Roseville, Illinois: Muffler Man - Starvin' Marvin (Gone)

Thought you would be interested to know more about that elusive muffler man you photographed in 1992. A guy named Marvin Hawk was the owner -- here is some history he provided:

Marvin bought him in the mid-'80s from a western store in Monmouth, just to the north. He had a cowboy hat back then, and held a rifle in his hand, and on the shirt pocket was a faded Phillips 66 logo.

Since Marvin was in the seed business he took the hat off and rifle and made a farmer's cap for him. He eventually threw out the cowboy hat and rifle as they started to rot and fall apart over the years. He patched up a few bullet holes in the chest and he lived at the seed company until 1994. At that point Marvin sold him at auction to a guy from Peoria who lived north of town in possibly the Dunlap or Spring Bay area. That's the last Marvin has heard of him, and guesses he should still be around northern Peoria, either in storage or in front of a business.

This Muffler Man hasn't been confirmed as still in the Roseville area since we first spotted him in 1991. So we dug into our archived photo negatives and found a few more details.

He was on the east side of Highway 67, not in town, and stood in front of a business labeled "Hawk Co." (there is a Hawk Seed Co.'s listed in town today). The building has a sign identifying the Hawk Co as a "Northrup King dealer," so it is/was apparently a seed business.

The Muffler Man at the time had a Broot Union Carbide baseball cap, "Hawk Co." written over his left pocket, and "Starvin' Marvin" over his right pocket.

This M-Man may have been sold or moved on to another location. Or just starved to death.

On Hwy 67, wearing a baseball cap that says "Broot." Last seen in 1991.