Where Was Gumbo? Paris. Where’s the Statue? Everywhere!

Where in the World was TravelGumbo? If we simply said “At the Statue of Liberty,” it wouldn’t have been a very precise identification, because, as I found and you shall see, the iconic statue is everywhere and in so many forms!

In today’s blog, I’m offering about 30 different variations, with not a single picture of the “original” in New York Harbor. As Jonathan L, and Roderick Simpson, and PortMoresby (in that order) realized, Gumbo was visiting one of the replica’s in the Green Lady’s hometown, Paris. It’s on the Ile aux Cygnes, a narrow strip island built in the 1820s to protect nearby port facilities. It’s nearly 3000 feet long and only 36 feet wide. That’s it, below; the statue is at the far end.

This replica statue of Liberty has a strong tie to the New York one. It’s 1/4 the size, and was given to the city of Paris on July 4, 1889 as a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. That’s why it has the second date on it, July 14, 1789. An odd fact: the statue originally faced east, toward Paris and the Eiffel Tower; in 1937, when Paris was hosting an Exposition Universelle, the statue was turned west to fact it, and its sibling in New York.

It’s not the only Paris Liberty; there’s another in the Jardin du Luxembourg, above right, that was built by Bartholdi, sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, as a working model for the final work. There’s a small one in the Musee d’Orsay, and another at the Musee des Arts et Metiers (ablove left). Two more that have an attachment of their own to the original are this one (below left) in Colmar, in Eastern France, home of Liberty’s creator, Bartholdi, and (below right) in Visnes, Norway, at the mine that supplied the copper for the original statue.

As a powerful symbol, the statue often appears in political cartoons and caricatures where features are intentionally distorted or reshaped. Many of the replica statues, too, are not true copies, but approximations. Keep an eye as you look at the parade below, for how often an unusual expression appears on Liberty’s face, and how much the flame of her torch varies, or even disappears. The gallery here is far from all there are, or even all I found. If you have a favorite I missed, feel free to attach it to a comment!

Odd expression, Sioux Falls, SD (l) ; Brooklyn refugee from Manhattan warehouse roof.

Two odd versions in Israel; concrete on left in Arrabe, and “erector set” Jerusalem. And speaking of “erector set,” here’s a Lego version that toured as an advertising display a few years ago.