From Mick Melvin:
I was driving in Connecticut on a Saturday afternoon and saw this giant man. I thought to myself, “Is that Paul Bunyan?” I drove closer and sure enough, it looked like a lumberjack.
The enormous lumberjack is 26 feet tall, making it easy to spot. The curious thing about this giant lumberjack is that he has no axe. Turns out his name is The Muffler Man, and he's actually supposed to be a flagpole!
The giant statue sits outside of the House of Doors. The initial placement of the statue had the Muffler Man holding an axe. However, the town of Cheshire has a law in place that prohibits signs from being taller than seven feet. The original axe was replaced by a flagpole. Now the Muffler Man is a flagpole and an official landmark in Cheshire.
Muffler Man is a recurring theme in the comic strip "Zippy the Pinhead" See an example at zippythepinhead.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=23-Jan-04&Category_Code=j2004&Product_Count=19
ReplyDeleteI used to read "Zippy" religiously, and always loved Bill Griffith's nods to kitschy culture like the Muffler Man and roadside diners.
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