Dodge City Field Report

Posted on 07/21/2013 by jbaker98

American Giants just got back from an awesome weekend in Dodge City Kansas to cover the Dennis Hopper Muffler men at the 3I event held at the new expo center. We were invited to come out by the Carnegie Center for the Arts who have recently received the Dennis Hopper Muffler Men from the Dennis Hopper Art Trust in California. Travel is nothing new for the Dennis Hopper M Men and they aren’t done yet! They were cast in 2000 and since then at least one of them has traveled the world. They were both cast from a muffler man in LA named Tony who is one of the rare bow tie versions. They were each made to resemble popular LA muffler men, the La Salsa man made by Bob Wade in Malibu and the Mobile muffler man that appeared in life magazine back in the day. After being cast it is believed that the only time Mobile man was publicly shown (other then this venue) was in June of 2010 just shortly after the death of Dennis Hopper. The La Salsa Man however was no rookie to public display and was first displayed in Amsterdam in 2001 and then Paris, Vienna, Melbourne and even rumored to have been on display in St Petersburg Russia at one point. You can tell one has traveled more then the other, the La Salsa Man has it’s share of scuffs and scratches while the Mobile Man is brand new and in almost perfect condition. I’ll save a bunch of the details of how it was shipped and ended up at the expo center for the future AG episode but by the time we got there they were all set up and on display. Summer Bates who is the executive director for the Carnegie Center for the Arts is basically the mother of these two boys and she has found temporary housing for them at the expo center where the 40ft high ceilings accommodate the muffler men’s vertical challenges. With the 3i show coming up she got permission to keep them there during the event and invited us out for the occasion. So myself, Bo, Neto and Sam piled into the tiniest car we could find (32mpg) and after work Thursday traveled the 10 hours to Dodge City Kansas. Although promises had been made by each member to equally share the driving some of us arrived at the 3i show the following morning more worn out then others. We were immediately welcomed to Dodge by Melissa McCoy who is the project development coordinator for the city and she promptly took us to see the muffler men. In a building that size it makes them look a bit smaller then they actually are but these guys were definitely getting attention. After years in a warehouse they were making up for lost time and at their feet stood interested 3i attendees as well as tables with information about their history as well as a looping video of the Shipping Wars episode. Summer, Melissa and many others are excited about the arrival of the muffler men to Dodge City and welcome the many muffler men followers out there to make Dodge City a stop on their muffler men check list. The expo center that is currently housing the muffler men in a temporary solution and Summer is working hard on permanent housing for these guys. After a very full day of not only covering the muffler men but also the 3i convention we left with hours of B-roll and interviews for me to sort out in editing. We also left with a pretty good appetite that Summer took care of by taking us all to Boot Hill Museum Inc for a dinner and gun fight which we enjoyed thoroughly. Interestingly a muffler man named Big Matt once stood at Boot Hill many years ago and was finally taken down after his head kept blowing off in the Kansas wind. I was able to track down his story and history and will post a blog about him soon. From there we headed to Wichita where we visited the muffler man at Browns Tire (which is apparently worth getting up in the middle of the night for) and also caught up with Greg Holmes (The Lope) the proud owner of a muffler man head, both to appear in future episodes. We came home with allot of new content and information and I just want to sincerely thank Summer Bates, Melissa McCoy, Eddie Estes, Jeff Thorpe and Greg Holmes for making this trip possible and for taking such good care of us. The American Giants episodes are currently taking us up route 66 to Chicago but after they are complete I am planning to bump this Dodge City trip into the next episode. It’s not often two fresh muffler men get added to the charts and maps so make sure to stop by and pay them a visit on your next trip through the midwest.

If your interested, check out this behind the scenes clip taken while the American Giants Crew was filming Greg Holmes and his muffler man head.

#47 Springfield, IL – Bunyan

Posted on 07/09/2013 by jbaker98

Standing tall in Springfield, IL the Lauterbach muffler man is one of the better known muffler men out there. He owes this mostly to his popular location standing on historic route 66 in west central Illinois. He appears across the internet in many pictures taken by visitors as well as in Gabriel Aldaz’s book. He is a classic bunyan version and is actually one of the first one’s made judging by the way his arms are connected to his body. This muffler man was featured in American Giants 2nd episode and myself and the guys visited him in the summer of 2012 and were able to get his story and history. In 1952 Russ Lewis started Midtown Tire where the Hilton hotel now stands. Business was good and in 1961 he opened up a second store at the corner of State and Laurel and in 1962 purchased what at the time was a brand new Bunyan giant from International Fiberglass in Venice, CA. In todays money a muffler man in 1962 sold for about $13,600, at the time that was about $1,300. Sadly that store only stayed open another year and when it closed the giant was sold to the Round up Cafe 24 miles to the south in Farmersville, IL. The giant stood there for the next 15 years until 1978 when I-55 was put in and the giant was sold back to the Lewis family. That same year the giant was set up on Wabash Ave at it’s current location and has now been there for 25 years. In 1962 he held a tire in his right hand and today he holds a flag pole, I have yet to see a picture from his days at the Roundup Cafe and I am not sure what he held during that time.

