Tulsa, Oklahoma: Golden Driller: Titanic Oil Man

September, 2013: Sadly, the Golden Driller's mighty, golden torso is currently sullied with a dark T-shirt shilling for a local radio station. In addition, his oil well blazes a different ad on all four sides. Even the big GD had his price. "Pitiful, just pitiful," as another oil man, Jed Clampett was fond of saying.

It has been told to us for generations: My Great Uncle Doc was the model for the statue. Several other great uncles and Doc were the ones that moved the statue to its current location. Having been a Tulsa citizen for almost 50 years, I've seen repairs done over the years. I hope to find a picture to see if there is a resemblance.

The Golden Driller - that huge mustard yellow guy that stands over the Tulsa Fairgrounds...was originally not going to be a "guy" at all.

My grandmother told me the story of how my Great-Aunt Margree posed for the first statue - in the nude, no less, and holding up a flaming torch to represent the "oil" part. She was only 18 or so at the time, and was chosen for her beauty (obviously) but also because she had so many younger siblings that she looked after, so her arms were so strong from carrying them around all day that she didn't get tired holding that torch up for hours on end while the artist made a miniature sculpture.

Ultimately, however, the city went with the Golden Driller guy instead, which is probably a good thing. Although it would be fun to take people there and say "See that huge naked chick? That's my great aunt!"

The giant Tulsa Oil Man Statue now has a little friend at his feet: the Roustabird. It appears to be a statue of a filthy oil drilling penguin in overalls and a hard hat (like his giant master).

The infamous "Golden Driller" oil man statue in Tulsa now sports several necklaces of love beads. I'm not sure how long they will be up, but I believe they were put there to call attention to an art exhibit at the Philbrook, oddly enough (the Philbrook is a hoity-toity museum housed in the old Waite Phillips -- of Phillips Petroleum -- home in Tulsa.) You might also like to know that occasionally a local classic rock radio station, KMOD "The Rainbow Station," dresses the Driller in a T-shirt with their logo.

Apparently the love beads on the statue have created a stir among certain elements in Tulsa, who believe that bead necklaces make the Driller somewhat unmanly. Why people feel this way about a hollow statue which is probably anatomically incorrect is beyond me.