It was one of many sentiments expressed in cut out letters across treetops by Tom Gaskins. They made for eye-catching advertisements on the once tourist heavy US 27 in Florida. Those who dropped in on Gaskins' dual roadside attraction near Lake Okeechobee usually remembered him in a single word - eccentric.

Tom devoted much of his life to the knotty growths on cypress tree roots or "knees." To him, they were found works of art. Beginning in 1938, he also tried to manipulate their growth with weights, bottles and other items, to get a desired shape. Gaskins would cultivate and boil the masterpieces for his Cypress Knee Museum. The showplace, once the site of a railroad camp, featured cypress shapes collected from throughout the southeastern United States. The woody works depicted famous faces from Flipper to Hitler. Each was marked with a wooden place card description.

The Orange Blossom Trail Association referred to Gaskins as "quite imaginative" on their free maps of US 27.

The museum stood on the south side of US 27. On the north side was a gift shop and rickety series of catwalks through the swamp. The hand-built trail wound its way past Gaskins' botanical experiments.

Tom showed off his knees at the 1939 New York World's Fair. A greater fame would come later in his life with guest appearances on Carson, Leno and Sally Jessie Rafael. He noted the milestones with more letter trees.

Tom Gaskins died in 1998. The museum trudged on through the swamp at the hands of Tom Gaskins Jr. After a knee burglary in 2000, it was forced to close. Back on Tack paid a visit not long after. Although it appeared a family was living in a house on the property, they seemed unaffected by strangers exploring the site - perhaps even used to the intrusion. The museum and its land were largely overgrown in weeds. Tom's shouting trees were still holding their ground, though in disrepair. The World's Largest Transplanted Cypress Tree loomed overhead.

"This place is real Florida. It's not a plastic mouse show." Tom Gaskins Jr.

Gaskins' museum is still of the highest standing with both roadside historians and some in the art community. Its popularity with Florida vacationers peeked throughout the 1950s. Its prominence was weakened in the face of a new highway system and a state economy fixated on central Florida. As much as the Gaskins family would have liked to, it was nearly impossible to forget Disney.

Cypress Knee Museum
US 27
Palmdale, FL