It seems that Muffler Men have been on the move recently, and sometimes its hard to keep track of them as they migrate around America. Some Muffler Men have remained virtually unmoved since being shipped 50 years ago from International Fiberglass, while others have been moved so many times, no one knows for sure where they started out. It seems 2015 and early 2016, saw more movement then normal and at least 10 muffler men were either sold or moved.

One of the most sought after Muffler Men is the rare Uniroyal Gal made for the Uniroyal Tire Company in 1966. Over 20 of these giant ladies made rounds across the country that year, advertising at auto repair shops and tire centers. Today around 13 remain and it isn’t very often that one comes up for sale. 2015 saw not one but two Uniroyal Gals up for sale. Roadside America mentioned that one stood in Chinqoteague VA back in the 90s but no one was every able to verify the tip. Thats because some farmers from Kingsville Maryland who were trying to buy the viking in town and bought her instead. She has been secretly living in Kingsville Maryland for the last 20 years off the charts. Her owners found our website this year and posted that they were interested in selling and she was sold within a day or two. She is currently undergoing a full restoration and will appear this spring in Illinois. The other sale of a Uniroyal Gal was to Bruce Kennedy in Hayward CA. He purchased the Uniroyal in Mt Vernon IL that had stood at Stan the Tire Man’s since the late 60s. American Giants was actually able to help take her down and prepare her for shipping to California.

A bunch of the male Muffler Men were also sold in 2015 and our website was responsible for a handful of those sales. We always try to post Muffler Men when they come up for sale. That part of our website has been helpful to those looking to purchase one of their own. Our for sale page was responsible for the El Monte, CA Muffler Man finding a new home at Four Way Muffler in Gallatin TN as well as a long lost Muffler Man being rescued from the woods of South Carolina and being moved to Grove, OK.

Other Muffler Men sold and moved in 2015 include the Havre De Grace MD army guy. We don’t know who bought him or where he is headed but we do know that he was taken down on Dec 2 and hauled away on a trailer. BigGeorge who used to stand in Warrenton TX at the Sterling McCall Old Car Museum until he fell over in 2010, was also sold recently to VintageRoadside of Portland OR, and has just arrived there after the long haul from Texas. Vintage Roadside also purchased a bunyan Muffler Man head earlier in the year from a seller in Brimfield, NJ. Lake of the Ozarks MO also saw some big changes recently when the Indian was taken down. Thankfully he wasn’t moved far and his new owners plan to have him restored and set back up nearby. The halfwit that once stood across the street is also being restored and will be set up again hopefully sometime in 2016. The half wit was purchased before the indian and stood at Dogpatch in front of Mortimer Snerd Golf.

American Giants was also happy to be of help to Kevin Cummings, president of Cummings Plumbing Heating and Cooling, by advertising the auction of the Muffler Man in Rapid City South Dakota. He won the auction for the miner/cowboy and waisted no time in moving him to his business in Tucson, AZ. Kevin first learned about Muffler Men by watching American Giants episodes on youtube and realized he really wanted to own one of the giants. He kept checking our for sale section until the auction popped up and won the bid a few months later. Although the Muffler Man looked almost brand new in the pictures, Kevin told us that he actually needed a full restoration to fix the many cracks and paint job. He was fully restored and set up dressed as Santa, just in time for Christmas alongside interstate 10 in Tucson. Kevin displays his cowboy with the University of Arizona logo on his hat, the Muffler Man is Arizonans biggest fan.

Special thanks to Kevin, Vintage Roadside and others, for the use of their pictures displayed here. 

American Giants recently visited Atlanta, IL where Episode #3 was shot back in 2012. The Atlanta Library and Museum hosts a series of “Dinner Programs at the Palms Grill Cafe” from October 2015 though March 2016.  The Dinner Programs feature speakers who present a 60 minute program following dinner. This is the fifth year the Library and Museum has sponsoring the dinner program and American Giants was honored to speak for one of the evening events.

