The toothbrush fence is a

roadside attraction A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboard (advertis ...

in Te Pahu,

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

, New Zealand. Graeme Cairns built the fence in 2006 as an absurdist

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

project, and hung hundreds of toothbrushes along a wire fence located on a quiet rural road. The fence was made famous on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

show ''

Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords are a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's c ...

''.

Rhys Darby Rhys Montague Darby (born 21 March 1974) is a New Zealand actor and comedian. He is known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime, and sound effects of things such as machinery and animals. He was nomin ...

's character Murray Hewitt, who plays the Deputy Cultural Attaché at the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

consulate, references the fence on the episode "

Bret Gives Up the Dream "Bret Gives Up the Dream" is the second episode of the HBO comedy series ''Flight of the Conchords''. The episode first aired in the United States on Sunday, June 24, 2007. A song in this episode, "Inner City Pressure", received an Emmy Award n ...

" as a major New Zealand attraction. "We've got interesting attractions: a

toothbrush A toothbrush is a special type of brush used to clean the Human tooth, teeth, gingiva, gums, and tongue. It consists of a head of tightly clustered bristles, atop of which toothpaste can be applied, mounted on a handle (grip), handle which facil ...

fence," Murray exclaims. "Imagine that, a whole fence made out of toothbrushes!" In Season 2, the

Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...

attempts to create a New Zealand Town in New York City, complete with a toothbrush fence.

References

External links

Toothbrush Fence, official site
2006 establishments in New Zealand Fences Tourist attractions in New Zealand {{coord, 37, 55, 34.42, S, 175, 06, 37.79, E, region:NZ_type:landmark, display=title