For the past two years, I have compiled posts (2006, 2007) with a list of interesting or stupid things that towns and cities across the US “drop” (or lower) from downtown buildings. These civic celebrations are based on the ball that drops in Times Square in New York. My reasons for compiling this list is because I am also influenced by Raleigh’s acorn and Mt. Olive, NC’s pickle.
Last year I discovered this Wikipedia article which greatly simplified my search. The following list of items comes from this article and previous searches:
acorn, anchor, antique trunk, apple, bag of potato chips, ball, beach ball, bologna, bottle of Yuengling beer, broasted chicken, canal boat, carp, cigar, cigar held by a lion, coal, conch shell, cow, crab, drag queen, Ford Edge, frog, goat, gumbo pot, hard hat, Hershey Kiss, hog, huckleberry, Indy car, lollipop, M&M, Moravian star, mossbunker fish, nugget, orange, peach, pear, Peep, pickle, pine cone, ping pong balls, pirate wench, planet earth, possum, pretzel, red rose, sardine, sausage, shoe, sled, sphoctogon, spring, star, steamroller, strawberry, sunburst, ukulele, walleye, white rose, wildcat, wooden duck, wrench
Out of 61 things listed, 30% are food, while 15% are animals. The only live animal I know about is the possum in Brasstown, NC. Many of the items are related to the town’s name (Shippensburg, PA: anchor) or a town’s best-known product (Hershey, PA: Hershey Kiss, Pottsville, PA: Yuengling).
Geographically, the following 19 states are represented in the article, and Pennsylvania has the most drops with 36 cities and towns listed.
Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin
There are many states not included. I would like your help, and your friends’ help, in expanding this list. Please comment below if you know of anything else that drops, or a state not listed that has a drop. Please include a link if possible, and I can update Wikipedia.
Thanks for your help and have a Happy New Year.
