Tod MaffinCanadian Commentator, From Far and Wide · Emotional Support Canadian

Forget world records, I want gas station gift rack legends.

20 Aug 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:24

In this upbeat YouTube segment, the speaker highlights a series of record‑breaking miniature Canadian artifacts—a 5 mm square 1952 Bible, the silicon‑etched micro‑book "Teeny Ted from Turnip Town," and a national flag thinner than a human hair—while noting that Canada’s National Science and Technology Museum houses an entire collection of such tiny items. Leveraging this fascination, the host launches the "Canada's Biggest Smallest Contest," inviting viewers to mail in the tiniest community‑specific souvenir or knick‑knack they can find. The contest rules require the item to display the community name, fit in a letter‑sized envelope, be non‑radioactive, and be homemade or sourced locally; entries from outside Canada are allowed for display but not for winning. Winners receive a prize pack of British Columbia specialty foods and six lifetime premium newsletter subscriptions. The deadline is Labour Day, and further details and the mailing address are provided via a link in the creator’s bio.

Chapters

This is the smallest Bible in the world. It was made in 1952. It's 5mm square. It's tiny, but it's not the smallest book. That honour belongs to Canada. It was made 18 years ago at Simon Fraser University. It's less than one-tenth of one millimetre. It's etched onto silicon, and you can only read it if you have an electron microscope. It's a real book, though. It's called Teeny Ted from Turnip Town. Canada's good at tiny. Almost 10 years ago, a group of Canadian engineers created what the Guinness World Records certified as the smallest national flag. It is narrower than a human hair. Our National Science and Technology Museum has an entire collection of tiny things, and I want all of them. My contest is launched. It is called Canada's Biggest Smallest Contest, and you could win a prize pack of BC specialty foods, 6 lifetime premium subscriptions to my newsletter. All you have to do is send me the tiniest souvenir or knick-knack from your community. I want the ridiculous, the useless, the tiny little token that someone thought counted as local pride. The rules are: it has to say the name of your community, on it. The whole thing can be homemade if you want. It has to be able to fit into a letter-sized envelope, and nothing radioactive, Saskatchewan. And yes, you can send something from outside Canada if you want, but that won't count for the contest. I'll probably show it though. The deadline is Labour Day, which is coming up soon, so get cracking. The address and more details are in my bio link.