One of the first major landmarks on the Mother Road is this space-age statue, a relic from a time when such monuments were popular.
by Rich Watson
He stands thirty feet tall. He wears a bullet-shaped helmet and a blue-green jumpsuit. And he holds a miniature rocket in his hands.
A movie superhero? Nope, he’s the Gemini Giant—one of many so-called “muffler men” across the country over the years and one of a number that remain along Route 66.
Roadside attractions
The mid-twentieth century was when these tourist traps grew like weeds along North American roads such as Route 66, near small towns.
They can come in any form: buildings with peculiar architecture, or at least with an odd theme; a “world’s largest” something; or a fiberglass statue like the Gemini Giant.
Interstate highways led to a decline in business for these roadside attractions. The Pixar animated movie Cars is about this decline, and indeed, is a tribute to Route 66 and the small towns along its path.
Here in New York State, we may not be as known for such quirky tourist traps, but we have our share. Samples include the Long Island Duck, the giant roll of Life Savers, and of course, the World’s Largest Pancake Griddle.
My parents’ first car had a bumper sticker from South of the Border, a Tijuana-themed rest stop along I-95 in South Carolina. I have no memory of seeing this place myself. I was probably too young.
Nor do I remember seeing any muffler men.
Muffler men
They were alternatives to billboards. Fiberglass trailer salesman Bob Prewitt commissioned the creation of a fiberglass horse trailer to help drum up sales at a trade show in 1961. It worked.
Later that year he built the first muffler man, a twenty-foot Paul Bunyan figure, and sold it to a Flagstaff, AZ restaurant called the Paul Bunyan Cafe. As a result they changed their name to the Lumberjack Cafe.
In 1963, the company International Fiberglass acquired Prewitt’s original molds, which were shaped so that the outstretched hands could hold mufflers, axes and other objects. Soon, muffler men (and a few “muffler women”) sprouted nationwide, looking like cowboys, Indians, mascots and more.
The closest muffler man near me may be the one in Jersey City. Wilson’s Carpet and Furniture at 220 Broadway displays a statue of a Bunyan-like man holding a rolled-up carpet.
Along Route 66, some locations with muffler men include:
- Carl’s Ice Cream, Normal, IL
- Gearhead Curios, Galena, KS
- Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios on 66, Tulsa, OK (this place also has a “muffler woman”)
- John’s Used Cars, Gallup, NM
- Chicken Boy, Los Angeles
The GG may be the best known.
The Gemini Giant and Wilmington, IL
Wilmington, IL (2020 population: 5664) lies on the east bank of the Kankakee River in Will County. Among the places to see include Midwest Classics on 66, a classic car museum and dealership, with memorabilia, and a Route 66 “Experience Hub.”
In 1960, John and Bernice Korelc opened The Launching Pad restaurant. The name was meant to capitalize on the fascination with rockets and the space race. Five years later, they bought a muffler man for $3500 to attract customers.
They dressed their statue as an astronaut. In his hands is a rocket. The GG name was the result of a grade school contest.
In 1986 the Korelcs retired and sold TLP. Successive owners kept it alive until 2012. Five years later, new owners repainted GG. TLP reopened in 2019, only to succumb to the pandemic a year later. By 2023 the property went up for sale and TLP was no more.
The comeback of GG and the muffler men
New trucking laws in the late sixties made shipping muffler men harder, as did the gas crisis in the seventies. Plus, public taste for them changed. By 1973, the last ones were made. International Fiberglass, now called Interform, shut down in 1978 and Prewitt bought back his molds. He used them until 2005.
In the twenty-first century, nostalgia for the muffler men has led to preservation efforts to keep the remaining ones. Plus, a few new ones have been made at Route 66 businesses.
As for the GG, Illinois state grant funds allowed the Joliet Area Historical Museum to win an auction bid for it. The statue moved to South Island Park, a new site in Wilmington, in 2024.
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Route 66 attractions in Illinois and Missouri:
- Lou Mitchell’s (Chicago): restaurant near the start of Route 66
- Cozy Dog Drive In (Springfield, IL): corn dog restaurant with Route 66 merchandise
- Shea’s Gas Station Museum (Springfield, IL): gas station turned museum for Route 66 and service stations in general. Closed in 2015.
- world’s second largest rocking chair (Fanning, MO)
- 66 Drive-In (Carthage, MO): historic drive-in from 1949
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NEWS: Spillwords has published another short story of mine. “The Owl and The Nurse” is… I guess you could call it a historical fantasy. It has elements of both. Let me know what you think.
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Do you live near a muffler man? Leave a comment and let me know!
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