Monty

RORY: So did you guys find it okay?
PARIS: There’s no sign on this street.
RORY: I know, that’s why I told you to turn right at the big rooster statue.
PARIS: I thought you were kidding.
LORELAI: Oh no, we never kid about Monty.

There are numerous examples of big statues across the United Statues, often of ordinary things like animals and fruit. They are generally used as roadside attractions or as markers for a particular business. Stars Hollow seems to have one of a big rooster, affectionately known as “Monty” (by the Gilmore girls at least, who love to give names to inanimate objects), which marks the turn off to the Gilmores’ street, as the sign has quirkily fallen down or disappeared, and never been replaced. I feel as if the officious Taylor would not allow that to happen, but perhaps his powers were not yet so all-encompassing.

Rather disappointingly, this giant rooster is never shown, or discussed again, and it is not known why it was erected, or even if it was taken down at some point. We learn in the next episode that the Gilmores’ friend and neighbour Miss Patty raises chickens, and it is possible that Monty is there as a marker for her (hypothetical) side-business of selling eggs and/or poultry. It could be a marker for another type of rural business, or possibly Stars Hollow or its county is particularly famous for its poultry.

There is a big rooster statue in Salem, Connecticut [pictured], about an hour’s drive away from the area where Stars Hollow seems to be, so it’s perfectly plausible for Stars Hollow – this one is unusual for being painted black instead of the more usual white, and is a marker for a grain and feed store. Big rooster statues are common in California, where Gilmore Girls was written.