Neto and I had a great trip back up to Atlanta and were able to visit Tall Paul once more.  I also gave a talk for the dinner evening program at the Palms Cafe. I covered Muffler Men and their history in detail and showed about 180 pictures throughout the talk. We had fun chatting with everyone afterwards and sharing some of our collection. In addition to some post cards and DVD’s we also brought along a Mr Bendo head and arm for people to check out up close. We were housed in the Colaw Rooming House for the night, a great experience I would highly recommend! It was also fun to meet some of our Instagram and website followers who attended the event.

If your interested in American Giants speaking for one of your events, please contact us at info@usagiants.com

The Mortons Gap Project is finished! After more then a year of restoration work, we have completed the restoration and taken the Muffler Man back to his home in Kentucky. I want to thank everyone who supported this project with pledges, as well as those who donated their time and skills. Although the project was way more work then I ever dreamed it would be, the final result was also better then much better then I expected.

I first visited the giant in August 2011, after seeing him listed on Roadside America. It was during a second visit, the following year, that I first had the idea to restore the giant. In the summer of 2013, I started shooting emails back and forth with Mark Cline and he said he could make me the missing body parts. After that conversation, I think I realized that this really could happen and planning began in earnest. Our first Kickstarter was launched in May of 2014, and although it ended in failure a month later, we did manage to raise $1,296. By this time, Neto and I had already picked up the head and arms from Mark Cline, so failure was not an option. After adjusting the rewards a bit and updating our graphics and video, we launched the Kickstarter again in early September. We decided that we were going to do this no matter what the outcome, and figured visitors to the kickstarter should be able to see our commitment, so we picked up the giant in Mortons gap the same week we launched. Things went much better the second time around and Kickstarter even made us project of the day!

Over the next year we worked on the project whenever we had a chance. Some weeks found us working on him every evening while others, he wasn’t even touched. His restoration was juggled around on our busy work schedule, looking back on it, I am amazing at how many hours the guys donated to getting this done. Despite all the donated labor, the cost of fiberglass, resin and countless supplies was daunting. None of us had ever tackled anything like this before and we were constantly buying tools and supplies needed to pull off the job.

By the spring of 2015, we had completed repairs on the huge cracks and holes that were scattered across the giant. The next step was sanding the giant down, and it felt like it took us years to get that done. Even a week before delivery, we were still sanding bits and pieces of the giant, to try to get the smoothest surface possible. As I mentioned before, none of us had done anything like this before, and since the start of the project we were concerned about painting the guy. We had some estimates done on him, and were floored at how high the cost was. In the end we decided to paint him ourselves and I’m glad we did. From June until October, we didn’t touch the giant because of our busy work load. So the last two weeks have been an all out push to get the giant done and back to Kentucky.

We returned the giant to the hillside on November 15, 2015, and the owners were blown away at the giant’s transformation. We had a nice turnout of supporters and family members that showed up to watch the giant go back up. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of you who watched this project unfold and supported us with likes on
instagram, and encouraging comments. I want to thank all the supporters, and for your patience. I also want to thank Mark Cline for his help and support, as well as the guys at Roadside America, for letting their viewers know about the project. Debra Jane Seltzer of Roadside Architecture, has also been a huge help, and I have found her knowledge of these giants invaluable during research and restoration. I want to thank the Loven family for letting me take their giant for a year, and for their support of the project, as well as all the pledgers, and those of you who came out to watch the giant go up. Last but not least I am so thankful for my crew, Michael Younkin, Will Worf and Ademar Neto, for the long hours they have sunk into this project, we have all found this to be very rewarding!

In October, American Giants got a chance to take a quick trip up to Southern Michigan, to see some Muffler Men. Casey Jones the Muffler Man, was a custom job much like Jesse James in MO, that was probably made for a railroad themed amusement park or museum in Boyne Falls, back in the late 60s or early 70s. Today he stands at the Ed Lowe foundation, and is not generaly assessable to the public so we thought we’d give you a close up look. Ed Lowe purchased the giant at an auction in the mid 70s, and moved him to the foundations camp area, where Casey is surrounded by railroad cars.

