Superdawg giant hot dog statues Maurie and Flaurie

Chicago, Illinois, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

Maurie and Flaurie are 12-foot-tall hot dog figures on the roof of the Superdawg Drive-In at 6363 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago's Norwood Park. They have stood there since the drive-in opened in May 1948, and returned in November 2024 after a restoration.

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Superdawg giant hot dog statues Maurie and Flaurie

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Site-level location · 41.9968° N, 87.7870° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Two giant hot dogs, a strongman and his sweetheart, have been winking from a Chicago rooftop for more than 75 years.

Maurie and Flaurie stand 12 feet tall on the Superdawg Drive-In at 6363 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Norwood Park, at the corner of Milwaukee and Devon. According to the restaurant, Maurie Berman, a World War II veteran studying to become a CPA at Northwestern, and his wife Florence, known as Flaurie, a Chicago Public Schools teacher, opened a roadside hot dog stand there in May 1948 as a summer business. Maurie designed the small building and the two figures on its roof, meant to beckon passers-by with winking, blinking eyes. In 1948 the corner was the end of the streetcar line.

The figures are named for the founders. CBS Chicago describes Maurie as dressed like Tarzan and showing off his muscles, and Flaurie as demure in a short skirt with a bow on her head. Their daughter Lisa Drucker, a co-owner, told the Sun-Times in 2024: “They’re in love with one another, just as my parents were.”

The Sun-Times reported that the statues were originally made from chicken wire and a papier-mâché-type material, were later given a more durable fiberglass exterior, and had been taken down three times before for cleaning and repairs. On September 4, 2024, cranes lifted them off for repainting and reinforcement at what the owners called a “SuperSpa”. CBS Chicago reported that they were back on the roof ten weeks later, on November 13, 2024. WTTW calls them unofficial Chicago landmarks.

A second Superdawg opened in Wheeling in 2010, and CBS reports that it also has Maurie and Flaurie on its roof. Back in Norwood Park, CBS says the drive-in still maintains 1950s-style carhop service.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Maurie and Flaurie sit on the roof of a working drive-in at 6363 N. Milwaukee Ave. CBS Chicago (2024) says the restaurant still offers carhop service. Check the restaurant for current opening hours.

ACCESS

The statues are on the roof of the Superdawg Drive-In, a business at 6363 N. Milwaukee Avenue, and are visible from the street. Seeing them does not require going inside.

COMMUNITY