This is not a pipe

July 27, 2016 8:55 AM

From a Pineapple to a Six-Pack, 23 Buildings that Resemble the Things They Sell
posted by bq (40 comments total)

They left out the Asahi Beer Hall
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:01 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Anyone know if the Longaberger basket is still standing? Seeing that thing along the highway was always a real treat. I wasn't aware the company had moved out.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:09 AM on July 27, 2016

Honorable mentions for the sad milk can building in Manville RI and the Moxie Bottle Wagons of yore.
posted by usonian at 9:16 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

One of the coolest parts of long drives across the country is seeing things like this. You've been driving for miles and miles and everything kind of looks the same, big stretches of green-yellow with the occasional interstitial patch of corn or soybeans or sorghum, dotted periodically with little postwar homes and cows, and then suddenly BOOM out of nowhere, GIANT FUCKING CHICKEN BARN. And you know that behind that chicken are at least a dozen people who hate the damn chicken and yet it soldiers on because some whimsical someone out there with enough dedicated hobby time to build a giant fucking chicken barn thinks it's a damn hoot. Makes me feel so patriotic.
posted by phunniemee at 9:17 AM on July 27, 2016 [6 favorites]

Huh, I didn't know they moved the Big Duck back to Flanders. I guess I haven't been out to see it in a long while.

I love the Donut Hole. Mostly I love donut shops, but I especially love that.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:27 AM on July 27, 2016

I love the local ATL radio ads that mention "by the Big Chicken" as a landmark. As if it were like the Empire State building, but with overly salty chicken.
posted by dudemanlives at 9:29 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

The Big Duck in Flanders, Long Island, was built in 1931 by a duck farmer to sell poultry and eggs, and is now a tourist shop. Its eyes are Model-T tail lights that were designed to burn red in the night.

I'm just going to assume that anyone near Flanders gives directions based on how far something is from the giant demonic duck.
posted by Etrigan at 9:30 AM on July 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Anyone know if the Longaberger basket is still standing?

A friend posted this not long ago: Still standing for now.

(Also, choice quote: "It is not a sad thing we are leaving... People keep saying they feel sad for the employees. Don't feel sad for us. I cannot wait for next week. For me, next week can't come fast enough. For the people on the outside, it's probably not that way.")
posted by teponaztli at 9:33 AM on July 27, 2016

They missed Wells Fargo's cash register building.
posted by fuse theorem at 9:39 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

The Capitol Records building just coincidentally looked like albums on a platter? Not buying that.
posted by AugustWest at 9:43 AM on July 27, 2016

Wow, I can easily imagine that being one of the last 10 people in a building built for 500 would be a daily drag and constant reminder of the company's change in fortune. What a white elephant of a property!
posted by usonian at 9:43 AM on July 27, 2016

Hmmm....seems to be missing a mention of Bob's Java Jive in Tacoma, WA. FTFY.
posted by mosk at 9:47 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's gratifying to see an actual architectural tradition linked to my tendency to design Minecraft shops to look like the object I'm trading for diamonds.
posted by xyzzy at 9:49 AM on July 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Oracle's headquarters is designed to mimic the way one would draw a database on a whiteboard.
posted by frogmanjack at 10:03 AM on July 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

This is the Fuji Latex building. They make condoms.
posted by adamrice at 10:12 AM on July 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

Nashville’s AT&T Building is nicknamed the “Batman” building for its pointy ears, but designers Earl Swensson Associates intended the 1994 skyscraper to express the telecommunications business of the structure.

and

AT&T wasn’t the only telecommunications company that took a bit of cell phone inspiration into its design. The 1993 Torre Telefónica tower in Santiago, Chile, is distinctly shaped like a 470-foot-tall mobile phone.

someone should probably let architects know that buildings last longer than consumer electronics
posted by indubitable at 10:13 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

There's always money in the banana stand...
posted by blue_beetle at 10:13 AM on July 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

I think I saw a movie like this once...
posted by pxe2000 at 10:20 AM on July 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

For some reason I don't think I ever caught on to the design of the Clam Box, even though I've eaten there several times. It might be because they sell their food in Chinese take-out boxes shoved in to a brown paper lunch bag. The lunch bag is important because a small order of fried clams will overflow the take-out box to the top of the bag.
posted by backseatpilot at 10:21 AM on July 27, 2016

Though fictional, shouldn't this list also include the banana stand from Arrested Development?
posted by twsf at 10:21 AM on July 27, 2016

One of the coolest parts of long drives across the country is seeing things like this.... Makes me feel so patriotic.