We also made a stop in Bangor, MI to see one of the Carpet Vikings that International Fiberglass made. The giant is difficult to get to because it is on the ball field and behind a few locked gates, but this is not an issue if you have a drone (as always, we obtained permission first). American Giants has been experimenting with using drones to get some different perspectives on Muffler Men. It works much better then a go pro on a stick, and apparently we arn’t the first to have the idea, check out this awesome video by Robert Peak of George & Pam Farnham’s “farm of colossi”, in Ungar, WV.

Shortly after International Fiberglass purchased Bob Prewitt’s molds, they realized the Paul Bunyan statue was a good seller. The giant could be configured into a few different kinds of giants, and it wasn’t long before they were selling cowboys, Indians, half wits (snerds), and pirate versions of the giant. However, the Paul Bunyan remained the most popular during the 10 years that I.F. was in business. Today, more of these versions can be found then any other.

International Fiberglass sold dozens of the Paul Bunyan Muffler Man in the early 60s, one such Lumberjack was ordered in 1963. It is not known who ordered him, but we do know he was

Oregon Pavilion lumber show! Photo: Bill Cotter of worldsfairphotos.com

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Uniroyal Gal statues are the female versions of Muffler Men and were produced by the same company. In the late 1990s, before the history of these statues was known, RoadsideAmerica.com began calling them “Uniroyal Gals”. That is what they are commonly called today.

These statues are 18 feet tall and weigh 230 pounds. In the 1960s, International Fiberglass made dozens of these statues for the Uniroyal Tire & Rubber Company. The “Miss Uniroyal” statue held a sign which read “Uniroyal Tire” in her upraised left hand. She wore a watch on her right wrist. Many people have conjectured that she was modeled after Jackie Kennedy, however, there is no evidence to support that. The statues came with a platform and trailer which made it easy to move them around to different gas stations.

A rare picture of the Uniroyal Gal in 1968 while in Urbana, IL Photo – Len Davidson

The Uniroyal promotion ended in the late 1960s and the statues were destroyed or sold to different businesses. International Fiberglass began marketing these statues with the new name of “Miss America”. In 1970, you could purchase one of these statues for $3,150. She came wearing a bikini but you could pay extra for the add-on skirt and blouse.

Two of these statues have been in Illinois since the late 1960s. The one in Peoria is still there and was featured in our American Giants Episode 4 video. The other statue which was in Mount Vernon was removed this week. Around 1970, the Mount Vernon statue was purchased from a gas station and installed at Stan the Tire Man. Stan Koziara, the owner, and Dale Lowery installed the statue next to the shop’s Paul Bunyan Muffler Man. The Paul Bunyan statue was later moved to the Stan the Tire Man in Salem, Illinois. In 2007, it was moved to Rocky Mount, NC.

In the 1970s, the Mount Vernon Uniroyal Gal wore a white blouse and red skirt. Her trailer was kept nearby but it was stolen at some point. In April 2015, it was announced that the store would be closing on June 1. Many people contacted Stan about the statue and made offers. In the end, it was Bruce Kennedy of Bell Plastics in Hayward, California that bought her on June 15. We recently covered Bruce’s statues in American Giants Episode 11 video. His Muffler Man collection consists of two Paul Bunyans, a Half Wit, and a Cowboy.

Bruce contacted me about his purchase of the Uniroyal Gal statue and asked if we could help take her down for shipment to California. This was something we hadn’t done before but we felt we knew what was involved. On the morning of June 19, we got to work. There were two support bars attached with bolts to her shoulders and four bolts on each foot. It took more than an hour to remove the rusted bolts. Then, we gently lowered her to the ground with a pulley system. The four of us then loaded her into the trailer.

