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International Fiberglass Giant Men Statues (page 2)

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Like the Paul Bunyan models, most of the Cowboys and other Giant Men wear shirts with open-necked collars. The seven statues below have buttoned-up collars with bow ties. There are only about 10 statues known-to-exist that have this feature.

Giant Man
Piedras Negras, Mexico
This Giant Man seems to have had a little cosmetic surgery done to his face. The statue is apparently owned by the El Terco Maderera 57 hardware store. These photos are from 2008. In 2009, his shirt was repainted green. By 2019, the statue was laying on his back behind the store. By 2021, he was back up in front of the store, elevated on a special platform. [map]

Giant Man
Hancock, MA
This Giant Man is located at Green Valley Equipment Company. This statue has been here since at least the 1990s. Previously, the statue was displayed at a nudist camp and held a pitchfork. The "Big Man" also wore a blue ball cap until around 2009. These photos are from 2011. The statue was removed in 2016. It was restored and reinstalled in 2017. For more, see this website. [map]

Giant Man
Fredericksburg, TX
This Giant Man is located at the Wine Garage. The statue was originally located at a Chevron gas station in Oakland, ME. The statue was sold around 1976 and put on display at Marden's Salvage and Surplus locations in Waterville, ME and Bangor, ME. After being in storage since the late 1990s, the statue was sold at auction to the Wine Garage in 2017.

The statue was restored by American Giants before being installed in 2018. During the restoration, the statue's original name of "Howard" was found on his shirt. He was originally named "Howard the Giant" after the first owner, Howard Swett. The name was reproduced during the restoration. The statue is one of the very rare bow tie models and wears a very rare hat. The Wine Garage logo was added to the front of the hat. A custom wine bottle and wrench were made by Mark Cline. The bottle turned out to be too big. American Giants then made a smaller one. In 2023, the business became the Fat Ass Ranch & Winery. The statue's hat was repainted and he now holds a can of beer and a mug of beer. For more, see this website. [map]

Giant Man [gone]
Los Angeles, CA
2008:
2012:
2021:
This Giant Man was installed in front of Tony's Transmissions. He had been painted with a dark complexion and a pencil-thin mustache. Around 2010, Tony's Transmissions moved to a new location and the statue was moved with them. The car that he held was damaged. He was still there in 2019 but moved around 2020 to the new location. The statue was displayed in front of the shop. Around 2023, the statue was reportedly sold to someone in Lancaster, CA.

This statue and the former Hamburger Man in Malibu, CA were used to produce molds to create statues for Dennis Hopper. Those statues are now located in Dodge City, KS. They were on display in 2014 but then put in storage. In 2016, they were back on public display. For more, see this website.

Cowboy [gone]
Zephyrhills, FL
2003:
 2009:
This Cowboy statue was originally installed at a pawn shop in Seven Points, TX. Until at least 2001, the statue held a rifle. In 2004, Auto Air Muffler & Brake City bought the statue and restored it. The cowboy hat was replaced with a baseball cap. This statue was knocked over in 2017 during Hurricane Irma. It is now in a private collection in Ohio.

Auto Air is now known as Big Mechanic, named after these statues. The company has an International Fiberglass Paul Bunyan statue in Dade City, FL. It also had a a 14-foot-tall Giant Man in Tampa, FL which is gone now.

Giant Man
Salt Lake City, UT (now Hot Springs, AR)
The top half of this Giant Man in Salt Lake City was originally installed in the 1970s at a Mobil gas station in town. The top half was later displayed on the roof of the Rainbow Neon Sign Co. A customer brought the statue in for repairs in the mid-1980s and then never picked it up. The owner of the sign shop used the statue (top half and bottom half) in parades. When on the roof, he was dressed for various holidays. In this photo from 2022, he was sporting a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was remodeled as Spock from Star Trek in 2015 when Leonard Nimoy passed away. In 2023, the statue was removed (top and bottom) and will be displayed at Driven Towing in Hot Springs, AR after restoration. For more, see this website. [map]

Giant Man
North Platte, NE
This Giant Man in North Platte is located behind the gift shop at the Fort Cody Trading Post. The statue was originally installed at a gas station across the street. Around 1970, the Trading Post bought it and transformed it into an Indian. The bow tie feature has been mostly covered up but it is visible in the third photo above. For more, see this website. [map]

More International Fiberglass Bow Tie Wearing Giant Men:
Kittanning, PA
Kingsport, TN
Panama City, Panama

The first Midas Muffler shop opened in 1956. I don't know how many of these statues were built in the 1960s for the chain. There are at least three that survive. They were probably all produced with mufflers originally. Despite the misnomer of "Muffler Man," very few actually held them.

