Movies

World War 1.5

July 13, 2026 steveboilard1 Comment

After cheering on the runners at the Blob Half-Marathon on Sunday morning, I fired up the Blobmobile and set a course for upstate New York to visit dear friend and loyal reader Ross M., whom I hadn’t seen in years. Along the way I passed through Grovers Mill, New Jersey.

Now, the name Grovers Mill seemed somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it…

While still pondering the name I stopped at a local park to answer the call of nature. And upon exiting the loo I saw this plaque:

The morning shadows make it a little hard to read, but the plaque commemorates Orson Welles’ 1938 live radio broadcast based on H.G. Wells’ [no relation] story “The War of the Worlds.” The broadcast, which aired the night before Halloween, was presented as a series of urgent news bulletins interrupting a scheduled music program. And the crux of the thing was that Martians had landed at this self-same Grovers Mill, NJ, and were slaughtering the locals and wreaking havoc as they made their way toward New York. Later in the broadcast we learn that additional Martian craft had landed in other cities across the US. The world is doomed.

Famously, the broadcast triggered frantic calls to police stations by terrified listeners. According the plaque, which may or may not be exaggerating, “for a brief time as many as one million people throughout the country believed that Martians had invaded the earth, beginning with Grover’s [sic] Mill, New Jersey.” The full extent of the panic is disputed, but there were reports of heart attacks, suicides, car accidents, and the like, all supposedly prompted by Welles’ broadcast. One or more residents of Grovers Mill itself are said to have shot at a local water tower, thinking it to be a Martian craft in the darkness.

*Boy Wonder Orson Welles, with arms raised, during rehearsal for the radio broadcast in 1938.*

The incident spurred fervent debates about mass hysteria, the media’s culpability for promoting hoaxes, what qualifies as entertainment, the gullibility of Americans (none other than Adolf Hitler weighed in on this one), and other topics. For me, one question rose above all the others: Can I find that water tower that the locals shot up?

*Grovers Mill resident William Dock poses for a photograph the day after he supposedly shot up a neighbor’s water tower.*

Turning to ChatGPT–which itself might destroy civilization as we know it one day soon–I learned that the water tower still existed, and wasn’t far from the park where I saw the plaque. After a bit of searching I found it behind a tall white fence on a residential street:

With a little more jockeying for position that some might define as trespassing, I got a better shot:

I have to admit this old water tower, mounted on spindly iron poles, does generally fit the description of the Martians’ war machines: “giant tripods [with] stilt-like legs, thin as wire.” Maybe if I had a cocktail or two in me, I might have shot at it myself.

This whole War of the Worlds broadcast thing intrigues me for several reasons. In part I wonder how today’s Americans would react to a Martian spaceship. I suspect we would all break out our phones and take pictures, oblivious to the danger. I also am nostalgic for the time when families would gather around the radio or TV and share a program together. And I am grateful to the good people of Grovers Mill for keeping this story about rural America, Orson Welles, Martians, and Halloween hijinks alive. But most of all, I am astounded that Orson Welles had this kind of impact at age 23. It’s very humbling.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Blobfest!

July 11, 2026 steveboilardLeave a comment

Finally–after over two years of waiting, this morning I finally returned to Phoenixville, PA (pop: 18,600) to attend the 26th annual Blobfest.

This has got to be one of the high points of the year for Phoenixville. Most of the main drag (Bridge Street) was closed to vehicular traffic, and well over 100 vendors were setting up tables to promote their blob-related (or blog-adjacent) wares.

Many of the businesses along the street got into the spirit of things, with blob-themed displays everywhere. Now, let me take a moment to acknowledge that “blob-themed) is a rather malleable category…by definition. Some chose to portray it as a cute figure reminiscent of Western Kentucky University’s “Big Red.”

Others opted for oozing slime which was more reminiscent of blood than “blob.”

Still others went the circus route, which is the ill-advised theme of this year’s Blobfest.

And then there was this….pizza(?)

Anyway, my point is that the entire town (or at least the Bridge Street) was decked out for a proper Blobfest. The festivities were attended by myriad people of all ages and dispositions. Accordingly, there was a play zone and a story time for the little blobs:

Happily, two of the Blobfest attendees were horror author Holly Knightley and her mother, April. They were game to do a photo op from within the blob:

*Holly (left) and April meet their demise.*

(You can check out Holly’s books here.)

Also in the Small World Department: I ran into Ashley Galleo, who is the manager of the American Treasure Tour, that I wrote about in yesterday’s blog. I asked Ashley what binds together the disparate items in that collection, and she said the anonymous collector seeks out things that are “mechanical and fun,” and that bring “joy.” Next time you’re in eastern Pennsylvania, you should check it out.

*Ashley with a minuscule sample from the American Treasure Tour.*

But the real star of the Blobfest was the historic Colonial Theater. Originally constructed in 1902 as the Colonial Opera House, it has spent the one-and-a-quarter century as a vaudeville house, a live performance venue, and a movie theater. Notably for our purposes, key scenes from The Blob were filmed in and around the Colonial Theater.

