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Kansas City, Kansas: Muffler Man (Gone)

Was the bouncer in front of an adult "toy store" until he fell down.

Hours:
Gone
Status:
Gone

Visitor Tips and News About Muffler Man

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Happy Halfwit Muffler Man

I believe this was the same statue that stood in front of a store in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wornell Road, for many years, and was purchased and moved to Kansas when that store closed. It looks rather like a statue that's in storage at Bell Plastics in California.

[Steve Atwell, 06/21/2022]

The Halfwit at Bell Plastics came from Flint, Michigan, but maybe he had moved to Flint from Kansas City. Muffler Men are often well-traveled.

Muffler Man Half Wit.

Kansas City Muffler Man

There have been some reports about a Happy Halfwit Muffler Man that used to stand at the corner of 43rd and State Line Rd in Kansas City, and went missing around 1996. Thanks to Scott Phillips and his blog, we now know what the Muffler Man looked like. He actually stood at 43rd and Cambridge in front of a small store called Poor Boy's Pantry, which had been around since the 1960s.

Today, the same building is occupied by Driven Nutrition and The Cabana Tanning Co., and all that's left of the Halfwit is the same pole he stood against in the 1980s. Scott took his picture in 1985, and the shirt and shoes seem to be a dead match for the Halfwit currently in Flint, Michigan. Either that's where he ran off to, or International Fiberglass sold the Hawaiian shirt as an option for its Halfwits, and made more than one of them. Thanks again to Scott for sharing this rare pic and for giving me permission to post it here.

[Joel Baker, 01/24/2013]

The Halfwit in Flint has been there since 2002 at the latest, so it's possible that it's the same one that disappeared from Kansas City in the mid-1990s. Good detective work, Joel.

Muffler Man - Half Wit gone!

I regret to inform you that the Muffler man of Kansas City has been removed. He was a half wit dressed as a country bumpkin with the standard one hand up one hand down. He was actually in Kansas at the intersection of 43rd St. and State Line Road in Kansas City Ks. (Wyandotte County). He stood at the same location for at least 35 years that I can remember but was removed to accommodate a road expansion project. I can't say for sure what happened to him but I would like to think he found a new home as opposed do being destroyed.

[Jim Montgomery, 10/14/2000]
Muffler Man - Vague Recollections

GONE! Well, this Muffler Man must have a bit of a horn-dog side to him. He was the 'bouncer' in front of an adult 'toy store' in Kansas City, Kansas. But the Muffler Man, clad in a plaid shirt and suspended jeans, fell one day a couple years ago, and I haven't seen him in KC since.

[Insanne, 06/15/1998]

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