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All the United States Nevada Baker Permanent Wave Society

Permanent Wave Society

A whimsical, punny collection of "fence art" outside the tiny mountain town of Baker, Nevada.

Baker, Nevada

Added By
Lew Blank
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A Horse With No Mane in a 1918 Essex   Wheeler Cowperthwaite / CC BY-SA 2.0
O-1 alien   Wheeler Cowperthwaite / CC BY-SA 2.0
Too Tall Tony   Wheeler Cowperthwaite / CC BY-SA 2.0
Close up of A Horse With No Mane   Wheeler Cowperthwaite / CC BY-SA 2.0
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
can’t fence me in   gpers / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Along Nevada State Routes 487 and 488, a beloved roadside collection of whimsical and punny junk art has amused travelers en route to the Lehman Caves and Great Basin National Park for years.

The collection of figures and statues—known as “Post” Impressionist Art due to its placement on fence posts—was initiated in 1997 by “Doc” Sherman, who found the practice of creating art to be therapeutic for his partially paralyzed body. Sherman’s first creation was a pair of rubber gloves filled with cement hung on the roadside fence—hence the name, "Permanent Wave."

Over the course of two decades, the tongue-in-cheek collection has expanded to creations by other artists in the adjacent town of Baker, Nevada. It now features a skeleton rising from a grave, a “Horse with No Mane” sitting in a rusted 1918 Essex, and “Too Tall Tony,” whose large body can’t fit in his tomb. Perhaps the punniest feature of the Permanent Wave Society is a man scrubbing a 2,000 pound weight, ingeniously named “Washing-ton.”

The small and beautiful town of Baker offers a wide variety of other little-known attractions, including the Border Inn, a hotel whose rooms are in Utah while its office, restaurant, and casino are located in Nevada. This technically means that if guests at the Border Inn want breakfast at 8 a.m., they wouldn’t need to leave their rooms until 9 a.m.

Related Tags

Travelnevada Sculptures Roadside Attractions Borders Sponsored

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Added By

lewblank

Edited By

ehorkley, Collector of Experiences, gpers

  • ehorkley
  • Collector of Experiences
  • gpers

Published

May 15, 2017

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Sources
  • https://travelnevada.com/regions/north-central/baker
  • http://www.exploringnevada.com/towns/baker.php
  • http://tdebleyreflections.blogspot.com/2011/10/whimsical-found-art-of-remote-baker.html
  • https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/art-lovers-blast-ndot-for-removing-roadside-sculptures-near-great-basin-national-park/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Inn
  • http://www.greatbasinpark.com/
  • http://www.greatbasinheritage.org/baker-nevada
Permanent Wave Society
Highway 487 and Highway 488
Baker, Nevada
United States
39.014354, -114.144273
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Baker Archaeological Site

Baker, Nevada

miles away

The Bristlecone Pines of the Great Basin

Baker, Nevada

miles away

Lehman Caves

Baker, Nevada

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Baker

Baker

Nevada

Places 6

Nearby Places

Baker Archaeological Site

Baker, Nevada

miles away

The Bristlecone Pines of the Great Basin

Baker, Nevada

miles away

Lehman Caves

Baker, Nevada

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Baker

Baker

Nevada

Places 6

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