Atomic Mouse of Georgia

Ringgold, Georgia

The Atomic Mouse of Memphis perched on the roof of Atomic Pest Control from 1978 to 2013. It was the brainstorm of company owner Stanley "Les" Tubbs, who had a flair for promotion. Les fell in love with the mouse in 1971 when he saw it outside Memphis's Crosstown Theater, promoting the rat attack horror flick Willard. Les bought the mouse, then drove it around on a trailer to promote his exterminator business. But the mouse kept getting stolen, so it 1978 it went up on the roof.

Les passed away in 2002, and his daughter, Carese Rice, now runs the company. She told us that her dad also designed the company's spaceman logo (1958) and that no one has yet come up with a satisfactory name for the mouse, although a suggested list includes "Easy Cheesy" and "Adam D. Atom." Carese said that her cousin once gave the mouse glowing red light bulb eyes, but they proved unpopular.

"He looked like an evil mouse," she said. "No one wants to see an 11-foot-tall mouse look evil."

In late 2013 Carese's cousin inherited the mouse and moved it to his own non-atomic pest control business in northern Georgia.