Bathtub Mary

"A bathtub madonna, bathtub Mary, Mary on the half-shell or a bathtub shrine is an artificial grotto containing a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, constructed by upending an old bathtub and burying one end. It is a form of yard shrine."

During my last trip to New Orleans in May, I realized... I want a Bathtub Mary. They're everywhere in N.O.

While looking for photos on the web of a bathtub Mary, I found the article below about a little girl in La Place (just 30 minutes outside of New Orleans) who has daily conversations with Mary and I doubt very much the conversations are one-sided. [Click to enlarge.]

I've been collecting different cultural representations of Mary, a Russian icon, the Polish 'Our Lady of Czestochowa' and the most recent being a Greek triptych I found last month.

Of course, I need a Bathtub Mary.

I thought about this as I was driving through Hempstead, on the way home from Austin this past Monday as Hempstead is the home of Frazier's statuary. I had driven past Frazier's countless times, never stopping in, but decided to change that this week.

I only spent about 45 minutes (I was hungry) roaming the outdoor aisles, most of the time spent trying to choose between 10 different Mary statues before finally settling on a beautiful Sacred Heart. I could have easily spent a couple of hours, there is so much to look at.

I don't have a 1/2 bathtub to put my Mary in yet, but She does look pretty guarding the front door.

Few photos I snapped while roaming around the statuary: