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Baxter, Minnesota: Bowling Bunyan and Babe (Gone)

Before Baxter's Paul Bunyan Sports Bar & Grill closed, a Bunyan Muffler Man clutched a bowling ball while helpful pin boy Babe held a mouthful of pins. Bunyan sold in 2011, moved to private collector in North Carolina. Before 2004 was in Sullivan, Missouri.

Visitor Tips and News About Bowling Bunyan and Babe

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Muffler Man down...

Muffler Man For Sale?

I drove by the lumberjack on I-44 shortly after New Years. The business appears to be for sale and the muffler man is holding a "For Sale" sign. I couldn't tell you if his sign is for the business or for those of us who dream of owning our own big guy.

[P. Pospisek, 03/09/2003]

May 2004 - reported now at Paul Bunyan Bowl, Baxter, MN. The photo is from May 2003 -- the Muffler Man down, either from a storm, or ready for shipment to Minnesota.

Muffler Man - Memory

I read about your site in the Smithsonian Magazine, and logged on to see if you had the Sullivan, MO man listed already. I was happy to see the old man on there! I just wanted to share some history of the man. I traveled between St. Louis and St. James MO quite regularly as a child and as a young man. I remember the big guy from my earliest days. He stood on the N. side of I-44 holding a chainsaw for many years -- I believe the name of the store was Jonesreds, and I think it was a Husqvuarna chainsaw. Later, he stood there with nothing in his hands, until someone put the axe in there. I remember some football players from our St. James, MO High School telling how, on the way home from a victorious football game, they convinced the bus driver to pull over and they all piled out and saluted the "chainsaw man." Thought you might want to know a bit of this muffler man's history!

[Greg Wolfe, 10/13/2000]

Lumberjack Muffler Man, Sullivan, Missouri.

Muffler Man

I saw a Lumberjack Muffler Man leering down at passing traffic on I-44. [Darren Snow, 4/21/97]

The Muffler Man disguised as a Lumberjack on I-44 at Sullivan, MO is advertising Lumberjack Products. [Jon Dmytryk, 3/15/98]

The Sullivan, Missouri Muffler Man, holds an exhaust pipe axe handle with an ill-proportioned head. front view | side view. [Earl Morrow, 7/19/98]

[various, 04/21/1997]

May 2004 - reported now at Paul Bunyan Bowl, Baxter, MN. August 2019: 1999 photo added.

Bowling Bunyan and Babe

Hours:
July 2011 - Auctioned, Moved to NC
Status:
Gone

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