King Spud - Potato Capital Sign
Blackfoot, Idaho
King Spud is an important symbol of potato primacy for Blackfoot, Idaho. He's a cartoon version of a potato, with spindly arms and legs, wearing a royal crown. When we first visited Blackfoot in 1992, the King Spud sign was one of our favorite sights when approaching the town's potato museum. So on a recent visit, we panicked a little when we didn't see it along the road.
"What happened to King Spud?" one of us blubbered to the museum director. "Who would destroy the King Spud sign?"
We were assured the old sign was not destroyed, just redeployed to another road feeding into town, out by the airport. We headed there to check and found it in decent shape, using the marquee to decree important messages to his subjects.