BIG STATUES 3 - others
American Giants Museum
Around 1965, large oil companies such as Phillips 66, Sinclair, Exxon and Texaco started working with International Fiberglass (located in Venice, CA) to produce giant statues... the Sinclair green dinosaur, the Phillips 66 Cowboy (Muffler Man), the Texaco Big Friend and the Esso Tiger.
Joel Baker is the founder of American Giants, a company that documents and restores giant statues. Restoration can take anywhere from three to nine months, depending on the statue's condition. Construction on the American Giants Museum building in Atltanta (Illinois) began in October 2022. It is meant to resemble a vintage Texaco service station. It officially opened in the spring of 2024 and is filled with information and pieces of assorted large statues.
Texaco Big Friend
The first Big Friend (or Friendly Service Man) was made in 1966 for a Texaco advertising campaign. The company ordered 300 of them (with an option to order 2,700 more) and placed them in gas stations all around the country. Unfortunately due to an assortment complains (distracting to drivers, difficult to move, dangers from toppling over, unsightly, etc), the campaign was short-lived. Not only were the statues taken down, they were ordered to all be destroyed. Only six are known to have survived... smuggled away and hidden for decades.
Big Friend in Atlanta, Illinois - This 24-foot-tall Big Friend was sent to Las Vegas in 1966 to Las Vegas. In 1981, the owner of Sun Valley Homes in Parhump (Nevada) purchased the Texaco Big Friend and modified him with a different hat and colors. He served as an advertisement for pre-fabricated homes. When the company closed in 2013, he was bought as scrap metal by the disposal yard. During his transportation, he sustained a caved-in chest and amputation of an arm and a hand. His metal was removed and the remaining pieces found a home on the ground outside a museum. In 2016, he was brought to Illinois for restoration. Since early 2024, he has his original appearance and stands at the American Giants Museum. So far, he's the only Texaco Big Friend that has been fully restored to his vintage look.
DINO, the Sinclair dinosaur
Sinclair first had the idea to use dinosaurs as part of their marketing campaigns back in 1930 since the lubricants they were promoting were refined from crude oil believed to have formed back during the age of the thunder lizards. The original idea included many different dinosaurs but it was the Brontosaurus that became the country's favorite. In 1932, DINO (pronounced DYE-NO) became a registered trademark.
But isn't the Brontosaurus actually an Apatosaurus? Since dinosaur fossils are rare, it's not always easy to study and classify them. The debate as to whether they are the same or different species has been going on since 1903.
Fiberglass DINOs began appearing at Sinclair stations in the early 1960s.
Mortimer Snerd
Mortimer Snerd was the name of a ventriloquist dummy from the 1930s used by Edgar John Bergen. Sometimes also called Happy Halfwits, the statues were produced in the 1960s by the International Fiberglass company, which also made the Muffler Men. They, however, were meant more for fun places such as amusement parks or miniature golf courses. They sold for $1,860 and could be as tall as 21 feet.
Mortimer Snerd in Atlanta, Illinois - This one stood until 2012 outside the Wagon Wheel bar in Madison (Ohio) until 2012. It was restored and brought here in 2023.
Big Boy
Big Boy is a casual dining restaurant chain which began in 1936 when Bob Wian opened his first hamburger stand in Glendale, California called Bob's Pantry. He quickly became famous for his special double-decker hamburger, known as the Big Boy. In the 1940s, Wian expanded. The new franchisees were allowed to use the Big Boy brand along with their own name. As such, there are now Bob's Big Boys, Frisch's Big Boys, Shoney's Big Boys, and more.
In Burbank, Calfornia
In Tawas, Michigan ... The evolution of the Big Boy mascot
Paul Bunyan & Babe the Blue Ox
Paul Bunyan is a fictitious lumberjack of gigantic size and incredible strength. It's believed he began as stories told by loggers in the North American forests. These stories were written down and made popular in 1916 by author William B. Laughead. The original folklore listed Bunyan as a very large, but still human, being. But Laughead turned him into a giant so large that he towered above the trees and his footprints are what created the lakes in Minnesota. He also gave the blue ox that accompanied him the name of Babe.
Paul & Babe in Oscoda, Michigan - Paul stands over 13 feet tall and was originally made of papier-mâché in 1971 for a Detroit parade. Afterwards, it was purchased by Oscoda for $50. It was restored in 1983 with fiberglass and repainted. In 2023, Babe was added.
Paul & Babe in Ossineke, Michigan - Paul was built of of concrete in the 1940s. He is 25.5 feet tall and weighs 11.5 tons. Babe was built in 1938 and was originally painted white. She was painted blue in 1950 and paired up with Paul in 1953. They were moved to this location in 2006 and repainted in 2007. If you look closely, Bunyan has a loudspeaker in his shirt pocket, possibly with a recorded message or connected to a tavern across the street.
Paul & Babe in St. Ignace, Michigan - The duo sit at the base of the steep staircase up to Castle Rock, a nearly 200-foot-high column of limestone. Unlike most Bunyans which stand, this one is seated. Postcards from the 1950s show a different version made of concrete and chickenwire.
Other big folk... from big to small(er)
The Golden Driller in Tulsa, Oklahoma - The 75-foot-tall, 43,500-pound oil worker has been located in front of the Tulsa Expo Center since 1966)
Dignity in Chamberlain, South Dakota - The statue is 50 feet tall and weights 12 tons. It was built in 2016 from stainless steel and honors the native cultures of the Lakota and Dakota. The artist used three models for the face, aged 14, 29 and 55. Her clothes are based off of a traditional two-hide dress of the 1850s. The star quilt has 128 stainless steel diamonds which glitter in the sun and move with the wind.
Athena in Nashville, Tennsesse - She can be found inside a replica of the Greek Parthenon, which was built as part of the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition. The 42-foot statue, however, wasn't completed until 2002.
Forever Marilyn in Palm Springs, California - A 26-foot tall statue created by Seward Johnson out of stainless steel and aluminum in 2011
Unconditional Surrender in San Diego, California - Based on the famous photo taken in 1945 moments after Japan's surrender to the US in WWII. The 25-foot, 7-ton bronze statue stands next to the USS Midway.
Pierre the Pantsless Voyageur in Two Harbors, Minnesota - In the 1700s and 1800s, a voyageur (meaning traveller) was a French explorer of this region who transported furs by canoe during the fur trades. Pierre was placed at the Voyageur Motel in 1960 as a roadside attraction to attract motel guests. Standing 20 feet tall and made out of fiberglass and mesh, Pierre could turn his head, had red glowing eyes that could move, and had a speaker so he could talk with which he could entertain people with his voyager tales. He was controlled by a motel employee in a hidden booth. By the 1970s, the Pierre had became neglected. His eyes became dark slits and his birch bark canoe and paddle disappeared. In 2008, part of the motel was destroyed. In 2011, he was saved and placed at the Earthwood Inn. He now has a paddle and canoe (complete with googly eyes)... but still no pants, for unknown reasons.
Big Lonnie Johnny in Hutchinson, Kansas - Using an original 1966 mold of a Big John (statues from molds at the General Sign Company of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for Big John grocery stores). Mark Cline made this statue in 2022.
These bronze Bigfoot statues could be found all over Michigan (including Tawas, Sault St. Marie and Munising above). The large, muscular, hairy, ape-like creature is known by many names... Sasquatch (meaning wild man, in the Pacific Northwest), Bigfoot (Northern California) or the Dewey Lake Monster (Michigan).... which was allegedly seen by local residents in 1964 in southwest Michigan.
