Mr. Bendo Muffler Man

Dallas, Georgia

Type: Bunyan (20 ft. tall)

Arm position: Left arm down, right arm raised

Accessories: None

Nickname: Mr. Bendo

"Mr. Bendo" was named for a device called the Huth Tube Bender, which could bend a single metal tube into a twisty exhaust pipe. For decades he stood outside of Ralph's Mufflers in Indianapolis, but by May 2018 he had a new home outside of Atlantis Plumbing in Dallas, Georgia. Plumbers also work with pipes, so Mr. Bendo has made a lateral move, not a complete career change.

Atlantis owner Mike Whitman told us, "I have to go to that office every day, so I wanted decoration." At first, he said, he lined the perimeter of his property fence with toilets and planted flowers. "But the homeowners association next door thought it was an eyesore," Mike said, "even though their other neighbor is a prison." The toilets had to be removed -- and that's when Mike came across Mr. Bendo, which fulfilled Mike's lifelong dream of Muffler Man ownership. Mike drove 16 hours non-stop to and from Indianapolis to get him.

Mike was thrilled, but told us that he nevertheless kept Mr. Bendo in a shipping container for two years, until he felt sure he could stand up his Muffler Man without losing him, like he'd lost his outdoor toilets.