Midas Muffler King
Metairie, LA (now Atlanta, IL)
This Midas Muffler King statue is located at Clearview Auto Title. His beard has been painted over in favor of a mustache. The statue in Metairie stood in front of a Midas Muffler shop in New Orleans until it was moved here in 1974. Shortly after these photos were taken in 2010, the statue was repainted. He now has gold pants and a black shirt with a fleur-de-lis on the chest. During Hurricane Isaac in 2012, the statue was knocked over and his head was removed. The statue was still in storage in 2015. In 2021, the statue was sold to American Giants in Illinois. The statue will be restored and displayed at the American Giants Museum. [map]

Midas Muffler King
Newport News, VA
This Midas Muffler King statue has been located at Auto Muffler King since the mid-1960s. I assume it was originally a Midas Muffler shop. The statue was repainted in 2007 (bottom photos above). [map]

There is another Midas Muffler King with a crown in Unger, WV.

Giant Man
Escondido, CA
This Giant Man is installed in front of Joor Muffler Service. The statue was purchased at a trade show in the 1960s and has been installed here since then. This muffler appears to be one of the optional International Fiberglass stock accessories. I don't know if this shop was ever part of the Midas Muffler chain. At one time, the statue was dressed as a giant pumpkin for Halloween and in a Santa outfit for Christmas. I don't know if that is still done. However, in 2013, he was dressed in a cap and vest for a local bike race. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Giant Man
Dallas, TX

2017:
2020:
This Giant Man is located at Brothers Mufflers. The store opened around 1966 as Bud and Ken's. I believe this statue was installed here then. This statue also holds what appears to be an International Fiberglass muffler. The brothers had a falling out and the name was changed to Bud & Ben's. Ken went on to open muffler shops of his own. The name of this shop is now Reyes Mufflers. In 2018, the statue's clothes were painted blue. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

I don't know if Mr. Bendo was the name of a chain of muffler shops or if this was just the name of the chain's mascot. The name "Bendo" came from a device developed in the early 1960s that could bend a new muffler tailpipe to match the identical shape of an old one. I don't know if the company that produced these devices suggested that shops buy these statues. There are three surviving statues with this unique hand positions and bearing the "Bendo" name. I don't know if there were others. The right arm is raised like International Fiberglass' Indian model. However, the hand is closed around an iron bar. The bar is meant to represent a muffler tailpipe. These statues all wore a red shirt and white pants.

Mr. Bendo
Chicago, IL (now Blue Ridge, GA)
2001:
 2007:
 2010:
2021:
The Mr. Bendo in Chicago was installed at Ced's Auto Service. In 2010, the statue's upper torso was knocked off in a storm (third photo). The owner planned to repair him. However, in 2013, the statue remained broken. The upper torso was in storage but the head was missing. In 2014, Ced's closed and the lower torso disappeared from the roof. In 2015, the head was recovered and the statue was completely restored and moved to Free Time Hobbies in Blue Ridge, GA. The statue held a model airplane in his raised hand. The statue was known as "Mr. Hobby." In 2020, the hobby store closed and a dentist moved into the building. The statue was repainted in blue scrubs and given a giant toothbrush. For more, see this website. [map]

Mr. Bendo
Sioux Falls, SD
2006:
 2011:

2022:
This Mr. Bendo statue was shipped by rail from California to Buck's Muffler in 1963. The statue's head was damaged in transit. It was installed headless in front of the shop for a few months until the head was repaired. In 1965, Buck's moved and the statue was brought along. Like the other original Mr. Bendo statues, he holds a tailpipe.

In 2010, a driver crashed into the statue and broke his right leg. It was repaired and a leg cast with signatures was installed in the office. The statue was also repainted at the same time. His white shirt is now red. In the past, the statue was sometimes dressed in an Elvis costume but I don't believe he is anymore. In 2017, the store was put up for sale. In 2018, the statue was moved to Automotive Brake & Exhaust. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Mr. Bendo
Indianapolis, IN

2001 and 2005:
2009:
This Mr. Bendo statue has been at Ralph's Mufflers since the 1960s. It was repainted around 2009. After International Fiberglass had closed, the owner made a mold from this statue and had two others produced for his other muffler shops. However, city zoning laws did not allow them to be displayed. The statues and mold remained in storage until they were sold to American Giants. One is now displayed in Dallas, GA (see below) and the other is at Stone's Last Resort in Cleveland, MO. [map]

Mr. Bendo
Dallas, GA
This Mr. Bendo was one of the statues in storage in Indianapolis as described above. It is now located at Atlantis Plumbing with many other statues. The owner, Michael Whitman, painted the statue in typical Bunyan red and blue. Normally, these statues were painted with a rust-colored shirt and white pants. [map]

Mr. Bendo
San Angelo, TX
This Mr. Bendo statue is unusual in that it has the standard one-up/one-down hands versus the raised arm. This appears to be original since the fiberglass muffler is also original. Originally, the statue stood in downtown San Angelo at Fillip Automotive. It has been at this residential location since 1989. For more, see this website. [map]

More International Fiberglass Giant Men:
West Memphis, AR [gone]
Roseville, IL [gone]
Lynn, MA [gone]
Cassopolis, MI: 1, 2
Cleveland, MO
Gilford, NH [gone]
Coopersburg, PA
East Troy, WI
Levuka, SK [map]
Caguas, Puerto Rico [in storage, may be moved to New Jersey]

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