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The Uniroyal Gal

Posted on 07/04/2013 by jbaker98

As the Bunyan muffler men began to become popular and more and more businesses across the US started purchasing them International Fiberglass kept on innovating. They first started with the oil giants, Phillips 66, Sinclair and Texaco making versions of muffler men or dinosaurs that could stand that their gas stations and promote their products and business. The idea was a success and the reason there are so many muffler men left today is because most of them were made in mass quantity for oil companies, chiefly Phillips 66. Their cowboys still cover large portions of the US with and without their cowboy hats. The texaco big friend sadly is a different story and Texaco was largely successful in destroying almost all 300 that were purchased except for 4 or 5 of them. Shortly after Texaco purchased their 300 in 1966 the Uniroyal company also wanted a statue to advertise their tires. So International Fiberglass came up with the idea to do something different and make a female version of the muffler man. She was sculpted by an unknown artist who supposedly had a thing for Jackie Kennedy and sported an orange bikini. I’m not sure how many were made but altogether I have heard of 17 of them so far and 12 of those are still visible today. Needless to say these are one of the less common muffler men and new sightings almost never happen. International Fiberglass also made a skirt and shirt for the giant lady and these could be put on or taken off at the owners will. The Uniroyal girl in Peoria, IL is changed seasonally and during the winter she wears her clothes and during the hot summer she sports a red bikini.

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Dennis Hoppers Muffler Men on Shipping Wars

Posted on 06/26/2013 by jbaker98

Muffler Men made prime time today when Dennis Hoppers “Giant Art Sculptures” were shipped from Anaheim, CA to Dodge City Kansas and the shipment was featured on A&E’s Shipping Wars. The pair were made from a mold cast from a LA muffler man back in 2000 and the next year they started traveling with Dennis Hoppers art show. They have been to many places in America and I have even seen pictures of one of them in Paris. They were made to resemble two iconic LA muffler men, the La Salsa m man in Malibu remodeled by Bob Wade and also a muffler man that was featured in a life magazine picture standing at a mobile gas station in the 60’s holding a poster for free 5 cent coupons. The Malibu muffler man still stands today but I’m not sure where the other ended up. It is possible he is still in the area repainted and unrecognizable from his 1960’s picture or he may be long gone. The Dennis Hopper giants, estimated at a whopping $100,000 each, have been in storage for a few years and were recently donated by the Dennis Hopper Art Trust to the Carnegie Center for the Art’s who notified me about their arrival in Dodge and gave us a heads up about tonights episode of shipping wars. They will be on display July 11th through 13th at the Western State Bank Expo Center. They are also currently working on a Multicultural park Design for their permanent home. It’s great to see these guys back out in view of the public and although not made by International Fiberglass in the 60’s they still certainly count as muffler men. The muffler man that the mold was cast from is known as Tony and he stands at a car repair business in east LA. He disappeared briefly in 2000 and Roadside America even got a few ransom notes as a joke until it was discovered he was being used to make a mold for Dennis Hoppers muffler men. Tony happens to be one of the rare muffler men with a bow tie and so thats how the La Salsa man copy ended up with one. The original that stands in Malibu is the standard version but Dennis Hoppers clearly boasts a black bow tie and that’s how you can tell which one you are looking at. The other Dennis Hopper muffler man known as the “Mobile Man” was altered with a normal neck line and it sits a bit higher up than it does on other muffler men. Tony still stands in east LA and was one of the earlier muffler men I visited when American Giants was just starting out. Needless to say we traveled out to Dodge City to check out the Dennis Hopper muffler men and get the scoop. Oh and interestingly enough these are not the first muffler men to call Dodge City their home.

#46 Macon, IL – Soda Jerk

Posted on 06/23/2013 by jbaker98

This sighting happened on my first official Muffler Man trip back in 2012. It was the trip where we shot our first episodes about Muffler Men and he was our first stop of the day. He stands in the middle of a field along highway 51 and the business he apparently was ordered for stood empty and unfinished behind him at the time. He had been standing here holding his ice cream for a few years at this point and it wasn’t till later that the place was opened and completed. We correctly assumed he was defiantly one of Mark Cline’s creations made from the mold he had cast from a 15 ft muffler man years before. At the time, I had never talked to or met Mark who was actively making soda jerks and cowboys, all variations of the original 14 ft lumberjack from International Fiberglass. This one has one hand down at his side while others were in standard muffler man configuration with both hands out.

