Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/08/23/paul-bunyan-and-other-fibergla.html
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More of this please!
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YOW!
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There was a human-sized crowing rooster figure parked in front of a liquor store in an odd corner of Providence called Sollito’s, which I’d long imagined as the source for the Family Guy man-sized adversarial chicken schtick, McFarlane having gone to Brown.
It did feature an outstanding, written-out tagline: “Spirits low? See Sollito!”
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RISD actually, but also in Providence, so maybe.
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You are correct - I stand corrected.
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There were at least two of the octopuses in Madison when I was a student, for an eponymous carwash chain. Also I think some Paul Bunyoni, though those were more common in Minnesota.
Sinclair gas station locations have started to bring back the Dino the Dinosaur statues. It was heartwarming to see kids playing on one in Fort Bragg last month.
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But no word on Babe the Blue Ox?
There was (is?) a really tall Paul Bunyan in Brainerd, MN and a huge Babe in Minocqua, WI when I was growing up. As a kid, those were talismans of cheesy good times ahead! (Not as great as The Dells, but you took what you could get as a kid, right?)
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Wilmington, IL (on historic Route 66), at the Launching Pad Restaurant:
He began life as a Muffler Man.
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There was one in Minneapolis (on University Ave SE) too…
(Bonus in the background of that photo is the building that I always think of as “The Television Building” because of the shape of the windows. That is, TVs like when we were young, not now.)
Aha, it looks like that octopus still exists, now painted pink.
It appears to be installed in someone’s garden? Here’s a photo of it on the website of the neighborhood association.
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That first picture.
The Uncanny Alleyway!
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Why don’t they just make it a museum?
i drive by a Paul Bunyan (missing the ax) on my way to work, every day. reminds me that some of the weird, old LA still exists. (on Mission, between the 5 & 101)
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There seems to be quite a Muffler man revival going on now. There is also a company called American Gigants that restores and customizes them:
Have you seen Route 66’s gigantic new mascot?
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I knew I recognized our Muffler Man from in front of Brown’s Tire in Wichita, Kansas. Thanks for that list.
Related: Joe’s Car Wash in (formerly a neighborhood) Delano, just west of downtown and the river, had an automated sign waver they dressed up as Superman, or Santa Claus.
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Get off the turnpike in Chicopee Ma and this guy greets you.
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When did Muffler Man win a Hugo Award?
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Maybe it was the Yugo Award.
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