Jul 5 2007
Acme Brick is celebrating America's birthday and Acme's 116th year in a really big way -- in fact over 6,000 pounds big. On July 4th at 06:00 a.m. the staff of Acme's Denton, Texas brick plant "delivered" Baby Clay the World's largest brick. This "Baby" sets all kinds of records because he weighs in at over three tons and is 116 inches long (9 ft., 8 in.) - one inch for every year that Acme has been in business. That makes Clay nearly 3,000 times the size of a standard brick.
Acme President and CEO Dennis Knautz said, "We think that the creation of Clay demonstrates exceptional expertise among our brick making staff. This was a huge, unprecedented challenge for them. It seems fitting that one of America's oldest, and the World's largest American-owned brick company should produce the World's largest brick to commemorate Acme's 116 years in business."
The newborn was named Clay because he is comprised of clay materials from each of Acme's 23 brick plants around the Southwest. This giant brick, which will be entered in the Guinness Book of World Records competition, also measures 39 inches tall and 39 inches wide.
Baby Clay is Acme's fifth attempt to create this likely world record brick. The first four attempts, beginning in September 2004, were tremendous learning experiences for the determined brick makers. The crew made adjustments and the fifth time was the charm. Acme's Denton plant required 13 months to create Baby Clay compared to the normal time of a week for a normal brick. "I think that the successful birth of Baby Clay also says something about the traditional American values of hard work and persistence as demonstrated by Harland Dixson (Acme's plant manager), Mack Wilcox, our project manager, and his crew," said company President, Knautz.
During the remainder of 2007, Baby Clay will visit Acme offices and plants in celebration of the company's 116th birthday. A special trailer has been created to accommodate the newborn in his travels. It is anticipated that Clay will be making a number of "guest" appearances in other venues as well.