Oscar Mayer

If you’ve been wondering whether a life-size chocolate moose exists or not, YOU ARE IN LUCK, my friend! The world’s only successful execution of such a wonder resides in Portland, Maine. Weighing in at 1,700 pounds of fine grade milk chocolate, it is housed at Len Libby, a handmade candies shop. His name is Lenny. The ad on our Portland map teased us with such persuasive copy reading, “Come meet Lenny”. There’s nothing Hotdoggers love more than extravagantly large creations of America’s favorite foods and objects. It turned out that before his unveiling on July 1, 1997, Lenny was sculpted in four weeks on-site and stands in a pond of tinted white chocolate. After seeing Lenny, I couldn’t help picking out some of my favorite candy combinations (peanut butter, cashews, chocolate, carmel) from behind the glass of assorted treats at the shop.

The East Team "meats" Lenny, such a deliciously handsome moose.

Many may wonder what the use of this huge chocolate moose is. Is it because this glorious mammal has been Maine’s official state animal since 1979? Is it because moose are naturally brown and so is chocolate? The Hemond Family’s motivation for creating the chocolate moose was for their customer’s enjoyment. While Lenny can’t move like the Wienermobile, I bet he gets several smiles per visit just like the Wienermobile.