The two 16-foot mechanics are part of a lineage of roadside attractions that started in the 1960s and 70s when hundreds of larger-than-life fiberglass figures were placed along the highways and byways across America. The square-jawed versions — with both hands extending out in front of them, one palm up, one down — were dubbed “Muffler Men” in the 1990s by a new generation of road trippers (because most were holding products like tires and mufflers).
While Lenny’s “Laborers” are not from that era, they did exactly what they were born to do: draw attention to a business, and I did stop. Of course, it was only to photograph them, but when I went inside the shop to ask about the guys on their roof, I remembered that one of my headlight bulbs had gone out.
They replaced it, and while I waited, their tow truck brought in a vehicle in need of repairs — and it totally remade the scene in front all that much better for my photo. (A red, yellow, or brighter blue car would’ve been even better!)
The two really big men were not on display outdoors in their previous life. I was told they were inside the entryway to the Sears Outlet in nearby Phoenixville (online recollections and comments have them originally holding either tools or hoagies).
Here are a few other really big roadside attractions:
Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
September 11, 2023: Northern Liberties neighbors pushed tor a traffic calming and safety study on North 5th Street for decades before speed cushions were finally installed (among other PennDOT criteria, roadways are determined to have a speeding problem when 85% of vehicles drive over 10 mph above the posted speed limit). Artwork just south of Girard Avenue reminds drivers there are also crosswalks - and school children - between the bumps. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
September 4, 2023: Asbury Park, as summer fades at the Jersey Shore. Long a photographer's favorite, the town is known for its carnival and music history, architecture and its offbeat, artsy and diverse vibe.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
August 28, 2023: Canada geese take advantage of a retention pond on a townhouse construction site along Rt. 38 in Mount Laurel, N.J. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
August 21, 2023: Quashima Hill records video as some of her children participate in an end-of-the-summer performance during the Germantown Summer Showcase at Roosevelt Elementary School. The kids’ performance came at the end of a two-week summer music camp organized by Rock to the Future, a musical education nonprofit that emphasizes music and also teaches middle school youths what it takes to succeed in the labor force.
Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
August 14, 2023: Yusuf Sarac rides with his “good bunny” helmet past the Moorestown Mall. A junior mechanical engineering major at Drexel University, he says other drivers and pedestrians always wave to him as he rides from his Oaklyn, N.J. home to and around and in University City and Center City. “People’s reaction is just killing it. People love it,” he says. Plus, he adds, the bunny helmet cover, “helps with the noise.” Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
August 7, 2023: Saying neither one was like Tom Sawyer, who tricked his friend Ben Rogers into finishing painting a fence in the Mark Twain novel, Woodrow Smith and Judith Pardun paint her fence together along busy Nicholson Road in Audubon, N.J. Both were glad they weren’t doing it during last month’s heat.
wave.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 31, 2023: When returning to your car parked in Center City, a lesser of two evils question: Which is worse, finding a parking ticket on your windshield or noticing that your roof has become a pigeon restroom?Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 24, 2023: What’s left of the old Islander Raceway and Amusement Park, a longtime landmark at the foot of the George Redding Bridge on Rt. 47 just before Wildwood. Closed since 2002, it boasted six different go-kart tracks, bumper boats, mini golf and batting cages, and as the sign says, refreshments. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 17, 2023: With its diversity of habitat — beach, dunes, ponds, forest, and marsh — Cape May Point is one of the best places to watch birds year-round. In addition to hawks, visitors can see breeding songbirds, waterbirds, terns, and passing migrants. When using the binoculars for a quarter on the Cape May Point State Park hawkwatch platform. just remember to look up.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 10, 2023: The Ferris Wheel on the midway at Independence Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest is visible behind the stairway and ramp from the Market Street bridge to Penn’s Landing. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 3, 2023: 18th century cannons point away from the Museum of the American Revolution at 3rd and Chestnut Streets. After the British occupation and the war, many old discarded canons and smaller carronades were embedded upright in the ground to protect structures and streets - much like the bollards we see today around most government and public buildings. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 26, 2023: The morning pause in North Wildwood. Every day from April through September, every walker, runner, biker, and surrey rider stops at 11 a.m. as "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played on the boardwalk (followed by a Kate Smith recording of “God Bless America”). The playing of the anthem along the boardwalk, which stretches through Wildwood and North Wildwood, has happened as long as anyone can remember. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 19, 2023: On the pedestrian walkway between the Cira Center and Amtrak’s William H. Gray III 30th Street Station. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 12, 2023: Freshening up an arcade game on the boardwalk in Wildwood, ahead of the summer season at the Jersey Shore. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 5, 2023: Maryanna Barr cuts the grass around the bird condominium tree trunk next to her Brooklawn, N.J home. She attributes the high bird occupancy rate — all her bird houses have residents — to her not feeding them. “I only do rooms, not board,” Barr says.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