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Big John

Posted on 06/07/2013 by jbaker98

If you’re interested in muffler men it’s very likely you have run across these guys known as “Big Johns”. They are the step brothers if you will of muffler men and although they are not related by “blood” they seem to be part of the extended family. Standing over 5 feet taller then muffler men they are some of the largest giants mass produced back in the golden age of the 1960’s roadside giant architecture era. Their roots are far from the streets of Venice California and they were made in Cape Girardeau, MO at the General Sign Co. Back in 1960 two men Bob Martin and Frank Bayley formed a partnership and started opening grocery stores in rural southern Illinois towns. After about 7 years they started placing giant statues at their store locations. General Sign Co. started turning out the Big Johns around 1967 and I am guessing 10-15 were ordered altogether. These guys are taller and much heavier then muffler men and each of them held 4 giant grocery backs in their arms.

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#45 Montpelier, IN – Indian

Posted on 05/26/2013 by jbaker98

International Fiberglass made three kinds of Native American you could order. One was a brave with a bare chest and normally one or 2 feathers and a serious face. This version seems to be the more common today. The second was almost the same but actually had a different head mold with a fierce facial expression and a full headdress. Other then the head both versions are the same from the neck down. The third came with a necklace and a tomahawk and a few other differences and is the most rare out of the three. One of the Chief versions can be found in the small town of Montpelier, IN and he has lived here since January of 1984 and his history and how he got here and where he came from is fascinating.

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#44 Muncie, IN – Service Man

Posted on 05/18/2013 by jbaker98

The Muncie M man seems to have called this town home for a very long time. As far back as I have been able to dig he has always been somewhere in Muncie. Earliest sightings placed him on on Broadway Ave at a local car lot and I have seen a few rare pictures of him at that location. He was eventually moved to a property next to the interstate and held a small car for awhile. These days he advertises big equipment and has been repainted but holds nothing.

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Pahrump Big Friend Update

Video

I have followed the unfolding story in Pahrump, NV concerning their extremely rare Big Friend very closely over the last few months. Thankfully due to those of us with an interest for this sort of thing, made it known to various key players in that town how rare this guy was. Earlier this year the news and paper got involved and soon everyone in town realized what they had (or did have). By that time the big guy had already made his way to the Pahrump Valley disposal where he still resides today. Two reporters, Deanna O’donnell and Mark Waite have been very instrumental in telling his story from the start in mid December last year when he came down. In fact channel 46 did one story that heavily used this blog and 3 of my pictures appeared in the story, including one with me in it (although it’s a wide shot) Needless to say I was surprised when I watched that clip. I’ll keep updating this blog from time to time on the developments with this Texaco Big friend. Currently none of the remaining big friends are in their original paint scheme for Texaco and it is our hope that he’s restored back to the days when he wore the Texaco star, colors, cap and all.

2025 Update: This Big Friend has been restored and is standing today in Atlanta, IL. This content has recently been updated to reflect the most recent info we have. The updated article and information has been moved to our Patreon Account. Please join us for there for full access.

#43 Livingston, IL – Bunyan

Posted on 05/16/2013 by jbaker98

Known today as the Livingston muffler man this guy has had an interesting life and is still holding a few secrets. His roots have been traced back to the state of Kentucky which has never had a larger population of muffler men. Interestingly it has only housed 15ft versions and they don’t seem to originate there or stay there. In 1999 Roadside America received it’s first muffler man tip for Kentucky about a 15 ft muffler man overlooking highway 90 in Monticello. In 2003 Nick Catron the owner must have stumbled upon the website and posted a tip acknowledging ownership and suggested he might turn him into a Jesus Christ (that would be a first).

By 2007 the giant seemed to have vanished with a report coming in of failed attempt by some muffler men spotters. And that is the official end of what is known as the Monticello muffler man. However in 2005 a new muffler man appeared in Somerset, KY and quickly was reported on Roadside America. The guys at RA were immediately suspicious that this was the guy from Monticello but up until this point as far as I know, no one has confirmed the connection. We learned they named him “Hank the muffler man” and for two years reports came in of his movement from the ground to the roof and of a recent paint job. In August of 06 he was up on e-bay and by April of 07 the report came in that he was gone. It would seem at that point the state of Kentucky was out of Muffler Men.

In time he appeared where he still stands today at the Pink Elephant Antique Mall in Livingston, IL. He received a new paint job and the words Harley Davidson on his chest.

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