Lady down, but after the collapse of an 80ft Brazilian replica in a storm a celebration here of the others, as we hold a torch for all our Statues of Liberty.
Particularly with 2026 in the Oo Es of Eh marking 140 years.
Since the erection of the first and most famous on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.
Army of Ladies
The enfant of French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and Gustave Eiffel, mais oui, that one.
Back in the days when the Americans and the French were the best of amis.
Now, we’re not sure if the 305ft Statue of Liberty is the most replicated statue in the world.
But there are hundreds of them.
And wouldn’t it be a great game to go around getting selfies at all, or as many as we can, of them?
But clearly not when it’s stormy.
Two for the price of one
Now somebody’s obviously done it before and if they haven’t I’ve just blown it by giving them the idea.
But how about ticking off the two hundred or so in the Oo Es of Eh, with one Coloradan chum telling us of two in the Centenary State.
Of course, there is none quite like Lady Liberty, whose torch was a beacon of hope for millions.
Sailing in from the Old World, like my four uncles.
And the sight of which for any flyer on their first visit to New York, and I was just 17, is also truly stirring.
Did you know though that upstate there are two Lady Liberties in the one monument and that they are 100 years old this year?
The two Liberties stand 333ft above downtown Buffalo.
On top of step pyramids at either end of a block-long building.
Each is 30ft tall and has an interior ladder that can be climbed to its torch.
Although disappointingly we aren’t allowed to do that any more.
Though disclaimer we were never up there to get into trouble, honest!
Get an eyeful of Paris
Now, it’s as it should be that Paris should have its own Statue of Liberty, but eight?
A present from the Americans in Paris to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution, this one sits on its own island too.
And it’s the biggest too, at 37ft 9ins), a quarter as big as the one in New York.
Originally facing the Eiffel Tower it was turned around in 1937 to face the Big Apple.
While among the others the Left Bank has its very own.
In the grand central aisle on the ground floor of the Musee d’Orsay on the Left Bank.
And, naturellement, the land of Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite there’s a a 40ft high version in Colmar and a terracotta replica in Lyon.
And one in Bordeaux, seized by Nazis in World War Two (and replaced many years later).
Been there, seen that
Now, it will come as little surprise to those who know and love the museum-loving Dutch that they will have their own kooky version of the Statue of Liberty.
With a 33ft replica of Lady Liberty holding a can of beans in Assen, which we’re reliably told is a thing in the region.
Or that in the village of Cadaqués in Spain which Salvador Dali called home, there is an unusual version on top of a small tourism office.
With both arms and hands up holding torches.
That Lady Liberty has spread her arms around the world obviously pleases this wide-eyed adventurer and idealist.
We expect the boys (and girls) from Brazil will get Lady Liberty back on the plinth in Guaiba, Rio Grande do Sul.
And were we there we’d be putting our hand up to help too.
