“Lego® Group Will Introduce Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® Model,” by S.M. O’Connor

Lego System A/S (doing business as The LEGO® Group) announced yesterday, Tuesday, July 9, 2019 that its latest Lego Creator Expert model would be a Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy®. V.I.P. members will be able to purchase it exclusively on Friday, July 19, 2019, but as far as the general public is concerned, it will appear on LEGO Store shelves and become available through the online LEGO® Shop on Thursday, August 1, 2019. As a LEGO® Creator Expert set, this model is for adults and teenagers ages sixteen-and-over. In the United States of America, the list price is $99.99.

Developed in collaboration with Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Harley-Davidson, Inc. this detailed LEGO® interpretation of the motorcycle captures the beauty of the real-life machine with finishes, surfaces, and design elements crafted to replicate the full-size Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy®. Comprised of 1,023 pieces, the model comes complete with solid-disc Lakester wheels, Harley-Davidson’s distinctive teardrop fuel tank, integrated speedometer, dual exhaust pipes, and a display stand.

The finished model measures over seven inches (twenty centimeters) high, seven inches (eighteen centimeters) wide, and twelve inches (thirty-three centimeters) long. It features several moveable parts for owners to engage. One can spin the rear tire to see the Milwaukee-Eight^® engine with moving pistons and dual exhaust pipes spring to life; turn the handlebar; move the gear shift and brake levers; and flip down the motorcycle’s kickstand for easy parking. Finished with an authentic dark-red-and-black color scheme with Harley-Davidson^® logos on each side reflective of the 2019 Fat Boy® motorcycle’s “Wicked Red” paint scheme, it makes for a splendid display centerpiece for the home or office.

“Bringing this Harley-Davidson motorcycle to life in brick form is incredibly exciting,” stated Mike Psiaki, Design Master at The LEGO Group®. “The model truly captures the iconic design, advanced engineering and attention to detail of this iconic motorcycle, offering an immersive building experience and a unique collector’s item for Harley-Davidson enthusiasts and LEGO fans of all ages.”

“It’s been exceptionally exciting for Harley-Davidson to collaborate with the LEGO Group – another brand that champions creativity and expression,” stated Heather Malenshek, Chief Marketing Officer at Harley-Davidson®. “Not only do we want customers to be inspired by the end result, we want them to enjoy the building process.”

“The authenticity of Harley-Davidson design comes by sweating the details from start to finish.” stated Brad Richards, Vice President of Styling & Design at Harley-Davidson®. “We looked at every nut and bolt on the bike, all the finishes, and every small detail. Working with the LEGO team on this project allowed us to bring that same attention to detail to a collaborative product, and to celebrate a brand that inspired the imagination and creativity of many of us at Harley-Davidson from a young age, including myself.”

Credit: The LEGO® Group Caption: The LEGO® Group, in collaboration with Harley-Davidson, Inc., is introducing a LEGO® Creator Expert model of the Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy®.

Figure 1 Credit: The LEGO® Group Caption: Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® (Set #10269) in the LEGO® Creator Expert subtheme is for adults and teens ages sixteen-and-over. The list price (in the U.S.A.) is $99.99.

Figure 2 Credit: The LEGO® Group Caption: The licensed Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® (Set #10269) is finished with an authentic dark-red-and-black color scheme with Harley-Davidson^® logos on each side reflective of the 2019 Fat Boy® motorcycle’s “Wicked Red” paint scheme.

Figure 3 Credit: The LEGO® Group Caption: The licensed Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® (Set #10269) makes for a splendid display centerpiece for the home or office.

Figure 4 Credit: The LEGO® Group Caption: In the foreground, we see a Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® (Set #10269) model from the LEGO® Creator Expert subtheme, and, in the background, we see a real Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® motorcycle.

Figure 5 Credit: The LEGO® Group Caption: In the foreground, we see a Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy® (Set #10269) model on a table, and, in the background, we see a real Harley-Davidson® motorcycle against a wall. Notice the model replicates the teardrop-shaped gas tank of the real motorcycle.

Figure 6 Credit: The LEGO® Group Caption: The LEGO® Group stated, “This advanced LEGO set provides an immersive and rewarding building experience.”

Figure 7 Credit: The LEGO® Group Caption: The finished model measures over 7” high, 7” wide, and 12” twelve long. It features several moveable parts for owners to engage. One can spin the rear tire to see the Milwaukee-Eight^® engine with moving pistons and dual exhaust pipes spring to life.

To promote the launch, LEGO® Master Builders created a life-sized model of the Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy®, complete with silver-coated parts, Wi-Fi animation control, and sound and light effects to imitate a real Harley-Davidson^® Fat Boy^®. It includes 6,000 special LEGO® elements. The phenomenal creation took 865 man-hours to build. Comprised of 69,569 pieces, it will be on display at select LEGO® stores and Harley-Davidson® events for fans to see.

Figure 8 Credit: The LEGO® Group Caption: This is the life-size model of a Harley-Davidson® Fat Boy ® built by LEGO® Master Builders.

