Giant Nutcracker Head

Orange, Virginia

Over 30 feet high, the nutcracker is a bug-eyed, mustachioed man wearing an old-fashioned military cap, with the usual prominent and creepy nutcracker teeth.

In a previous life the nutcracker was a tar storage tank for a paving company. Bob Langford Sr., who runs a paint company, bought the property, and in 2005 decided to paint the tank into a likeness a three-foot-high nutcracker that he owned. He added enhancements as well: truncated arms made of corrugated PVC pipe, eye pupils made from circular saw blades, a hat visor made from the hood of a 1979 Chevy truck. The pom-pom on the nutcracker's hat is an exercise ball covered with fiberglass.

We visited in October, and the nutcracker was still draped in Christmas lights from the previous year.

Visitors who look carefully will see that a cable runs from the nutcracker's nostrils to his upper lip. Yes, the nutcracker's jaws are designed to open and close, making it even more terrifying, although Langford hasn't yet found a motor powerful enough for the job. He said he's been told by Guinness World Records that once he gets the jaws working, his nutcracker may qualify as the largest in the world.