The people of Mount Vernon and Southern Illinois have lost a rare piece of 1960s roadside Americana. It is always sad when one of these statues that has been standing at one place for so many years is relocated. However, the silver lining is that this Uniroyal Gal will be well taken care of, and displayed where many people can still enjoy her and see her with the other Muffler Men. Bruce plans to restore her and we are looking forward to seeing her again.

The Uniroyal Gal arrived in Hayward on September 2, 2015 and joined Bruce’s collection.

I want to thank Bruce Kennedy for his support of American Giants as well as the people at Stan the Tire Man who were very helpful and accommodating while we were up there taking her down. Also a big thank you to Debra Jane Seltzer for her help in editing this article and fact checking. 

It’s been awhile since I have worked on my progressive list of Muffler Men sightings, so lets pick up again with sighting #67 in upstate NY. The Bunyan Muffler Man at Magic Forest, was the last one I visited at the amusement park. Like the rest of the Muffler Men there, it is hard to say where he came from. While some of them can be traced back to the Danbury Fair, I have had no luck tracing his origins. He is the only Muffler Man located close enough to the fence, that you can get some good pictures if the park happens to be closed or you don’t want to pay for admission but still see a Muffler Man. 

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When Bob Prewitt made the first Muffler Man statue around 1962, he could not have imagined just how popular these statues would be and how many would be produced. Even today, 53 years later, there is still a big demand for these statues. However, the size and price of these statues might not be practical for most collectors of Americana. The statues are over 20 feet tall and sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

The first business to own a Muffler Man was the Lumberjack Café in Flagstaff, AZ. The statue was such a novelty and landmark for their business that a scaled-down souvenir version was made. These were sold at the restaurant and a former employee, who worked there in the 1960s, remembers them selling like hot cakes. It is not known what company produced these figures or how many were sold. Today, they are almost impossible to find.

A few years ago, Blue Ridge Models began selling Muffler Men model kits. These statues are available in two sizes: just over three inches tall and 12 inches tall. They come in Cowboy and Bunyan models, both requiring assembly and paint. These do-it-yourself statues are popular with model railroad builders and diorama makers. They appear to still be available on-line at a few hobby websites.

Recently, I became aware of some new Muffler Man figures, made in early 2015,  that very closely resembles the one sold by the Lumberjack Café back in the 1960s. Scott Farmer, self-described as a human 3-D printer, is a sculptor who has created a few of these figures which he sells at his website, Sculpture Island. Farmer discovered Muffler Men a few years ago and has spent many hours researching their history at roadsideamerica.com and watching our American Giants episodes. He has produced seven different versions of the Paul Bunyan statues, including replicas of the statues in   Elmsford NY, and Evergreen Park, IL Each statue is a hand painted resin cast of an original polymer clay sculpture. The statues are a little over 12 inches tall and come with either an axe or a muffler. These figures are the biggest and most elaborate pieces that he has made. You can purchase them through Scott’s stores at Etsy and eBay.

One of the most fascinating chapters in the Muffler Man story is the Texaco Big Friend. These statues were manufactured exclusively for the Texaco Oil Company. International Fiberglass made hundreds of these statues before Texaco ended the contract and had the mold destroyed. Nearly all of these statues were also destroyed. Sometime in late 1965 or early 1966, Steve Dashew, the owner of International Fiberglass, began negotiations with Texaco about the creation of a giant fiberglass Texaco service station attendant. At the time, Texaco wanted to promote its “Big Friend Service” which included a windshield cleaning, checking the oil, radiator, and battery and, most importantly, the courtesy of its employees. Texaco’s advertising campaign included television commercials and banners depicting its friendly service station attendant dressed in a dark green uniform with a white shirt, tie and hat. In the commercial, Texaco’s service station attendant was nearly 40 feet tall. The fiberglass statues were to be set up at service stations across the country to tie-in with the television campaign.

