Do You Know the ....

“Do you know the Muffler Man, the Muffler Man, the Muffler Man?  Do you know the Muffler Man that lives on Drury Lane?”  Oh wait, wrong words.  It’s MUFFIN man.  But I want to talk about Muffler Men.  No, not guys that work at the garage.  Muffler Men is the technical term for those tourist trap markers that are scattered throughout the country. 

Ever since my childhood, I have always been fascinated by these tall fiberglass statues that were built for the mere purpose of attention-getting.  I remember the one painted like Uncle Sam near a car dealership. There was a replica of Abraham Lincoln somewhere in New England if I remember correctly.  There is a Paul Bunyan up in the Adirondack mountains.   An Amish giant man is in the heart of Lancaster, PA, as well. There’s not much to do about them other than look at them and wonder whose idea it was to put it there, how long it will last, and why do I just love seeing them. 

Do I have a favorite?  YES.  Lucy the Margate Elephant is my favorite.  On my first journey to find Lucy, my friends and I were leaving our annual beach vacation and driving up the coast to find her.  Occasionally, there’d be a landmark sign indicating the general direction toward finding her.  However, after about 20 minutes of rambling up the shore roads, one of my dearest friends snapped and said:  “IF we don’t FIND THAT ELEPHANT in MINUTES we are just GOING HOME.  I haven’t seen my husband in four days!”  Well, I hadn’t seen my husband in longer than four days …. Because I’m NOT married…. I’ve NEVER seen my husband, so I was happily distracted to ramble around looking for a giant elephant.

I stopped a policeman who was, oh, probably 14 years old as they all seem to be in the beach towns.  I asked him where the elephant was.  He looked at me like he was more concerned with where the Psych Ward of the local hospital was for me.  Heck, I’m used to that look by now.  He isn’t the first; he won’t be the last.  When he drew a blank on Lucy the Elephant, I just asked, “How do we get to Margate?”  “Oh, just go over that bridge.”  He pointed and the bridge was visible up the street (to my great joy).  My friends and I jumped back in our vehicles and headed over the bridge, around a bend and BAM!  There she was:  Lucy in all her glory…. On a lot the size of a postage stamp.

Lucy was built by land developers as one of three elephants in New Jersey to attract attention.  One elephant was in Coney Island; unfortunately it went up in flames.  (This being a mystery to me because I didn’t think metal burned.)  The second elephant was on Cape May.  It was removed due to deterioration.  When the time came to consider Lucy’s fate, someone played the “Historic Landmark” card and saved her from a fate similar to the other two.  She was put on rollers and moved down the street from her original position to a small lot facing the ocean in Margate, New Jersey. 

You’ve heard the expression that someone who is hungry “has a hollow leg.”  Lucy the Elephant has a hollow leg …. With a spiral staircase in it.  Tourists can climb up to the belly area and walk around – it was quite empty when I was checking it out; however at one point it had been a haven for quenching thirst…. if you get my drift.   The bar-in-the-elephant didn’t work out long term so when she moved to her current locale, she became a tourist spot.  And, yes, I PAID to go inside the elephant.  Through her eye, you can look forward and see the ocean off the coast of the Jersey Shore.  Tourists are also able to go up to the top of the elephant and enjoy the view from the beautiful Indian canopy. 

That day, unbeknownst to me, my sneaky friends went into the gift shop and purchased my birthday present a few months early:  a black & white pencil sketch of Lucy the Margate Elephant.  It hangs proudly in my kitchen to this day.

In my online search to find a few pictures of these silent giants, I came across a website called usagiants.com.  (I think I found my soul-mate.  LOL.)  It turns out, the guy even produced a few dvd episodes about the topic.  I am amazed at the plethora of giants there are.  They are all around us in so many communities once you start looking!  I wonder if there are elves somewhere too?

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I dedicate today’s thoughts to all who are free to have the joy of a child in their hearts when they see something fun or silly.  “It is to such as these that the Kingdom belongs.” (said Jesus)