Paul Bunyan is alive and well in Albuquerque

QOME businessmen tend to forget that the signs, rJsymbols and statutes they use to decorate their places of business, when done well, become more than an indentifying feature for their firm, they become a community landmark.

Such was the case with the hugh Paul Bunyan figure that topped Shofner Lumber Co. in Albuquerque, N.M. When a fire gutted their yard at Central and Louisiana, about 13 months ago, doing in Big Paul in the process, the response was enoffnous. "We had literally hundreds of people ask us, 'What are you going to do with the big guy with the ax?'." recalls Frank Shofner. "Four families told us that their kids even cried on learning that Paul Bunyan was destroyed in the fire."

Story at a Glance

When fire destroyed an earlier Paul Bunyan trademark figure, public response dictated a similar replacement ... though none was available, enterprise, luck and some problem-solving (large size) finally resulted in Paul Bunyan , Mark ll.

Replacing the statute was a problem as its manufacturer had gone out of business. For awhile Shofner intended to replace the figure with a painted sign, but continued public response and Shofner's awareness that he had a good thing meant that somehow he had to recreate the huge figure.

He put the word out to the trade and to anyone else he could think of in hopes of getting a lead. '"Then one day I got a call from Don McNeill of Ideal Cement. As he was passing a used furniture store in Gallup, N.M., he noticed some giant feet," Shofner said. Sure enough, behind the store was an enorrnous figure, similar to Paul Bunyan.

The Bunyanesque problem of dressing a27 foot tall man with a waist of 143 inches and a 60 inch collar was approached. Roman Fountains in Rio Rancho pitched in, making a beard and moustache that took 75 pounds of modeling clay. Buttons for the shirt were made out of 2x8s.

The clothes were made by Mrs. Ada Johnson, using heroic quantities of cloth and fiberglass until finally, properly outfitted, Paul Bunyan returned to his former place of honor atop the newly rebuilt store.