

My dad was laughing when he walked back into the tent, and let me in on the joke. After my dad had peeled back the paper and showed the guy where the real fuse was, the guy thanked my dad and casually mentioned his plans. He was now on his way to buy a big metal garbage can, and then planned to stop by his friend’s house to say good morning.

Don't you wish that video still existed somewhere? Check out more Tales from a Fireworks Tent. -via Metafilter

Book Bikes Are Tricycle Bookmobiles

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT

(Photo: Denver Public Library)


(Photo: Denver Public Library)

Book bikes are a recent and clever innovation in library outreach. They're bicycles or tricycles that have been modified to carry and display books and other library materials. Pictured above is one operated by the Denver Public Library. It carries popular books and is a wi-fi hotspot. A librarian rides it wherever people congregate and sets up shop. Thanks to the wi-fi connection, patrons can also get research assistance and download ebooks.

(Photo: Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library)

(Photo: Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library)

Here's a book bike run by the public library of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Library volunteers ride it to playgrounds and parks and give away (not loan out, but give away) books to kids.

Would you like for your local public library to get a book bike?

-via American Libraries

Patriotic Tattoos So Bad They're Un-American

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 11:00 AM PDT

Want to show some love for your country this Fourth of July? Buy a t-shirt, fly a flag in your front yard, or simply make this country a great place to live by doing your part to help out your fellow Americans.

Sharing your patriotism with the world doesn’t mean chanting USA wherever you go, or acting xenophobic towards immigrants, and getting a terrible tattoo certainly isn’t going to convince future generations to follow in your patriotic footsteps!

Still, these folks went to the trouble of marking themselves for life with some awful-ly star spangled tats, so we might as well share their indelible bad decisions in order to teach young Americans what not to do to their bodies:

Check out the rest of these Bad America Tattoos over at The Soup

10 Magnificent Surreal Sand Castles by Guy-Olivier Deveau

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 10:00 AM PDT

Would you believe that the picture above is of a sculpture made out of sand?

Meet Guy-Olivier Deveau, a professional sand, ice, snow and wood sculptor out of Québec, Canada. His sand sculptures have won many awards in sand sculpting events and competitions worldwide, and it's easy to see why. Deveau's surreal sand sculptures - inspired by the artwork of H.R. Giger and others - are absolutely fantastic!

Take a look at 10 of the most magnificent surreal sand sculptures by Guy-Olivier Deveau:

1. The Ghost in the Machine

Toronto, Canada (2011)

2. Vertical

1st Place Solo, Texas Sandfest, Port Aransas, Texas (2013)

3. Construction of the Conscious Self

Copenhagen, Denmark (2012)

4. Lost Symmetry

South Padre Island, Texas (2012)

5. Phasing

2nd Place Solo, Hampton Beach (2013)

6. Fantasy Castle

Inspired by Warcraft Blood Elves architecture. Quebec City, Canada (2011)

7. Sinbad in the Communal Tomb

From "The Fourth Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor" Team effort with Nicola Wood (UK). Kuwait (2013)

8. Inseminate

A tribute to H.R. Giger. Hampton Beach, New Hampshire (2014)

9. Dahish

Dahish, son of Al-A'amash, an Ifrit trapped in a pillar from the tale "The City of Brass." Kuwait (2013)

10. Bleeding

3rd Place Solo Sand Castle Day, South Padre Island, Texas (2013)

View more over at Guy-Olivier Deveau's official website and Tumblr

Bambi 2- Bambi's Revenge

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 09:30 AM PDT

Kraven the hunter thought he got away with killing Bambi’s mother, but he was wrong…

This fall, watch as the most unlikely duo ever to appear on the silver screen avenge the woodland's fallen with bullets of their own in Bambi 2-Bambi meets the Punisher.

Their meeting seemed like pure chance, but destiny had brought man and deer together to make sure that nefarious hunter paid for his crimes...

Sound like a movie you’d like to see? Too bad all we get to see of this marvelous mash-up is this fake movie poster created by artist Marco D’Alfonso for CBR’s The Line It Is Drawn gallery.

Still, Disney does own Marvel Comics now, so it's not entirely out of the question...

-Via MoviePilot

Kaboom! 10 Facts About Firecrackers That Will Blow You Away

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 09:00 AM PDT

My street was lined with extra cars and strangers in lawn chairs last night, as the town had a fireworks display a day early, from a new location not far from my neighborhood. Personal fireworks have been going off ever since, and today the sound of firecrackers will be heard all day long. Loud noises and explosions are traditional for Independence day, although firecrackers haven’t always been. Believe it or not, firecrackers were added to the mix because they were a safer alternative to what patriots had been doing! Collector and author Warren Dotz (previously at Neatorama) explains.

