City of Atlanta making a "giant" impact on route 66 tourism
New American Giants Museum AND a new tourism director already getting plenty of attention Atlanta

 

[June 02, 2023] 

Thursday, June 1, two “giants” and other smaller artifacts were delivered and installed at the American Giants Museum in Atlanta.

Pieces delivered Thursday afternoon included an 11-foot Gas Station Waving Guy statue a five-foot by three-foot by one-and-half-foot A & W Root Beer Mama Burger, a three-foot by two-foot by four-foot A & W Root Beer Baby Burger and a seven-foot-long Esso tiger. A Uniroyal Tire Gal Leg and Foot and Indian Muffler Man Tomahawk had been placed in the museum in the past couple weeks.

Rain in the afternoon delayed the delivery and installation of the Snerd, but around 7:15 p.m., the Snerd finally arrived. The Snerd, also known as the half-wit giant, is 19 feet tall and was brought in on a long trailer pulled by a truck.

Ladonna Terrill, who is associated with the American Giants, says it was fun seeing the reactions of people as they drove down the highway. When they stopped at gas stations, kid’s eyes would light up and they would point the statue out to their parents.

Before the giant Snerd could be lifted onto the concrete pad, the crew had to attach the giant’s arms, which were hauled separately in the truck bed. He also required a cleaning after the long and dusty ride.

Once the crane put the giant on the concrete pad, the crew had to figure out how to remove him from the lift. Fortunately, men from the Atlanta Fire Department next door came to the rescue by climbing a ladder and detaching the lift from the eyelets on the giant’s shoulder.

Next, a Texaco sign that had been placed inside the museum temporarily was then installed on the grounds right next to museum. Though it took some finagling to get the sign out with the crane, they finally got it onto another concrete pad.

The American Giants Museum, located on Vine Street in Atlanta, is designed to tell the story of the International Fiberglass Company. In the early 1960’s, this company produced the now iconic Muffler Man and Paul Bunyan giant statues found across Route 66.

Visitors to the museum will find an exhibit that includes various artifacts, documents, photos and giant fiberglass body parts which share the story of the American giants. Among the exhibits will be several different giant heads suspended from the ceiling and the 7-foot Esso tiger perched on a ledge.

The AGM building has been designed to look like a 1960s Texaco Gas Station. The design was chosen because the AGM collection includes a rare 24 foot tall Texaco Big Friends statue. There were 300 of the Texaco Big Friend giants fabricated in the 1960s as part of a marketing campaign, but today, only six remain.

On the walls of the museum, photographs and text tell the story of the Texaco Big Friend’s disastrous marketing campaign.
The museum grounds will eventually include up to six American Giant statues. This museum will have the largest collection of American Giant statues anywhere along all of Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Funding for AGM came through the Atlanta Betterment Fund, a 501 (c)(3) organization, established in 2008 through private donations and administered by a board of directors.

The Atlanta Betterment Fund took the initiative to create the American Giants Museum, because it sees the project’s potential for increasing tourist and tour group visits to Atlanta. The city anticipates additional visitors will translate into economic growth for the community and local businesses.

Joel Baker, founder, owner and manager of the American Giants Restoration Company is part of the crew responsible for preparing the giants at a restoration shop. Baker was in Atlanta all day Thursday and he and other crew members installed the giant and artifacts that arrived that day.

In Baker’s online journal of his Muffler Men travels, Baker said his interest in finding Muffler Man statues began in early 2011. What started out as a bit of fun grew into a real passion for tracking down and finding muffler men and sharing their stories.

“American Giants was launched in January of 2013 with the website first. Then in June the first episode came out on youtube. In 2015 American Giants started doing restorations and in 2016 Baker opened a shop and [he and his crew] now restore Muffler Men and other fiberglass giants. Future aspirations include an online store and podcasts. The most active part of American Giants is our Instagram feed, which provides daily updates.”

In addition to Baker’s full-time job, he keeps the website running and does all the research for future articles and episodes. He also produces and edits each episode. He has been working with muffler men since January of 2011 and currently has visited 150 of the giants.

