Muffler Man.

Muffler Man - Big White Guy

Arm position: left arm down, right hand waving

Accessories: top hat

Southern Gentleman

On the periphery of classification as a Muffler Man is this "Southern Gentleman," or "big White Guy," a puzzling mixture of the rare Texaco Big Friend and an ersatz Muffler Man head with sleepy eyes.

From his platform in front of the Plantation Inn, he greets cars as they exit the Mass Pike. In an earlier incarnation as Uncle Sam, he stood in front of Mutual Ford in Springfield, Massachusetts, until 1999. Before that he served as a pizza chef in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Today, Southern Man is painted completely white, with the aforementioned head and top hat. He appears to be a mix of liquor branding gentility: the top-hatted Johnny Walker with the white-suited Jack Daniels. The catch-phrase of The Plantation Inn is "Southern Hospitality in New England."

The Big White Guy may also serve as an unofficial visual marker for the C-5As that lumber frequently overhead, landing at a nearby Air Force base.

Also see: Muffler Men | Latest Sightings

Muffler Man - Big White Guy

Plantation Inn of New England

Address:: 295 Burnett Rd, Chicopee, MA
Directions:: Plantation Inn of New England. I-90 exit 6. Drive through the tollbooths, turn right onto Burnett Rd, then quickly turn left at the stoplight onto 1st Ave., then immediately turn left onto another Burnett Rd, then immediately turn left into a parking lot. The Big White Guy will be straight ahead.
RA Rates:: Worth a Detour

Nearby Offbeat Places

Titanic Museum, Indian Orchard, MA - 2 mi.
Dr. Seuss National Memorial Garden, Springfield, MA - 5 mi.
Private Monument to Rocky Marciano, Springfield, MA - 5 mi.
In the region: Tour a Tiny Soda Factory, New Britain, CT - 37 mi.

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May 24, 2013