Chicken Boy: Muffler Man

Los Angeles, California

Chicken Boy is a unique, freak Muffler Man, customized with a chicken head and bucket of fried chicken, and installed atop the roof of L.A.'s Chicken Boy restaurant in September 1969. He stood there until May 4, 1984, when he was rescued from destruction, illegally, in the dead of night, by a team of artists and contractors led by Amy Inouye, who had developed a genuine affection for the unwanted inter-species love child.

Amy quickly learned that it was easier to take Chicken Boy down than to put him back up again. For the next 23+ years she had to keep Chicken Boy in storage while fruitlessly appealing to L.A.'s bureaucrats and arts officials, trying to convince them that Chicken Boy was, in her words, "The Statue of Liberty of Los Angeles," and that he needed to once again be seen by the city's inhabitants. It wasn't until she purchased her own building in the Highland Park district -- with a sturdy roof -- that Amy finally received approval. Chicken Boy was installed on Amy's roof on October 18, 2007.

Three years later, Arnold Schwarzenegger presented Amy and Chicken Boy with the California Governor's Historic Preservation Award.