Muffler Men Homepage
There used to be saying, before political correctness settled in, that a good man is hard to find. If today’s Warped sight is any indication, there are still a lot of them out there, and this site shows the best of them.
Today’s site is one that features an odd collection of men, many of whom are just standing by the side of the road, waiting to have someone look at them. The only problem is that these guys are HUGE, and made of fiberglass. They are known as the Muffler Men!
These colossi were originally created in the 1960s by a California fiberglass company for gas station chains in sizes ranging from 18 to 23 feet. M-Men once beckoned noisy and exhaust-weary vehicles to replace their mufflers. The statues’ hands were molded to hold mufflers or tires. As establishments closed or changed owners, the lantern-jawed Muffler Men were transplanted to other locales. While hundreds have been lost forever, many still stalk the shoulders of highways across the nation. There is one in the town where I live, only a few blocks from where my wife grew up.
These bits of nostalgia harkens back to a time when advertising was done with a real purpose in mind, namely to sell products. Nowadays we see huge flashing screens, ugly billboards, and people standing on the sidewalks waving signs in your face as you pass them. This site mixes the nostalgia of what was with the reality of how the times have changed. You can find where these Muffler men are, and what they are doing. It is truly a unique use of the Internet to have fun and explore the off beat side of our culture. Rich’s Warped rating for this site is a strong 8.
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/muffler/index.html
