Massive and made of fiberglass, Muffler Men are a Route 66 classic — and they're multiplying - BERITAJA

The snowfall was flying sideways and he had nary jacket, but this lumberjack did not shiver. He stood about 25 feet tall, ax successful hand, wearing a reddish chapeau and rictus grin. And he was made of fiberglass.

I stood astatine his feet connected the Northern Arizona University field successful Flagstaff, afloat of the restitution that comes astatine having accomplished thing genuinely trivial: At last, I was look to look pinch the original Muffler Man.

Stories, photos and recreation recommendations from America’s Mother Road

Easter Island has its stone-faced monoliths. China has its terra-cotta warriors. And we Americans person these roadside giants, besides known arsenic Paul Bunyans, Uniroyal Gals and about commonly, Muffler Men. Manufactured successful Los Angeles, they first appeared connected the highways of North America successful the early 1960s arsenic an advertizing gimmick, often promoting car tons aliases car parts. Now they’re rising again, a battalion of restored and replica specimens, beloved by road-trippers, kitsch aficionados, artists, preservationists and savvy entrepreneurs.

“To me, they’re benignant of instant friends,” said Amy Inouye, the designer and creator who rescued L.A.’s about iconic Muffler Man, Chicken Boy, a chicken-headed statue that stands atop her assemblage successful Highland Park. “They’re really gangly and they conscionable want to beryllium accepted for who they are.”

The Northern Arizona University field successful Flagstaff includes the first oversize fiberglass Muffler Man, who has agelong been outfitted arsenic a lumberjack.

These figures are particularly plentiful on Route 66 this twelvemonth arsenic it turns 100 — location was a “pre-centennial frenzy” successful the words of roadsideamerica.com, which coined the word “Muffler Men” and tracks them connected a map. Nobody’s definite really galore figures were made during the aureate property of Muffler Men, but since 2020, the tally of giants has climbed supra 250, including “a fewer dozen” rediscoveries since 2010, according to Doug Kirby, the co-founder and patient of the site.

“Just successful the past twelvemonth aliases two, each these Muffler Men are being added,” he said. In addition, much than a twelve giants are presently successful modulation — that is, getting reconditioned aliases relocated.

1.) Cigars and Stripes BBQ successful Berwyn, Ill., features a Muffler Man smoking a cigar and holding a jumbo vessel of barbecue sauce. 2.) The Gemini Giant stands on Route 66 successful Wilmington, Ill.

On a caller westbound travel from Chicago connected Route 66, I started seeing them almost immediately.

First, connected Ogden Avenue successful the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, location was the Cigars & Stripes Muffler Man. He stood connected the tile of the Cigars & Stripes BBQ Lounge, brandishing a chickenhearted helping and a fridge-size vessel of barbecue condiment while chewing connected a stogie.

Next, successful Wilmington, Ill., came the Gemini Giant, who stands 23 feet gangly supra a mini park. Made for a Wilmington diner successful 1965, he was auctioned disconnected for $275,000 successful early 2024 and placed successful his existent location later that year. He wears a clunky metallic abstraction helmet and holds a rocket successful his hands.

I had travel crossed a fewer Muffler Men earlier this trip, including Big Josh, who looks down upon Joshua Tree from the Station gift shop connected State Route 62. But now I was paying much attention.

At first, I learned, these giants were each men, conceived about 1962 by a Lawndale entrepreneur named Bob Prewitt and made celebrated from the early 1960s done the mid-1970s by a institution successful Venice called International Fiberglass.

Made from a modular group of molds and held together by alloy frames, about Muffler Men are assembled from 3 aliases 4 pieces. Besides those figures holding mufflers and tires, others were outfitted arsenic cowboys, Indians, lumberjacks (often known arsenic Paul Bunyans), astronauts, chefs, dentists, golfers, basking canine vendors, race-car drivers, pirates and service-station attendants. Then location were the jug-eared goofball characters, which immoderate scholars of the creation shape telephone halfwits, while others for illustration snerds.

As liking successful this benignant of advertizing grew, female giants followed, including Uniroyal Gals and Rosie the Riveters. Oversized animals, including dinosaurs, bulls, roosters, hens and seals, besides multiplied.

Juni Peraza, 25, useful astatine the Meadow Gold Mack unit shop connected 11th Street successful Tulsa, Okla. She said she has only precocious realized the possibilities that travel pinch 11th Street being portion of Route 66.

All that action faded successful the 1970s. But successful about 1989, the seeds of a caller Muffler Man era were sown.

Kirby, Mike Wilkins and Ken Smith, who had worked together connected the 1985 book “Roadside America,” were building a database for a follow-up task erstwhile they realized, “Hey, wait, this configuration of statue we’re seeing successful a batch of places,” Kirby said. “We decided we’d amended commencement keeping track.”

The first fewer they saw were holding mufflers. Thinking of the aged nursery rhyme “Muffin Man,” and a Frank Zappa opus of the aforesaid name, Kirby decided to telephone them Muffler Men.

When the roadsideamerica.com website launched successful 1996, Muffler Men were portion of it. By 2000, Roadside America had uncovered their root communicative and interviewed Steve Dashew, erstwhile president of International Fiberglass. And readers had embraced the giants successful a large way.

This fiberglass Rosie the Riveter fig went up connected 11th Street successful Tulsa successful 2025.

“It was for illustration a belief epiphany for immoderate people. For years, they were driving past these things,” Kirby said. “As soon arsenic they realized it was portion of an uncharted web crossed the state … it’s for illustration your 3rd oculus has been opened.”

Ken Bernstein, main metropolis planner for Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources, calls Muffler Men “monumental and unique representations of midcentury car culture, particularly on auto-centric corridors wherever it was important to drawback the oculus of passing motorists.”

