Texico Service Men

The Texaco Service Man is a rare find along America's highways, sometimes mistakenly reported to be a Muffler Man. We now know that he was one of a rare breed known as the "Big Friends."

This 20-foot fiberglass statue stood for ten years in front of United Auto Sales in Clarksville, AR. Bud Ross's brother had the statue in front of his service station in the '60's, but according to Bud, Texaco ordered the figures destroyed when distracted drivers filed lawsuits blaming the statues for accidents.

[Thanks to Russell T. Johnson, "The Arkansas Traveler,"for info and photo. Russell reported in early 1998 that Bud's Service Man was gone!]

Here's another sighting of a likely Big Friend:

"My brother and his wife live in Bartlett, IL, and the M-Man in question is located on Rt. 20 (Lake Street) just off of North Ave. My sister-in-law sent me the attached photo (see .jpg), and although it is not a great photo, you can see that it is probably not a true MM, due to arm position. They did used to sell tires out of the barn, but next door is a lawn/tractor shop that it now advertises for. One hand appears to be missing. [Paul August, 1/6/98]