Muffler Man: Happy Halfwit Hollywood

Hayward, California

Type: Happy Halfwit (15-18 ft. tall)

Happy Halfwit, a healthy complexion in 2018.

Arm position: Standard

Accessories: Straw hat, also a variety of holiday heads, inc. Uncle Sam, Mardi Gras jester, Halloween demon skull.

Nicknames: Hollywood

Hollywood Halfwit

This Happy Halfwit is a relative newcomer to the San Francisco Bay Area, transplanted in early 2014 from his home in Flint, Michigan. The grinning goliath spent decades outside that city's Dort Mall, his giant straw hat and loud Hawaiian shirt a magnet for shoppers and their children. The figure was originally manufactured by International Fiberglass in California in the 1960s, designated in their catalog as a "Mortimer Snerd."

Fans have also referred to him as the Country Bumpkin, and Alfred E. Neuman; we categorize this statue Type as a "Happy Halfwit."

The mall's Halfwit had its 15 seconds of fame when it was filmed in 2007 as a prop in the 2008 movie Semi-Pro. A building at the state fairgrounds in Detroit was used as a stand-in for the Flint stadium. Halfwit's brush with cinematic fame is the reason new owner Bruce Kennedy named him "Hollywood."

Bruce purchased Hollywood and had the figure transported to his plastics business lot in Hayward, joining three other Muffler Men and a Santa. His exact position in the lot may change, but he's now part of Bruce's growing M-Men collection.