Giant Longhorn

Waukon, Iowa

This is a rare instance where a Muffler Man is upstaged by a fiberglass statue even bigger than he is -- a huge longhorn steer. It's also a unique pairing of the two statue-making giants of mid-century roadside America: Creative Displays/F.A.S.T. Inc. (which made the longhorn) and International Fiberglass (which made the Muffler Man).

This duo may have been here prior to 1971, when the business behind them, Village Farm and Home, moved to this location. The idea that they were originally a Bunyan-and-Babe combo is appealing, but also unlikely. Transforming a Bunyan Muffler Man into its current cowboy configuration would've been costly (and why bother?), as would de-blue-ing the longhorn with different color paint. It's an immense animal, with a horn spread of at least 25 feet.