Remodeled chest of drawers with its original wood stain exterior.

World's Largest Chest of Drawers

High Point, North Carolina

The "Home Furnishings Capital of the World" is crowded with furniture manufacturing operations, pier wall bargain hunters, even a Furniture Discovery Center. So it should be no surprise that High Point has not one, but two giant chests of drawers.

The original chest of drawers was built in 1926 by the High Point Chamber of Commerce. The 20-foot-tall building-with-knobs served as the local "bureau of information." It was rebuilt in 1950, then again in 1996, when the building was completely renovated and converted into a 38-foot-tall Goddard-Townsend block front chest. A real chest was used as a prototype -- it can be viewed in the Lobby of the local visitor information center.

Furnitureland's rival Highboy.

Two gigantic socks dangle from a drawer, officially symbolizing "the city's hosiery industry."

It's an impressive improvement from the original chest of drawers, clearly shoving the better-known big chair brouhaha into a dusty corner. So we have to wonder how High Point officials felt when Furnitureland South, way out near the interstate, threw up their own chest of drawers -- over 80 feet tall. It's not freestanding -- it's just an attachment to a big furniture store -- but c'mon... it's twice as big!

Since the fabrication technology exists, the next step seems obvious. Turn every building in downtown High Point into a piece of American Colonial furniture.