Baker first met Atlanta’s Bill Thomas in 2012. Around five or more years ago, Baker and Thomas began talking about establishing a museum in Atlanta.

From the beginning, Thomas said they both recognized how mutually beneficial such a project could be. It would be beneficial for Joel and his desire to tell the world about his work locating and saving American Giants. For Atlanta, it would be beneficial in terms of attracting people to our community and, in the process, increasing the probability of them spending money while here.

Even if it wasn't until the last year or so that Baker and Thomas really became serious about moving the project forward, Thomas said it was always “something percolating in our minds; something that was just fun to imagine and talk about.”

In addition to Joel and Bill, the following people have been instrumental in helping realize the vision we've had for the American Giants Museum:

Stan Cain, a retired architect from State Farm who happens to be a friend [of Thomas’s] and willing to contribute his expertise to projects he finds intriguing.

Jill Miller, a talented graphic artist, with whom Thomas has worked for 25+ years who is amazing at creating stunning visual displays designed to tell stories.

Gary Harmon, a museum exhibit designer, to whom Thomas has regularly turned over the years to ask for guidance when working on new projects.

As Thomas said, “after several years of anticipation, it is exciting to see Atlanta's American Giants Museum become a reality. The joint efforts of all those involved in this project have created a new tourist attraction the Atlanta Betterment Fund believes will be very helpful to our community - not to mention just a lot of fun!”

Another playing a role in the museum is Atlanta’s new tourism director Scott McCoy.

In May, McCoy became the tourism director, and he will oversee the museum and build on Atlanta’s booming Route 66 tourism. From 2005 to 2009, McCoy served as mayor of Pontiac. During that time, he was involved in the development of their Route 66 tourism. He now lives in Bloomington, so Atlanta is just 20 minutes from him.

As tourism director, McCoy will serve part time, which he says works well with his other business. Something McCoy loves is talking with tourists and being part of the community.

McCoy said “Route 66 tourism is unlike any other type of tourism. There is regional tourism and there is outside tourism. When people are visiting Atlanta, they are also spending money here, and that's the ultimate goal of tourism. Route 66 is a unique tourist area, almost like walking into Walt Disney World. People have cash in their pockets to spend during their trip and they want to spend it.”

Last week, a tour bus was in Atlanta and a woman asked if she could buy McCoy’s hat. She said her husband really wanted a Route 66 hat for their Route 66 trip and he wanted McCoy’s hat. The woman ended up buying McCoy’s hat and her husband put the sweaty hat on his head.

“These people coming to experience Route 66 are spending money everywhere they stop.” McCoy said, “I am not trying to take credit for this, but the buses come here [and] we give them the red-carpet treatment.” They then share on social media how Atlanta is a great stop. That has increased our brand and attracts more tourists.

As McCoy said, that's good revenue for the town. People walk around the town and spend money in Atlanta’s shops.

Another part of McCoy’s role in Atlanta is economic development, which is a result of tourism. He is taking note of the numbers of people who come to town to see the sights and spend money here. McCoy said other people have been looking at the numbers and he is already meeting with new businesses who are interested in opening in town.

One business owner recently spent time walking around Atlanta and seeing the numbers of people travelling Route 66 and stopping in downtown Atlanta. McCoy said the business had never thought about Route 66 as a dedicated market audience. The area is getting the attention of a lot of businesses, and McCoy is personally working with them.

This attention from businesses and tourists is what excites McCoy the most. McCoy created the most-used Route 66 app in the world for travelers. He has been consulting and working with Route 66 entities for nearly twenty years, so he has a lot of experience.

On Thursday, Route 66 travelers stopped to take photos of the Bunyan Giant and the new museum even in the pouring rain. People see that Atlanta is blazing the way and McCoy said it's a community that is doing so much to capture those dollars from tourism.

The museum is a work in progress right now. More giants and artifacts will be delivered and installed throughout the summer and into 2024.

During the month of June, McCoy said the museum will be open for bus groups or large tour groups. By July, McCoy said the museum will begin to be open on a regular basis.

[Angela Reiners]

Related links:
Route66UltimateGuide.com
https://usagiants.com/about/