There is a book on the various Muffler men throughout the country. I was involved in the Porsche Experience Center project in Carson where the Muffler Man from the previous golfcourse was left in place but now donning racing coveralls. Sent from my SGH-T399 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I believe the one here in Wichita is also unaltered although he no longer holds a muffler. He now holds a tire in front of a tire shop that has been around a long time.
I visited that guy every weekday for a couple months when I built the elevators in the apartments across the street.
I've always wondered about those guys. I've seen them everywhere on old highways. There's one in Illinois I think, on old Route 66, holding a hot dog.
I remember the Babes Muffler Pickup trucks running at Half Moon Bay. A chopped short bed Model A and a very custom Yellow '48 Ford. The A was a race truck. Cad powered as I remember. Long time ago. Both very nice trucks. Wish somebody would post a picture.
Love this stuff, most people are in too much of a hurry to even notice. Americana is out there, so take the time and enjoy it. Thanks to all, I'll have to take a ride to Hampton for a photo op ( Thanks Joe).
This guy Lives on the roof of Stevedoring Services in Everett WA. on Hewitt Ave , former muffler shop, he used to hold a wrench . P40 lived right around the corner on top of a gas station, plane and station long gone. John
I was just watching a Youtube video tour of a scrapyard in Alberta, and saw the remains of a fiberglass muffler man: Go to about 3:10 and there's his face. The legs were shown in a previous video by the same guy. The yard is closing down and everything's for sale, now's your chance to own one.
Now as a kid, I remember seeing one of those where Dad was stationed. I think it was Ft. Sill, had a cowboy hat on and a rifle. Been awhile though, might have been, Ft. Sill, Riley, Leonard Wood...who knows. As a kid I was very impressed by that thing. Still remember it, no idea where it was. HA!
I grew up with one in western Massachusetts. One of my earliest memories was crawling through the legs as it laid on the ground. My Dad and his friend used it for a sign for thier Farm Equipment Dealership. My bedroom window looked out on it. He's still there, the dealership is closed and Dad is gone, but the "Big Man" is still there. If I retire up there I may try to get him for outside my man cave...real hard sell with the wife though...
Drive by the one here everyday and decided to stop and get a pic this morning. It was still dark out so you'll have to excuse the crappy phone photo:
I grew up in Los Gatos, CA. I remember a Babe's Muffler location (with giant muffler man) in Campbell near Hwy 17 and San Tomas Expressway. I used to pass buy it all the time when I was a kid. I was bummed when the muffler man was taken down.
Hello, The store that most everyone went to if you could not get it at the neighborhood shops for other stuff, was Dooley’s Hardware. Everyone had their own auto parts stores, but this place had its own section among the household items, hardware stuff and just general merchandise. It was a store for everyone and every taste. “one of our main sources of entertainment was to go down the street to Dooley’s Hardware, where the giant lumberjack stood, overlooking Long Beach Boulevard. Dooley’s Hardware consisted of three buildings that were spread over three blocks – you could get anything there, from ten-cent hot dogs to eighty-nine cent 45rpm records to a new living room set. Oh, and they also sold hardware. It’s hard to drive by without thinking of the giant lumberjack keeping watch over good, cheap hotdogs, and everything else you could ask for in a hardware store.” At the time, there was this store that seemed huge and had just about everything. It was a Long Beach Blvd’s famous, neighborhood institution for a very long time. That Babe Lumberjack was very prominent outside. The name Dooley’s was so popular that the local school district named an elementary school near the original site after Dooley’s was torn down, many years later. In the late 60s, my wife and I bought our first click remote controlled B/W TV at Dooley’s. Our first tv! Then in 1976, we bought a portable color TV from Dooley’s to watch the Olympics. What a treat, color TV ! But the big draw, besides buying anything you wanted, were those 10 cent hot dogs. They were the best. Jnaki If you combine the current, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sears, Penny’s Best Buy and the old Toys R Us stores, the name Dooley’s of Long Beach was the equivalent prior to those big box stores. Plus, those lunch time hot dogs were so good, that was the destination for many, back then. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/your-car-your-town.1001675/page-16#post-12285826 Dooley’s https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/your-car-your-town.1001675/page-16#post-12162219 https://www.roadsideamerica.com/muffler/track
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