The giant orange in the post is in Montreal, oddly, but orange stands were a part of early car culture in California.

Imagine a family's summer vacation, on imperfect roads in an un-air-conditioned car in the CA heat. The sight of an orange stand promising ice-cold, fresh-squeezed juice from the orchard out back must have been thrilling.
posted by mudpuppie at 10:24 AM on July 27, 2016

I happen to know that the White House gift shop sells small versions of the White House. So, there's that.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:30 AM on July 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Who needs a sign when the building itself is a sign?

Also: Love that Hood milk bottle! I just wish the place was open more often.
posted by cubby at 10:50 AM on July 27, 2016

When I was a kid, this place was a tavern. Apparently now it's a strip joint.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:11 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Glad to see the big chicken, but they left out the giant cup right around the corner from work. It was originally a Solo cup, then Sweetheart for a few years (when Zippy stopped by) and now is a Dart cup.
posted by TedW at 11:29 AM on July 27, 2016

I knew the Longaberger HQ would be there, and it's #1.

Unfortunately, the company | abandoned it this year.

Here's the visitor's information center for Leamington, ONT, the Tomato Capital.

Here's a storage tank for tomato soup in Napoleon, OH.

Not Tomato-ist.
 
posted by Herodios at 12:02 PM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Let us not forget The Brown Derby.
posted by Splunge at 12:45 PM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Do they sell Brown Derbies? Did they used to?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 1:19 PM on July 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

RIP the delightful facade of Barrel House Liquor in DC.
posted by Copronymus at 1:21 PM on July 27, 2016

OK, the corncob water tower resembles the raw material rather than the final canned product, but still.
posted by ckape at 2:39 PM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

I think I saw a movie like this once...

I was thinking the same thing. All of Sebak's documentaries are a real treat, especially (no pun intended) the one about ice cream. Or sandwiches. Or hotdogs.
posted by Beholder at 2:52 PM on July 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

The Germantown, MD Cider Barrel became a historical site and now sits in front of newly developed town houses, a lonely pokestop but always a familiar sight.
posted by numaner at 4:09 PM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Not really the same thing but this auto service place that specializes in Swedish makes looks like a Swedish flag. I like to think of it as an architectural pun.
posted by mhum at 7:31 PM on July 27, 2016

The 1963 Phoenix Financial Center is nicknamed the “punch card” building for its resemblance to the old computer system; however, its architect, Wenceslaus Sarmiento, claimed the similarity was an accident.

Obviously he doesn't know how to play this game. "Why...of course! That's exactly what I intended. I'm glad someone finally figured it out."
posted by eye of newt at 7:46 PM on July 27, 2016

Google has an office near Venice Beach in the Gehry-designed Binoculars Building, which seems apropos.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:59 PM on July 27, 2016

There's always the Matamata iSite in New Zealand. No prizes for guessing the town's premier attraction.

Edited to add: they will store your luggage for the day, in a room labelled "Bag End".
posted by Autumn Leaf at 1:12 AM on July 28, 2016

AugustWest: The Capitol Records building just coincidentally looked like albums on a platter? Not buying that.

Apparently so:

As the world’s first round office building, the prevailing popular belief is that it was designed to resemble a stack of vinyl records topped by a record player’s spindle. However that was never the intention; 24-year-old architect Louis Naidorf of Welton Becket Associates (also known for the Beverly Hilton and the Century City master plan, among numerous other projects) designed it without knowing the identity of his client. [emphasis mine]

The page also has a video interview with the architect in which he mentions this.
posted by Len at 9:16 AM on July 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm a little sad to see that they didn't feature the World's Largest Gift Shop Inside Dinosaur! ([sic], seriously, that's what the sign said when I was there.)

It's a big dinosaur! And you can buy dinosaur toys inside of it! You can also buy Creationist "educational materials!" The book whose cover featured Jesus riding a velociraptor was a highlight, for sure.
posted by mandanza at 11:58 AM on July 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's not as obviously special as most of the buildings here, but I have always loved that this Bagel Mart took over the space in this round building that was original a tire showroom.

I have now been to this place and can tell you that yes, that make a reasonably good bagel.
posted by maryr at 12:58 PM on July 28, 2016

Through the magic of Google Street View, I can share one of these from my hometown that's changed branding over the years. Originally a plant for Solo Cups, the logo on the cup was changed when the Dart Container Company bought out Solo in 2012.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:10 PM on July 29, 2016 [2 favorites]