Tulsa, Oklahoma: Meadow Gold Mack: Muffler Man

We were visiting friends in Chicago and decided to make a day trip out to the lakes northwest of the city. We were following highway 176 going east out of Crystal Lake when we happened to spot this old muffler man. The sacks he is holding are full of wood chunks.

Darn, we thought we'd be the first - looks like someone already reported him. We were just driving down the road when I exclaimed, "Muffler Man!" Tim laughed as he was pulling off the road, explaining he had already spotted him a mile back. This Lumberjack-Muffler Man is amazing. Great color. He's right off the road - no need to wait until business hours to see him. As a matter of fact, we found him on the Fourth of July. But he didn't have a flag in his hands back then.

Muffler man sighted at wood and mulch supplier.

Don Wolff, owner Of Wolffs flea market, wrote to me about the muffler man:

"It is currently lying in a trailer waiting for us to re-open and set it up! ...The story we got with this Paul Bunyan was that it was bought by Sebastian Lorenzo's father (owner of Village lumber in Melrose Park, IL). Supposedly he was driving through Arizona and saw it. I think he said his dad bought it for him when he was born. Originally, when Village was going to close, Sebast's brother was going to bury it in the hole left after the building was torn down. We couldn't see that happening so we took it for our display. Then officially bought it from Sebast when we closed our doors so that we could keep it for our next location. So he is still around - just taking a nap."

The muffler man used to be in front of a lumber store. I found the same muffler man inside at the Wolff's Flea Market in Melrose Park. The muffler man might be for sale... There is admission to get into the flea market.