Shamong, New Jersey: Mighty Joe the Gorilla

The giant gorilla on the road into Wildwood has suffered a catastrophic collapse. In the Fall of 2002, George's ankles gave way and he pitched forward. Now only his oversized gorilla arms hold him up.

At the neglected "Islander Fun Park," George stands in an island of weeds at the center of an old go-cart track. The rusting staircase is still climbable, but getting creakier by the day. We visited with a CBS video crew in tow. They resisted our suggestion to shoot from under George, for some reason....

George used to have two playground slides jutting from his chest holes, and was a popular amusement on the Wildwood boardwalk. About five years ago he was retired and moved out to the Fun Park. Estimates to repair him (should the park ever open again) are a prohibitive $6,000.

My parents and I got gas on NJ 47 between Wildwood and the mainland, and out on this marshy island was a closed go-kart track with a large angry-looking gorilla standing in the middle. He was flanked by two dead palm trees, and stood guarding a little overgrown grassy patch inside the track. Stairs led up to a hole in his mid-section large enough to walk into, but at the top of the stairs I noticed he was only attached to them by a small rope, and opted not to enter his mighty belly.

He seemed so frustrated, enduring a workaday existence next to a used-car lot and a gas station, his owners nowhere to be seen. Maybe he'd be grinning if he had more to do.

Muffler men and roadsides statues are always a weird piece of pop cultures and locals folklores. Since I live toward Montreal (Quebec) Canada, I asked myself if there was any huge beings around.

I have not found time to look at it, but yet, I found an old photo coming from a travel my parents did around 1963-69. As my memory recalls, I believe it was in Wildwood, somewhere on the north of the east coast, probably in Connecticut or Maine. I don't know if this construction is still there, but I'm sure, even if its not a Muffler Man, that its a nice picture to add to your collection.