In 1901, William Harley (1880-1943) drew a blueprint for a small engine with four-inch flywheels that could be mounted on a bicycle frame. Two years later, he went into business with his boyhood friend Arthur Davidson, Senior (1881-1950). Their first motorcycle was not powerful enough to climb the hills around Milwaukee, so they developed a larger engine with 9.75 flywheels that weighed twenty-eight pounds. William Harley and Arthur Davidson manufactured their first motorcycles in a 10’ by 15’ wooden shed in the backyard of the Davidson family. Their first production motorcycle was a racer. It had a 3 1/8 inch bore and a 3 ½ inch stroke. William Harley and Arthur Davidson attributed the construction of their first production motorcycle to Walter Davidson (1876-1942), a self-taught electrician and machinist who joined them at work in the shed. He also served as the first General Manager and President of Harley-Davidson from 1907 until his death in 1942. One of their first customers was Henry Meyer, another Milwaukee resident and boyhood friend. In 1905, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company hired its first employee and C.H. Lang of Chicago opened the first Harley-Davidson dealership. In 1907, William A. Davidson (1870-1937) quit his job as a tool foreman for the Milwaukee Road railroad and joined William Harley, Arthur Davidson, and Walter Davidson in Harley-Davidson Motor Company. [The Davidson brothers and their two sisters (Janet May and Elizabeth) were born to William C. Davidson (1846-1923), a Scottish immigrant, and his wife, Margaret Adams McFarlane (1843-1933), a native-born American of Scottish descent.] That same year, the company incorporated and they split the stock four ways between Harley and the Davidson brothers. They also built a new factory that measures 28’ by 80’ on Chestnut Street (now Juneau Avenue). Arthur Davidson became Secretary and General Sales Manager. He built up the international network of dealerships and also founded the Harley-Davidson Service School.

Today, Harley-Davidson, Inc. is the parent company of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company and Harley-Davidson Financial Services. The former manufacturers Harley-Davidson® motorcycles, parts, and accessories while the latter is the lender that enables many Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners to purchase the vehicles and also sells insurance, protection plans, and extended service plans to cover those same vehicles. They also offer a Harley-Davidson®-branded Visa card. There are over 1,400 independently-owned Harley-Davidson® motorcycle dealerships, many of which sell Harley-Davidson® motorcycles and motorcycle parts exclusively. The Harley-Davidson® Motor Company and dealerships also sell Harley-Davidson® motorcycle riding apparel and gear, as well as casual apparel. It has been over a decade since I went there, but they also had a marvelous Harley-Davidson Museum® & Archives at the intersection of 6^th Street and Canal Street in Milwaukee. I do not recall if it was there when I visited, but the H-D Museum also has the Motor® Restaurant.

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The Field Museum of Natural History in March, 2018

The Field Museum of Natural History’s entrance pavilions are at opposite ends of Stanley Field Hall, which has a north-south axis. The two porticos (porches) are each reached by two successive flights of stairs.

Both porticos of The Field Museum of Natural History are flanked by two small porches, which each have two caryatids (columns in the shape of maidens). On the facade, the wings are adorned with a colonnade of attached fluted Ionic columns. The building’s fluted Ionic columns have volutes (spiral-scroll-shaped crowns).

Each portico of The Field Museum is tetrastyle in antis with double-ranked fluted Ionic columns capped by volutes. An entablature crowned by a pediment rests atop the columns. The continuous frieze in each case is relatively plain. The wave-themed acroteria that crown the pediments are borrowed from the Palace of a Fine Arts, which housed The Field Museum until 1920 and now houses the Museum of Science and Industry.

The Field Museum of Natural History isn’t “just” a museum. Visitors can watch scientists at work through windows at the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice DNA Discovery Center’s Pritzker Laboratory.

Mrs. Charles (Laura) Schweppe, a daughter and co-heiress of John Graves Shedd, the former partner of Marshall Field I who succeeded him as president of Marshall Field & Company, and who, under the guidance of Stanley Field founded the Shedd Aquarium, donated an exhibit of 100 bronze sculptures by Malvina Hoffman to The Field Museum. They represent every race, nation, and tribe in the human family (more or less). On January 9, 1933, the first group, Unity of Man, went on display.

In addition to the four figures Henry Hering (1874-1949) made for the corners of Stanley Field Hall, he also made the twelve plaster round lion head shield escutcheons that line it. These are replicas of the marble round lion head shield escutcheon he made for the pediment of the facade of The Field Museum of Natural History.

Christmas at Chicago’s Union Station

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is a POLAR EXPRESS display in the Great Hall of Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is a closeup of the THE POLAR EXPRESS steam locomotive mock-up in the Great Hall of Chicago’s Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is the headlamp of THE POLAR EXPRESS steam locomotive mock-up in the Great Hall of Chicago’s Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This Union Station Company rail car loaded with super-size gifts is part of THE POLAR EXPRESS mock-up in the Great Hall of Chicago’s Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is a Christmas tree in the Great Hall of Chicago’s Union Station.

Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This Christmas tree in the Great Hall of Union Station in downtown Chicago has emblems of Amtrak, Metra, and historic railroad companies whose routes they now operate like Burlington.

Cinemas sculptor Alfonso Iannelli (1888-1965) Helped Design

This is the Pickwick Theatre Building, an Art Deco movie palace and office building erected in downtown Park Ridge, Illinois in 1928.

The architects were Roscoe Harold Zook and William F. McCaughey. Sculptor Alfonso Iannelli, who also worked on the Adler Planetarium, contributed to this building.

In recent years, the Vlahakis family, who’ve owned the building for 50 years, have been able to turn the building into a multiplex by adding smaller theaters around the original auditorium. The latest one, with a screen four times the size of the one in the auditorium, will open in time to screen INFINITY WARS in May, if all goes well.

The Catlow Movie Theater is a cinema that opened in downtown Barrington, Illinois in 1927. The Tudor Revival style of architecture is not confined to the facade of the cinema. As with the Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, Illinois, sculptor Alfonso Iannelli (1888-1965) played a role in the design and decoration of The Catlow Movie Theater.