“Interestingly, firecrackers were reported to have been part of Fourth of July celebrations only after the holiday’s 11th year,” Dotz says. “The norm before then was ‘illuminations’—where people placed candles in their windows—as well as bonfires, bells, musket fire, and loud parades.”

Also, the earliest Fourth of July celebrations involved using explosives to send anvils into the air. According to Firecrackers, “A blacksmith’s anvil was place on the ground and a bag of gunpowder with a fuse was placed on top of it. Finally, another anvil was place upside down on top of the bag, the fuse was lit, and everybody scattered. This was to avoid being crushed like a cartoon character, because the top anvil was propelled into the air before returning heavily to the ground. It was said you could hear the sound of a good anvil shoot for miles in all directions.”

In 1787, a shipping merchant named Elias Haskett Derby brought a few boxes of firecrackers to America on a cargo ship from China, and he sold out immediately. After that, they became a staple of Independence Day celebrations, as gun- and anvil-shooting were deemed too dangerous for family events.

That’s just one of the 10 Facts About Firecrackers That Will Blow You Away you’ll find at Collectors Weekly. -Thanks, Lisa!

(Image credit: Flickr user Epic Fireworks)

Wonderful Moments In Closed Captioning

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 08:30 AM PDT

(Image Via The Mary Sue)

It must be tough to decide what to include when creating closed captions for movies and TV shows, because there are a lot of background noises, sound effects and character reactions that don’t really need to be included:

(Image Via Tumblr)

In fact, when you include these odd background bits in the captions it ends up making them really funny to read:

(Image Via Memeguy)

Having never consulted with someone who’s hearing impaired to find out if they like the inclusion of these sounds, I have no idea whether the folks who create the closed captioning include them because of popular opinion, because they’re trying to be as complete as possible, or simply to amuse themselves:

(Image Via Imgur)

Enjoy these 38 Wonderful Moments In Closed Caption History compiled by BuzzFeed, they might make you want to turn the captions on next time you're watching Neflix.

Father Daughter Movie Night

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 08:00 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

So it’s come to this: we’re watching a video of people watching a movie. Earl Reddell consented to watch The Conjuring with his daughter, but her idea was to set up a camera to catch their reactions. He says,

I loathe horror films, but my oldest daughter has a penchant for them. She thought it would be cute to record ourselves watching The Conjuring. My embarrassment is for your pleasure.

Ah, the things we do for our kids. I haven’t seen The Conjuring, but from what I hear, this audience reaction video is likely better than the movie  -or at least much shorter, as these are just the highlights of the viewing experience. -via Daily Picks and Flicks

Lila Jang Twists the Lines of 18th Century French Furniture

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 07:30 AM PDT



Lila Jang, featured previously on Neatorama for her delightful wall-climbing sofa, is a South Korean sculptor who bases her designs on 18th-century French furniture and adds fanciful touches to the traditional lines.

Jang has received accolades internationally through gallery shows and art fairs showcasing her unique design perspective. According to Jang, her pieces are a statement about humanity being stuck in the middle of "that constant struggle between reality and the ideal.” 

Jang also drew inspiration from living in her cramped Parisian apartment, in which she noticed that tables and chairs only seemed to fit if they were bent out of shape first. Learn more about Lila Jang and see more of her work at this website and in this post on Beautiful Decay. 

Images Credit: Lux Art Institute/Lila Jang.  

 
 

How To Keep Your Dog Happy When The Fireworks Go Off

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 07:00 AM PDT

Humans really enjoy watching fireworks on the Fourth of July, but dogs just don’t get the appeal. They see fireworks as loud explosions in the sky that sound like the beginning of a major battle, and many dogs experience major anxiety when the fireworks start flying, especially if their owners aren’t home.

Animals on io9 asked a group of scientists/canine researchers to offer some advice on how to keep dogs from flipping out when the fireworks start booming, and they had some great ideas to share such as- comforting your dog with hugging (like the Thundershirt/Anxiety Wrap), using Dog Appeasing Pheromones, or simply exposing them to fireworks from an early age so they know not to be afraid.

Most of the solutions are simple yet effective, and they might be just the thing to help your furry family member enjoy the Fourth with the rest of their family.

-Via io9

Let Freedom Ring With Captain America Cosplay

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 06:30 AM PDT

Captain America is the geekiest symbol of U.S. patriotism we have. If you feel the need to pump up your mood before the picnic, parade, or fireworks, head over to Gamma Squad for a gallery of the best Captain American cosplay around! See men, women, and even dogs as Captain America, sometimes mashed up with other characters, costumes, or styles. By the time you get through all of them, you’ll be pumped up with Captain America pride!

