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

The snowfall was flying sideways and helium had nary jacket, but this lumberjack did not shiver. He stood astir 25 feet tall, ax successful hand, wearing a reddish chapeau and rictus grin. And helium 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 with the archetypal Muffler Man.

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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 astir commonly, Muffler Men. Manufactured successful Los Angeles, they archetypal appeared connected the highways of North America successful the aboriginal 1960s arsenic an advertizing gimmick, often promoting car tons oregon 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 decorator and creator who rescued L.A.’s astir iconic Muffler Man, Chicken Boy, a chicken-headed statue that stands atop her assemblage successful Highland Park. “They’re truly gangly and they conscionable privation to beryllium accepted for who they are.”

The Northern Arizona University field successful Flagstaff includes the archetypal 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 — determination 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 however 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 steadfast of the site.

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

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

Next, successful Wilmington, Ill., came the Gemini Giant, who stands 23 feet gangly supra a tiny park. Made for a Wilmington diner successful 1965, helium was auctioned disconnected for $275,000 successful aboriginal 2024 and placed successful his existent determination aboriginal 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 acquisition store connected State Route 62. But present I was paying much attention.

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

Made from a modular acceptable of molds and held unneurotic by alloy frames, astir Muffler Men are assembled from 3 oregon 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, blistery canine vendors, race-car drivers, pirates and service-station attendants. Then determination were the jug-eared goofball characters, which immoderate scholars of the creation signifier telephone halfwits, portion others similar snerds.

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

Juni Peraza, 25, works astatine the Meadow Gold Mack retail store connected 11th Street successful Tulsa, Okla. She said she has lone precocious realized the possibilities that travel with 11th Street being portion of Route 66.

All that enactment faded successful the 1970s. But successful astir 1989, the seeds of a caller Muffler Man epoch were sown.

Kirby, Mike Wilkins and Ken Smith, who had worked unneurotic connected the 1985 publication “Roadside America,” were gathering 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 archetypal 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 similar a spiritual 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 similar your 3rd oculus has been opened.”

Ken Bernstein, main metropolis planner for Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources, calls Muffler Men “monumental and distinctive 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 customized jobs, are being steadily manufactured now. There’s an full economical assemblage emerging astir their restoration, replication, sales, transport and display, including companies similar (Re)Giant and sculptor Mark Cline’s Enchanted Castle Studios. (To confuse matters, galore Southern California mechanics woo customers by welding unneurotic mufflers to marque 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 lasting Muffler Men, with 2 much expected astir Memorial Day.

Because the giants basal successful the unfastened air, visitors who amusement up aft hours — arsenic I did — tin 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 bash with cars and aged advertisements. I deliberation it conscionable takes radical back,” said Lee Woods, 55, who jumped connected the Muffler Men bandwagon astir 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 presumption 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 idiosyncratic to physique a customized 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 helium got 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, helium bought the museum, wherever helium collaborates with Baker, who is laminitis of the American Giants website, creator of a Giants YouTube bid and serves arsenic a Muffler Man broker, advisor and proscription specialist.

“When radical spot these things, they deliberation they’re the coolest happening retired there,” Woods said. “Today we’ve had radical from six antithetic 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 with an 8-foot-long guitar).

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

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

Then came my snowy infinitesimal with the archetypal Muffler Man, whose nickname is Louie. Experts hold that helium was produced successful astir 1963 and sent to a Flagstaff cafe with a lumberjack taxable (and yes, that cafe stood on Route 66).

Louie stood determination until the cafe closed much than 10 years later. Then helium was donated to NAU and stationed by the summons bureau 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, due to the fact that determination are truthful galore giants on the byways of Southern California and due to the fact that 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 connected 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 determination are plentifulness of others.

It didn’t look close to extremity the travel without different sighting. So I made my mode to Highland Park to conscionable 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 with 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 statement 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 extortion of artist, decorator and gallerist Amy Inouye’s workplace connected Figueroa Street successful Highland Park.

In October 2007, aft she and longtime spouse Stuart Rapeport had bought the Highland Park workplace abstraction and pulled permits, Inouye enactment Chicken Boy backmost unneurotic again and acceptable him up connected the roof. There helium remains, sharing abstraction with a billboard, disposable 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 archetypal 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. oregon 4 p.m., you’ll apt find Inouye, present 74, on with a trove of Chicken Boy T-shirts, patches, pencils and ceramic treasure boxes.

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