Me, Mastodon, and the Gavle Goat
What is the Gävle Goat anyway?
The Gävle Goat is a large straw goat erected as a Christmas display in the town of Gävle in Sweden. It’s a representation of the traditional Yule Goat - or Julbocken - which features in various Yule and Christmas traditions in Scandinavia.
Back in 1966 Stig Gavlén, an advertising consultant, came up with the idea of building a large Yule Goat display to attract people to the local shops and restaurants. On 1 December 1966, the local fire department erected the first Gävle Goat. It was 13-metres high, 7 metres long, and weighed 3 tonnes. Impressive! It stood through to the 31st of December, when a vandal burned it down.
