Unpacked by Afar

Giants of the Highway: The Secret Story Behind Route 66's Most Unusual Museum

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Welcome to Unpacked, America 250, a mini series celebrating the music, art, food, and more that makes America, America—in honor of our nation's upcoming 250th anniversary.

The mini series is part of Afar's "52 Places to Travel in the U.S. This Year" story, and in this fourth episode, host Aislyn Greene takes us to Illinois to explore the towering fiberglass giants that once ruled America's highways.

From Bob Prewitt's rodeo horse trailers to Texaco's massive "Big Friend" campaign, this episode reveals how a cowboy's creativity sparked a nationwide phenomenon of supersized roadside advertising—and how one man's obsession saved these giants from extinction.

On this episode you'll learn

  • How rodeo cowboy Bob Prewitt accidentally launched the fiberglass giant industry while building horse trailers in 1960s California
  • Why these towering figures became known as "Muffler Men" despite most never holding mufflers
  • The story behind Texaco's ambitious Big Friend program that deployed 300 twenty-three-foot servicemen across America—and why it failed spectacularly
  • How oil companies like Phillips 66 and Texaco drove the nationwide expansion of roadside giants in the 1960s
  • What happened when Texaco ordered all their giants destroyed, echoing Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood set demolitions
  • Why Joel Baker became America's leading expert on fiberglass giants and opened the country's only dedicated museum
  • How the American Giants Museum on Route 66 preserves these analog attractions for smartphone-era visitors

    • Featured Expert: Joel Baker, founder of the American Giants Museum in Atlanta, Illinois


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    Unpacked by AfarBy AFAR Media
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