World's Largest Talking Cow in Wisconsin

Wisconsin may be most famously known for being the land of cheese, beer, and Packers, but perhaps the number of huge cows that live there should be added to the list too.

Weird Things in Wisconsin

You can find a whole lot strange in every town, city, or village throughout the World if you look hard enough, and the state of Wisconsin is no exception. While some people may not understand Wisconsin's obsession with good cheese or Old Fashioneds, these are things I happen to love about our neighbors to the North.

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My family spends a lot of our free time in Wisconsin, so I feel like I've done and seen most of the must-have things the state has to offer, but it turns out I am wrong. I was only today years old when I learned that Wisconsin is home to several "celebrity" cows, but few are as famous as Neillsville, Wisconsin's Chatty Belle.

History of Neillsville, Wisconsin's Chatty Belle Talking Cow

Just so everyone is on the same page here, Chatty Belle is not a real-life cow, she's a massive fiberglass cow that talks, and she has a pretty fascinating history too!

According to Love Wisconsin;

(Chatty Belle) is a talking cow from the 1964 World’s Fair. The story goes that she was the main entrant from the state of Wisconsin. They also had a pavilion building that sat right next to her.
After the fair was over, they were planning to demolish the cow and the building. But then a blacksmith from Boscobel, Mr. Ivan Wilcox, saved the day. He purchased them both and brought them back to Wisconsin from New York.

While on the road back to Wisconsin, the pavilion that stood next to Chatty Belle was destroyed by an overpass in Madison and Mr. Wilcox didn't have the funds to restore it. Wilcox then sold the tattered building, and the massive cow, to Central Wisconsin Broadcasting who brought them to Neillsville in 1966.

After getting the cow established in her new home, Central Wisconsin Broadcasting ran a radio contest to find a name, and a 1st grader from Lodi won for the name Chatty Belle. (The grand prize was 100 pounds of butter, LOL!)

Chatty Belle's "voice" changes for special holidays and seasons, and she's even been known to play some April Fools' Day pranks.

Famous Wisconsin comedian Charlie Berens of the Manitowoc Minute did a piece on Chatty Belle and a few of Wisconsin's other famous cows a couple of years ago, and now I want to go visit them all too...

Here are some more cool, (and some strange), things you need to check out the next time you're in Wisconsin too...