(Image credit: Flickr user taymtaym)

Toilet Museum Exhibit Lets You Go Down a 5-Meter Toilet Slide, Just Like a Real Poop

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Japan is a nation that takes the subject of toilets very seriously. This is a nation that is developing technologically advanced toilets for both space and life on earth. It has a toilet that travels to you and people who clean public toilets as a hobby.

So it should not be surprising that a science museum in Tokyo has opened an exhibit all about toilets and what humans put into them. Visitors can learn about the formation and makeup of feces, the importance of toilets for health, and how toilets work.

But visitors can do more than just learn information. They can have fun! The exhibit includes a 5-meter long slide into a giant toilet.

Visitors are given cloth poop hats, such as the one you see above, and then flushed into the giant toilet.


(Video Link)

There's also a choir of singing toilets.

-via Telegraph (warning: auto-sound) | Photos: The Star

10 Adorably Tiny Houses

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 05:30 AM PDT

When it comes to housing, most people live by the "bigger is better" mentality, but there are those who feel the exact opposite is true. While these tiny houses may not be for everyone, we can all appreciate the cozy, cute look of these minimalist residences.

Over at Homes and Hues, we've compiled a list of some of the coolest and most beautiful tiny houses around so you can see what you are missing with your spacious property. 

View the whole list at the link: 10 Tiny Homes That Are Filled With Serious Comforts

The Statue of Liberty

Posted: 04 Jul 2014 05:00 AM PDT

In the summer of 1876, Philadelphia was teeming with tourists. Over the course of the season, 10 million people from 35 countries poured into Fairmount Park to take in the sights at the first-ever World’s Fair in America. Visitors marveled at working elevators, electric lights, and a live walrus. American Indians stood on display, living cultural exhibits for fairgoers to gawk at. The programming changed daily; prizefights, races, and parades were all used to lure day-trippers. On Delaware-Maryland-Virginia Day, there was even a jousting match. But one spectacle drew extra attention- a gigantic disembodied arm that towered four stories above the fairground.

A late entrant to the festival, the lonely, torch-bearing limb wasn’t included in the official guide. Few knew that it was destined to become part of an even bigger statue, meant to be a gift from France to America. Instead, fairgoers simply saw the sculpture as the best way to catch a glimpse of the surrounding counties. They flocked to climb up the arm and stand on the torch’s balcony, forking over 50 cents apiece for the experience. In the space where the statue’s giant elbow should have been, a sculptor stood anxiously, hustling photos and scrap metal from his makeshift souvenir stand. If he had any chance of completing his masterpiece, he’d need all the extra cash he could get.

How War Led to Lady Liberty

The story of the statue begins with the American Civil War. When fighting broke out in 1861, the rest of the world watched with rapt attention: Could the grand experiment in democracy survive? The United States had been an inspiration to the French, who were locked in a cycle of extremism, swinging between bloody democratic revolutions and imperial autocracy. When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865, the French were crushed. More than 40,000 grieving citizens contributed to a fund to award Lincoln’s widow a gold medal.

It was in this climate, in the summer of 1865, that a group of prominent Frenchmen were discussing politics at a dinner party given by Edouard René de Laboulaye, a prominent historian and law professor. France was still under the thumb of Napoleon III, but when Laboulaye looked to America, he was inspired by "a people intoxicated with hope." He proposed that France give America a monument to liberty and independence in honor of her upcoming centennial. After all, tens of thousands of Frenchmen had just contributed to a medal for Mary Todd Lincoln-how much harder could it be to pony up for a statue?

Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, an up-and-coming sculptor, was excited by the idea. As his mind raced, he pictured the colossi of Egypt, the twin 60-foot, 720-ton sandstone statues of seated pharaohs. Bartholdi wanted his monument to be just as inspiring, and his sketches leaned on the popular imagery of the time-broken chains, upheld torches, crowns meant to represent the rising sun. But Bartholdi also wanted to break from French tradition. Instead of depicting liberty as a half-naked barricade stormer, the artist’s Neoclassical goddess would look staid and calm. Bartholdi didn’t want "Liberty Enlightening the World" to be just a tribute to American freedom. The statue had to send a pointed message to France that democracy works. It didn’t take long for Bartholdi to perfect his vision for the sculpture. Getting the statue actually built, however, was another matter.

Crowdfunding a Statue

Given the statue's message, backing from the French government seemed unlikely. That meant all the funds—originally estimated at 400,000 francs (more than $2 million today)—had to come from the French people. Laboulaye had an idea: What if he and Bartholdi pitched the project as a joint venture between the two countries? As a show of their shared friendship, France could provide the statue and America the pedestal.

Bartholdi was tasked with convincing Americans to join in. In June 1871, he packed up a small clay model of the statue and set sail across the Atlantic. The sculptor, who spoke almost no English, knew he’d been charged with a difficult job but didn’t realize just how difficult it would be. Most Americans he contacted couldn’t grasp why their country would want a giant torch-wielding monument, much less why they’d help pay for it. After an exhausting four-month tour, Bartholdi returned to France, no closer to financing the pedestal.

