CONWAY, Ark. (AP) - A group of Arkansas college students has set the world record for the world's largest Christmas stocking.
As official representative of Guinness World Records, Stuart Claxton of England flew in from New York to measure the stocking Saturday. And it met, and surpassed, the mark at 53 feet, 10 inches long and 26 feet, 112 inches wide from heel to toe.
The red, white, green and gold sock with the 30-foot zipper beat the previous record set in December 2004 by the community of Old Town Spring, Texas. The Texas stocking was 40 feet, 6 inches long and 15 feet 6 inches wide, Claxton said.
But Claxton said the stocking isn't the first time Arkansans have set a Guinness World Record. Among the state's other accomplishments are the heaviest twins, who weighed a total of 27.12 pounds when they were born Feb. 20, 1924. And a Sherwood man, Daniel Williams, who recorded the longest eyelash, at 2 inches, in June 2005.
Graduating senior Brittany Jones of the University of Central Arkansas and other students created the monstrous sock, using 180 yards of fleece, 27 spools of thread, 350 yards of ribbon, 30 yards of cotton, 25 yards of felt, 103 sticks of hot glue, a half-gallon of fabric paint and more than 500 hours of labor.
They stuffed it with 600 teddy bears, 570 stuffed toys, more than 1,000 toy trucks, 423 Barbie dolls, 380 baby dolls, 682 books, some 200 board games, 163 sets of Legos, 75 footballs, 11 bicycles and thousands more toys. The toys will be distributed through charitable organizations to children around the state.
Before the measuring, workers pushed wagons and dollies loaded with toys and rode bicycles into the stocking. Promoters also reported more than 500 coats, hats and assorted clothes were donated.
While an Elvis impersonator crooned Christmas songs, cameras flashed, and Santa Claus listened to wishes from children, Claxton and a helper used a yellow tape measure and a long red level to size up the sock. For a stocking to qualify, it had to be made with traditional materials and be filled with presents.
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