In the course of our daily reporting, we often uncover unusual projects, places, or connections that don't make the final cut. Instead of keeping it to ourselves, we're pleased to share our weekly Architrivia.

Scurrying along streets and subway tracks, rats are a part of everyday life in densely populated areas, especially New York City. So it's not unusual to spot the pesky rodents during your morning and afternoon commute. But since the 1990s, large rats — of the inflatable kind — have also proliferated on the streets of New York. These sinister-looking creatures, often characterized by frightening buck teeth and a scabby belly, are planted outside businesses and construction sites during labour disputes, or to shame companies that are utilizing non-union labour. 

Scabby the Rat aboard a pickup truck in Manhattan, image by David Ackerman

Scabby the Rat was born in 1990 following a dispute involving a Chicago bricklayers union. Two union organizers contacted Big Sky Balloons and Searchlights of Plainfield, Illinois, in search of a nasty and menacing inflatable creature that would send a strong message at a protest. The disturbing physical traits of the rat caught on nationwide, and quickly became a symbol of labour union dissent. 

Scabby at a Cambridge, Massachusetts, protest, image by Joseph Barillari via Wikimedia Commons

The company continues to churn out 100-200 renditions of Scabby every year, from the relatively modest six-foot version to the towering 25-foot model. The 12-foot variant has proved to be the most popular, conveniently fitting in the back of a pickup truck while obeying local laws around the height of inflatable objects. Federal regulators and state supreme courts have held that the use of Scabby is protected as free speech under the First Amendment, much to the dismay of company bosses.