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American Giants on the Ray Carr Radio Show

On January 7, 2014. Ray Carr of Cleveland’s WCSB 89.3 did a phone interview with me about Muffler Men for his radio show. His program features in-depth, live interviews with movers-and-shakers: politicians, journalists, athletes, and guys like me who are into Americana. He also features unusual oldies and comedy interludes from the 1950s and 1960s.

I asked if I could put the interview on the American Giants blog. He agreed to that so I decided to go the extra mile and added video to the audio. So above is the enhanced Ray Carr interview. Ray is going to check back with me from time to time to catch up with my latest adventures. The next interview is scheduled for March 4, 2014 on Cleveland’s WCSB 89.3 at 8:00 AM.

Pahrump Big Friend Update

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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.

Pahrump Big Friend Down

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December 12 was was a sad day in the muffler man world and I remember it well. One of 4 known Big Friends was taken down that morning after standing on top of a sign pole for about 20 years or so. He was known as the Valley Home Giant and stood at Valley Homes along highway 160 in Pahrump, NV. He had been repainted since his Texaco days but was still recognizable as one of the very rare Big Friends. Before coming to Pahrump in the early 90’s he stood on the Boulder Highway in Las Vegas at a mobil home business. Originally he most likely stood at a Texaco gas station on Las Vegas Blvd. The 2012 news story shares the details of why he was taken down, it is both sad and unfortunate. I have always hoped one of these guys would be restored back to Texaco colors and thankfully that is still a possibility for the Pahrump Big Friend. After he was taken down the locals including the TV station and newspaper became aware of his value and history from all the inquiries they received about him. This possibly prompted the Pahrump Valley Times to write an article on his disappearance and they were able to find out what happened to him after he was hauled off. Although some may not have realized his value thankfully the guys at the landfill figured there was more to this guy then a pile of junk. He was broken up a bit in the dismantling and shipping to the landfill so they took him in pieces. He was eventually donated to the local museum where he laid out back till 2016 when American Giants purchased him and hauled him to IL. It seven years to get around to restoring him but in 2023-2024 he was fully restored and set up at a museum as I always hoped for.

American Giants Promo #2

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Back in February of 2013 I released the second promo video on my youtube channel for the upcoming first season of American Giants. In the promo I show a bit more about what some of the first season will cover across the state of Illinois. Much of that early footage was shot just as the idea to make episodes was starting to come to me. This is all over 10 years ago now and a great look back at my early days in Muffler Men!

American Giants Promo #1

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It’s been two years now since I started my hobby and finally all those hours of study, research and travel are paying off in the form of videos of my travels and discoveries. This is the promo video for the episodes which will start this spring. Subscribe to the youtube channel to keep posted on my progress. Also make sure your following this blog as I post almost daily.