Bradsher Landscape Supply muffler man

According to WRAL's 2021 history, he was bought in the late 1960s from the International Fiberglass Company and stood on the roof of the Giant Decorator paint store on Downtown Boulevard, holding a paint can. The store operated from 1968 until the early 1980s. WRAL says Muffler Men of this kind shared a mold developed in 1962 for a Paul Bunyan figure at the PB Cafe in Flagstaff, Arizona, and cost about $2,000. This one is described as 22 feet tall.

When Giant Decorator closed, WRAL says, he was sold at a liquidation sale to a local family and displayed on their farm overlooking US 401. The Bradsher family sold that farm in 2006 and moved him to their landscaping business. Strange Carolinas (2015) quotes Mr. Bradsher saying a twister once blew his head off, and says high school students stole an arm as a souvenir and later returned it. A visitor tip from 2012 says trees had grown up around him, so he was moved next to the main office near the road and repainted.

Roadside America says he has been moved at least twice. WRAL also records a local tale of a companion statue, the Cougar, once outside a Leith Mercury dealership on Capital Boulevard.

Roadside America lists him on a private lot reached by an industrial park road, and a visitor reported him still standing in March 2023. It is a working business on a private lot, so respect the property and check before visiting.