DALLAS TX— Jeans with an inseam measurement of 16 feet just won't fit in an ordinary washing machine, so workers at the State Fair of Texas send mascot Big Tex's clothes to the dry cleaner.
Since 1980, Dee & Hattie Specialty Cleaners of Dallas has gotten the 52-foot-tall cowboy ready to greet visitors to the fair.
"He's one of our biggest celebrities," said Jeff Barnes, production manager for the dry-cleaning shop, which laundered Barbara Bush's wedding dress, cleaned gowns for Lady Bird Johnson, and became a favorite of the Dallas elite.
Unlike some of the cleaner's other clients, Big Tex doesn't spill champagne or hors d'oeuvres on himself, but he does get pretty musty from standing out in the sun, rain and wind for a month each fall.
And with 22-foot sleeves, cleaning his clothes is a big job.
Cleaning the big guy's duds is "one of those behind-the-scenes things that people don't think about, but you have to find someone who can do it," said Ray Landin, the special-events coordinator for the fair.
Landin takes Big Tex's Williamson-Dickie's denim jeans and canvas shirt to the cleaner each spring and picks them up about a month before the fair starts. Dee & Hattie needs the extra time because workers have to stop everything else while attending to the cowboy's outfit.
The clothes are washed in a big washer with cool water and low-alkaline soap to prevent fading and running of the red, white and blue colors. No starch, by the way.
The state fair pays $600 for the job, which includes cleaning his two yellow bandanas. MagazineLane.com - Elf Cosmetics
Since 1980, Dee & Hattie Specialty Cleaners of Dallas has gotten the 52-foot-tall cowboy ready to greet visitors to the fair.
"He's one of our biggest celebrities," said Jeff Barnes, production manager for the dry-cleaning shop, which laundered Barbara Bush's wedding dress, cleaned gowns for Lady Bird Johnson, and became a favorite of the Dallas elite.
Unlike some of the cleaner's other clients, Big Tex doesn't spill champagne or hors d'oeuvres on himself, but he does get pretty musty from standing out in the sun, rain and wind for a month each fall.
And with 22-foot sleeves, cleaning his clothes is a big job.
Cleaning the big guy's duds is "one of those behind-the-scenes things that people don't think about, but you have to find someone who can do it," said Ray Landin, the special-events coordinator for the fair.
Landin takes Big Tex's Williamson-Dickie's denim jeans and canvas shirt to the cleaner each spring and picks them up about a month before the fair starts. Dee & Hattie needs the extra time because workers have to stop everything else while attending to the cowboy's outfit.
The clothes are washed in a big washer with cool water and low-alkaline soap to prevent fading and running of the red, white and blue colors. No starch, by the way.
The state fair pays $600 for the job, which includes cleaning his two yellow bandanas. MagazineLane.com - Elf Cosmetics