New giants, known arsenic civilization jobs, are being steadily manufactured now. There’s an full economical organization emerging about their restoration, replication, sales, carrier and display, including companies for illustration (Re)Giant and sculptor Mark Cline’s Enchanted Castle Studios. (To confuse matters, galore Southern California mechanics woo customers by welding together mufflers to make quality figures. Those creations, too, are often called Muffler Men.)

The American Giants Museum successful Atlanta, Ill., created successful 2024 by Bill Thomas of the Atlanta Betterment Fund and collector-historian Joel Baker, is devoted to the fiberglass figures. The museum, unfastened April done October, includes 4 opinionated Muffler Men, pinch 2 much expected about Memorial Day.

Because the giants guidelines successful the unfastened air, visitors who show up aft hours — arsenic I did — could ogle them immoderate time.

Atlanta, Ill., is location to the American Giants Museum, which celebrates the Muffler Men and Uniroyal Gals that were communal roadside advertizing features successful the mediate 20th century.

“I emotion history. I emotion thing to do pinch cars and aged s. I deliberation it conscionable takes group back,” said Lee Woods, 55, who jumped connected the Muffler Men bandwagon about 5 years agone and owns the museum.

Woods and his wife, Diane, who person a fleet of tow trucks successful Hot Springs, Ark., were collecting aged porcelain state position signs, state pumps and aged cars successful 2021 when, connected a thrust done Illinois, they laid eyes connected the Gemini Giant.

“I told my woman I would emotion to person 1 of them things to correspond our tow company,” Woods recalled.

Before long, they had hired personification to build a civilization tow-truck-operator Muffler Man. And earlier that Muffler Man was done, Lee Woods had bought different 1 — a Paul Bunyan successful Oklahoma. Then successful 2023 he sewage a clasp of a Muffler Man Mr. Spock from Rainbow Neon successful Salt Lake City. Now Woods has 8 Muffler Men successful Arkansas.

“Sometimes I get carried away, my woman says,” Woods said.

Last fall, he bought the museum, wherever he collaborates pinch Baker, who is laminitis of the American Giants website, creator of a Giants YouTube series and serves arsenic a Muffler Man broker, advisor and proscription specialist.

“When group spot these things, they deliberation they’re the coolest point retired there,” Woods said. “Today we’ve had group from six different countries here.”

From here, the giants seemed to travel accelerated and furious. One successful Galena, Kan. Two successful Vinita, Okla. (which has since added a third). Five successful Tulsa’s Meadow Gold District (including 1 pinch an 8-foot-long guitar).

Then successful Weatherford, Okla., came a 30-foot astronaut. In Amarillo, a “2nd Amendment Cowboy” pinch a brace of large pistols astatine his feet. In Gallup, N.M., a elephantine connected the tile of a utilized car lot.

By the clip I’d reached Flagstaff, my count was 18.

Then came my snowy infinitesimal pinch the original Muffler Man, whose nickname is Louie. Experts work together that he was produced successful about 1963 and sent to a Flagstaff cafe pinch a lumberjack taxable (and yes, that cafe stood on Route 66).

Louie stood location until the cafe closed much than 10 years later. Then he was donated to NAU and stationed by the summons agency of the university’s Walkup Skydome. Another lumberjack stands inside.

But aft Louie, I deed a drought — nary much elephantine sightings successful Arizona and nary connected the Route 66 alignment I followed into Southern California.

This seemed wrong, because location are truthful galore giants on the byways of Southern California and because this is the onshore of their birth. Besides Big Josh, there’s the Paul Bunyan successful Mentone, the empty-handed Muffler Man known arsenic Kevin on Sherman Way successful Van Nuys. There’s the flag-wielding Porsche Muffler Man successful Carson (who antecedently served successful the aforesaid spot arsenic a club-brandishing Golf Man). And location are plentifulness of others.

It didn’t look correct to extremity the travel without different sighting. So I made my measurement to Highland Park to meet the 1 who rules the roost.

More specifically, I headed for 5558 N. Figueroa St., which was connected the way of Route 66 for respective years successful the 1930s and which is the location of Chicken Boy.

Blessed pinch the customized caput of a chicken, the assemblage of a Muffler Man and a bucket successful his hands (for eating chicken?), Chicken Boy stood for years atop the Chicken Boy fried-chicken edifice connected Broadway downtown, inspiring writer Art Fein to explanation him “L.A.’s Statue of Liberty.”

After the edifice was shuttered successful 1984, Inouye swooped successful to rescue Chicken Boy and spot him successful protective retention — for years, arsenic it turned out.

The fiberglass statue known arsenic Chicken Boy stands connected the tile of artist, designer and gallerist Amy Inouye’s workplace connected Figueroa Street successful Highland Park.

In October 2007, aft she and longtime partner Stuart Rapeport had bought the Highland Park workplace abstraction and pulled permits, Inouye put Chicken Boy backmost together again and group him up connected the roof. There he remains, sharing abstraction pinch a billboard, visible up and down the artifact betwixt Avenue 55 and Avenue 56.

If a information by L.A. preservationist Charles J. Fisher goes through, Chicken Boy could go the first Muffler Man declared a metropolis historic-cultural monument. And if you driblet by the Future Studio Gallery connected a Saturday betwixt noon and 3 p.m. aliases 4 p.m., you’ll apt find Inouye, now 74, on pinch a trove of Chicken Boy T-shirts, patches, pencils and ceramic wealth boxes.

But seeing Chicken Boy is its ain reward, particularly aft seeing truthful galore of his fiberglass cousins. I sewage location connected a balmy afternoon, beheld Chicken Boy’s beak gleaming successful the sun, and knew my ngo was complete.