The Shelf Life of a 12-Foot Home Depot Skeleton
When it was built 20 years ago, the Shelf Life of a 12-Foot Home Depot Skeleton model cost $10 to build; now, it’s worth thousands.
I was there, too. And as the years went by, I became less interested in the model itself, and more interested in the people who built it and the stories they told.
The model stands about four feet tall, with the words “Home Depot” printed on the front, behind a pair of plastic wheels and, of course, a 12-foot skeleton.
One of the people who builds the model and who is now a co-owner of the Shelf Life of a 12-Foot Home Depot Skeleton was Gary W. Jones, a professor of business at The University of Missouri, Kansas City.
A former home builder, Jones took up building the model.
What makes the Shelf Life of a 12-Foot Home Depot Skeleton such a valuable commodity?
It’s not only an impressive piece of industrial art, but it also illustrates a story that might otherwise be lost to history.
The real-world story
It all started when Jones built a model of the 12-foot model. He did it for fun. He was not trying to make a profit on it.
But he did make $2,500 on the project, which was a huge amount of money at the time.
The story of his success is worth sharing. At a time when not too many people would share what they did for a living, he was able to take his hobby and turn it into a profession.
But first, I want to share some of the story he told me.
“The Shelf Life of a 12-Foot Home Depot Skeleton” is the title of an old song, but what it was really called was “The Shelf Life of a 12-Foot Home Depot.”
Here’s what Jones told me about it:
“I wanted to build a model. I wanted to build it for fun, to do a little art, to see what I could build. So I got a model kit I had bought in a used store at a yard sale. I started with a square piece of plywood with my name printed on it and cut out a figure on the front — that’s where the’model