Roadside Attraction Hats

Roadside attractions are America's detour economy: the world's largest ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas, begun in 1953 by Frank Stoeber and now about 17,320 pounds, with its own annual Twine-A-Thon and a rival claim from Darwin, Minnesota. Carhenge in Nebraska is 39 antique cars arranged like Stonehenge, built in 1982 by Jim Reinders. Casey, Illinois holds a whole string of world's-largest titles, from a rocking chair to a mailbox and a golf tee. And from 1935 to 1969, Clark Byers painted "See Rock City" on more than 900 barns across 19 states. The honest fan view is that these stops are best when you are already passing through, which is exactly why the two hour detour is the joke. These roadside attraction hats are for the road-trip dad, the kitsch lover and anyone who has ever pulled over for a giant fiberglass statue. The badge names the genre, and the sentence designs cover the tourist trap, the ball of twine, the second largest frying pan, the detour and the official inspector. Every design is custom embroidered on an unstructured dad hat. Choose one for your own gift-shop tradition, or give it to the person who always says it is only a little out of the way.