Thankfully, fundraising there was proceeding at a better pace, thanks to a national lottery and image-licensing deals. Companies lined up to plaster Lady Liberty’s image on everything from "nerve tonics" to cigars, and they were willing to pay for it. As funds trickled in, Bartholdi began work on the torch and arm. In 1876, he sent the pieces to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, hoping that it would motivate Americans to open their wallets. Finally, his efforts were beginning to pay off.

That same year, a group called the American Committee assembled to boost the fundraising-and an inter-city competition heated up. Bartholdi and his supporters had hinted to New York, the statue’s promised location, that Lady Liberty would be just as welcome in Philadelphia should New Yorkers fail to do their part. In October, The New York Times fired back with an outraged editorial, accusing Philadelphians of setting their "piratical hearts" on "other people’s lighthouses."

Still, there was no denying that the pedestal would be expensive. Building the base alone would cost $250,000, and Americans couldn’t justify spending that much on a "Frenchy and fanciful" statue. If it was a gift, why didn’t France just throw in the pedestal too? The American Committee and other supporters refused to give up. They appealed to everyone from schoolchildren to Civil War veterans. President Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt chimed in with support. But it took the curmudgeonly owner of theNew York World newspaper to finish the job.

"We must raise the money!" Joseph Pulitzer boomed in an editorial, announcing that his paper would run a subscription campaign to raise the $100,000. Within five months, 120,000 people responded to his appeal. Some donated as much as $2,500; most contributed what they could, often less than a dollar. By August 11, 1885, the pedestal campaign had reached its goal. With the funding under control, there was an even bigger challenge to surmount: No one had ever attempted to build a statue so large.

Building Lady Liberty

The description of how Lady Liberty was built reads like a word problem. Bartholdi’s workmen started by creating a 4-foot model. Then they doubled the size. Then they quadrupled it to create a 38-foot-tall plaster model. The workmen then broke down the structure into 300 sections, taking each piece and enlarging it to precisely four times its size. The result? A full-scale model of the final statue-in pieces! Next, the workmen used the pieces to create a mold using either wood or malleable lead sheets depending on the shape; and finally, they hammered the copper sheets against the shape. Though the finished statue is solid, each one of the 310 copper sheets that make up her skin is incredibly thin: the width of just two pennies stuck together.

But Bartholdi still needed help with the structure, so he recruited another famous Frenchman, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel. At the time, Eiffel was known simply as a bridge engineer; ground wouldn’t be broken on the tower that bears his name for another decade. But he had a reputation for innovation. Eiffel started by creating a flexible iron skeleton. The frame had enough give for the copper to expand in the sun’s heat-otherwise the statue’s skin would buckle and crack. He also used his knowledge of the pressures on bridges and viaducts to great effect, ensuring that the structure would bend with the wind, thanks to a framework of trussed iron pylons off a central pillar. In fact, Eiffel’s design for the structure anticipated the principles that would later make the great 20th-century skyscrapers possible.

For his part, Eiffel wasn’t impressed by his own genius, and he rarely talked about the statue. When he did, it was mostly about the structure: "The work has well resisted the formidable storms that have assailed it."

Fashionably Late

The Statue of Liberty was nearly a decade late to her own party. By the time she was completed in July 1884, Bartholdi had spent 19 years on the project. Laboulaye had died the year before. For half a year, Liberty stood completely assembled in Paris’s 17th arrondissement, waiting to catch a ride to America. When she finally did, she was disassembled into 350 pieces and packed in 214 boxes.

It took 26 days on a frigate to reach Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor, her new home. The pedestal wasn’t completed until April 1886. It took another four months to reassemble her skeleton and rivet on Lady Liberty’s pre-patina skin, which was still a deep, ruddy brown. And because the pedestal was so small, no scaffolding could be erected around her! Workers dangled from ropes latched to the framework, buffeted by the harbor winds.

On October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was finally ready. New York held its first-ever ticker tape parade for her unveiling. And while hundreds of thousands cheered from Manhattan, only 2,000 people were on the island when she was finally opened to the public-a "tidy, quiet crowd," an officer on duty told The New York Times.

Since then, the now pastel-green goddess has risen above New York Harbor, her torch welcoming the "huddled masses" to America. The world knows her as the everlasting symbol of justice, opportunity, and freedom against tyranny. And though fewer are aware of it, she is also the symbol of France’s own hopes for democracy, an example of the impressive fundraising power of two countries and, above all, a reminder of the worst gift-giving etiquette in recorded history.

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The article above, written by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, is reprinted with permission from the March-April 2013 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription to mental_floss and never miss an issue!

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