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Other International Fiberglass Statues (page 3)

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The 27-foot-tall Texaco Big Friend statues were produced for Texaco gas stations. The statue for the mold was created by Sascha Schnittmann. There were about 300 of these giant gas station attendants produced around 1966. However, the company discontinued the Big Friend advertising campaign early on. The company ordered the statues to be destroyed, possibly for fear of liability issues should one of the statues fall over and cause damage or hurt someone. By 1967, most of these statues were gone. Only six are known to have survived. Only three of those are on public display. There are heads in private collections in Chicago, IL and Portland, OR.

The statues' uniforms were originally painted green. In addition to their unique heads, they also had giant hands. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

This Bunyan-like Texaco statue must have preceded the Big Friends. International Fiberglass also made statues for other gas stations including Mobil.

former Texaco Big Friend
Denton, TX
This head of a former Texaco Big Friend has been displayed in the window of Atomic Candy since 2017. Before that, it was at the Cloverleaf store in Ardmore, OK for about five years. It's not known what happened to the rest of the statue or where it was located.

The Texaco Big Friend hand is suspended from the ceiling inside Atomic Candy. It was purchased separately from the head. [map]

Texaco Big Friend
Morrilton, AR
This Texaco Big Friend is in a private collection. It was originally installed at a Texaco station in Clarksville, AR. When the order came down to destroy the statue, the owner took it home instead. It was later moved his brother's used car lot in Clarksville where it was displayed in the 1980s and 1990s. When a private collector bought the statue in the 1990s, it was in bad shape. He had it restored and installed on his property, out of public view. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3.

former Texaco Big Friend
St. Maries, ID
When this Texaco Big Friend statue was being moved from one Texaco station to another, it slid off the trailer and broke into pieces. It was abandoned in a field for years until 1967 when it was donated to the Heyburn Elementary School. It was transformed into a lumberjack before being installed on the lawn in front. Heyburn is known as the "Home of the Lumberjacks".

His feet may have been damaged badly enough and discarded when the statue slid off the trailer or by vandals while it was laying in the field. Another story is that the statue's feet were encased in concrete at one of the Texaco stations and when it came time to move the statue to another location, his feet were chopped off. Once at the school, his shirt had been painted a checkered red and black. His pants were painted black and he didn't have a beard or axe. Later, his shirt was painted green and the axe and beard were added. For more, see this website. [map]

former Texaco Big Friend
Aloha, OR
In 1962, this Texaco Big Friend statue was taken to Harvey Marine, a marine supply business, for repairs. While it was there, Texaco announced the decision to stop using the statues and destroy them. The gas station owner never picked up the statue. The store's owner decided to turn the statue into the Harvey the Giant Rabbit mascot. The human head was replaced with a rabbit's head. That head was cruder than this one which was installed later. The statue's human head is in a private collection. Harvey Marine closed in 2016. A Black Rock Coffee Company drive-thru location was built just down the street. Around 2019, a giant coffee cup advertising Black Rock was placed in the statue's left hand. That cup is gone now. The Harvey's building remains vacant but the statue remains. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

former Texaco Big Friend
Pahrump, NV (now Atlanta, IL)

2014:

2024:
This Texaco Big Friend was originally installed in Las Vegas. In 1977, Sun Valley Homes in Pahrump bought the statue from the YESCO sign company in Las Vegas. It was transformed into a Robin Hood type character and installed on top of the mobile home dealership's sign. The statue was known as the "Green Giant." In 2009, the business closed. In 2013, the statue was taken to the landfill. After several articles in local papers, the town realized that this statue was more than just a local icon. It was moved to the Pahrump Valley Museum where it was stored behind the building. The statue had significant damage and was missing a foot. In 2016, the statue was sold and moved to Illinois where it was restored as a Texaco Big Friend. It was installed at the American Giants Museum which opened in 2023. There is a Mortimer Snerd on the other side of the building and there are plans to install more statues. There are other statues, artifacts, and information inside the museum. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

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