Texaco Big Friends lined up behind a Pushcart Tony statue

Texaco contracted with International Fiberglass to make 300 of the twenty two foot tall statues, with an option to order 2,700 more. Steve Dashew hired sculptor Sacha Schnittman to create the statue. Schnittman put a great deal of effort and detail into the design. Texaco got a late start in deploying the statues. All 300 of them were lined up and tied together in International Fiberglass back lot in Venice, CA before Texaco began picking them up. It’s not known how many of those statues actually left the factory before Texaco changed its mind about them. International Fiberglass sold a trailer and platform with each Big Friend statue to make it easy for area representatives to move and display them at different service stations. The statues sold for $5,000 each ($36,500 in today’s money). They began appearing at Texaco stations in September 1966. On September 29 of that year, Texaco service station owner, Peter Gregory of Victorville, CA, received his Big Friend statue. He planned to set up the statue the next day. However, during the night, vandals removed the statue’s four and a half foot tall head and its left hand. The story was covered in the local newspaper. The photo in the article shows the trailer that came with the statue. Peter was able to recover the head and hand. But, just four months later, the statue was toppled by high winds. Peter was unsure if the statue could be repaired and set up again. Peter was not the only Texaco service station owner to have difficulty with these statues. Many owners were concerned about the statues falling over in bad weather or windy conditions. The area service reps also didn’t like moving the statues around. By early 1967, Texaco realized the risk outweighed the benefit of these statues. The company ordered station owners to stop using the Big Friends and have them destroyed. Within a few short months, the giants had entirely disappeared. At that time, the statues had just been installed in California, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Iowa, Nevada, Arkansas and Florida. Only a few of the statues escaped the mass-destruction. The Big Friend in Portland, OR was damaged just before Texaco’s decision. It had been repaired at a fiberglass shop but was never picked up by the owner. This statue is now on display in Aloha, OR and is best-known for its giant rabbit head. The other known survivors include the Lumberjack in St. Marie, ID and the Robin Hood in Pahrump, NV. There is also a Big Friend head in a private collection in Chicago.
There is also a well-preserved statue in Arkansas which I was delighted to get to see in December. This Big Friend was turned over to Bud Ross of Clarksville, AR by his brother who owned the Texaco station where the statue was displayed. Bud kept the statue next to his pond at the back of his property for many years. Around 1990, he installed the statue at his used car lot in town. By 1997, the car lot had closed and the statue was gone. It was assumed this statue was just another Big Friend casualty.
However, with a tip from a visitor to my blog, I was thrilled to discover that the statue still exists and was able to track down its owner. Rob Harris, a petroliana collector in Arkansas, purchased the Big Friend years ago. Recently, he had the statue restored to its original colors. Rob plans to replicate the Texaco star logos on the statue’s hat, chest and arm in the near future. The statue is located on private property and stands between two vintage Texaco station signs.

Standing next to this rare piece of roadside history was the high point for me of the three years I’ve spent documenting Muffler Man statues. It still amazes me that of the 300 Big Friends produced, only four survive. Perhaps there’s still another one out there somewhere. Special thanks to Rob Harris for letting me photograph his Texaco Big Friend. Also thanks to Harvey Marine and the Pahrump Valley Museum for letting me have access to their Texaco Big Friends. I also want to thank Terry Nelson for letting me use his historical photographs of the Texaco Big Friends in the 1960s. And as always, a big thank you to Debra Jane Seltzer for her help in editing. 

A Half Wit in Production at International Fiberglass – Terry Nelson

This Muffler Man at Magic Forest in Lake George, NY was originally installed in Danbury, CT.  When the Danbury Fair closed in 1981, Magic Forest bought this statue and a few others from the owners.  This statue has been modified a bit.  It has a painted beard and an Amish style hat.  These International Fiberglass statues were promoted as “Mortimer Snerds.”  However, they are more commonly called “Half Wits” since that’s the term RoadsideAmerica.com came up with before the history of these statues was unearthed.  It’s not known how many were produced but there are only about 15 left.  In addition to this one, there are four in New Jersey, three in Texas, one in Missouri, one in California and five in private collections.

Half Wit at Mortimer Snerd Golf in Lake of the Ozark’s, MO – Terry Nelson

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