*My photo from this morning, before Blobfest started. Note the marquee display is the same. Also note the inflatable blob.*

I joined a packed house for a screening of The Blob this afternoon. The interior of the theater looks much like it did in 1958, and probably much earlier than that.

*Mystery mural on the mezzanine level. I couldn’t discover what it depicts. Ideas?*

And the back of the house, on the wall of the projection booth, is this plaque:

Now might be a good time to explain the movie to those of you who haven’t seen it. It’s a classic B-movie horror film, starring a young Steve McQueen. A small meteorite strikes the earth, and it contains a softball-sized “blob” of gelatinous goo. A hapless old man ends up getting the goo stuck on his hand, and before long the blob has entirely digested him, growing in the process. The blob goes on to claim other victims, until it’s big enough to cover an entire diner. Finally Steve McQueen figures out how to stop its reign of terror, but you’ll have to watch it (or search IMDB) to find out how.

Let’s acknowledge that this is not a great movie. The pacing is uneven, the dialogue is (unintentionally) laughable, the “special effects” are unconvincing, and there are plot holes aplenty. Still, it’s an earnest movie, and Steve McQueen is eminently likable. On top of all that, there’s a moral lesson at the end that bears a special resonance today. But I think what I enjoyed most about watching it today was sitting in that same Colonial Theater, with several hundred fans, cheering and laughing together. There aren’t many such opportunities for a communal experience like that these days.

Oh, and speaking of communal experiences: after the evening showing all the patrons ran out of the theater screaming, just like in the movie. I’ll close my report on Blobfest with this short video of the run-out:

BOTD

The Brew of the Day was, appropriately, a Blobfest IPA, that comes from Phoenixville’s own SlyFox Brewing Company.

*You could only buy draft versions for consumption, so I had the owner hold up a can of the stuff for your benefit.*

This is the third year that SlyFox has put out a special beer for Blobfest. I admire that kind of commitment–especially as several of the local bars and eateries have offered nothing blob-related. In fact, that window art of a blob ice cream cone that I featured above was not available as the real thing. Talk about a missed opportunity!

So kudos to SlyFox for doing the Blob IPA. It’s a hazy IPA that clocks in at 6.3 percent alcohol. So that’s good. What’s not good is the taste. I found it far too bitter, too overhopped. And that’s not just on the palate; it also characterizes the finish. In other words, there’s a distinct, lingering bitterness….which also describes me, but that’s another issue altogether. I frankly found this to be almost undrinkable, and ending up tossing it out halfway through.

Now, to be fair, I’m not a fan of IPAs, but I think I can appreciate when they’re done well. In my humble opinion, the recipe missed on this one. One star.

Cars · Muffler Men

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Blobfest

July 10, 2026 steveboilard1 Comment

As a result of poor planning and inconvenient flight schedules, I had some time to kill today in southeastern Pennsylvania. So naturally I decided to visit the “American Treasure Tour.” What is the American Treasure Tour, you ask? It’s got to be seen to be believed, but let me try:

Some years back wealthy, anonymous collector who goes by “Mr C” started collecting old theater organs and other rare musical instruments. (For example, he has a hundred-year-old device that automatically plays two violins simultaneously.) After a bit he also started collecting old automobiles. Given the size and quantity of the stuff he was collecting, he needed a large building to keep it in. So he purchased a 1937 B.F. Goodrich tire factory in Oaks, Pennsylvania, sold off all the machinery inside, and turned the second floor into a private museum of sorts.

His storage space was now essentially as unlimited as his budget. The tire factory building has over a million square feet of floor space, so he started to expand the range of his collection to include all sorts of American pop culture memorabilia. But he’s not interested in the small stuff, like Little Orphan Annie decoder rings or Hot Wheels. Instead, he focuses on big stuff: neon signs, a giant bust (ha!) of Britney Spears, an animatronic Chuck E. Cheese, a Stanley Steamer, an enormous jack-in-the-box, the world’s largest slinky… It’s sort of like if, instead of pillaging European cathedrals, William Randolph Hearst had been enthralled with American kitsch.

*About one one-jillionth of Mr C’s collection, as viewed from the tram ride.*

Since 2010 Mr C has opened his collection to the public. The main part of the tour is a 45-minute electric tram ride through over 100,000 square feet of the collection. Frankly, it’s overwhelming. There’s just too much stuff, there’s almost no context or explanation for it, and you end up succumbing to sensory overload. It’s impressive, but it’s not especially edifying.

But here’s where things get interesting: Upon leaving the tire factory/museum, I spotted this item that was too tall to fit indoors:

Yes, it’s a muffler man, as evidenced by the distinctive work shirt, the unusual hand positions, the lumberjack build, and the massive height. But what’s up with the head??

It turns out International Fiberglass made a number of these goofy-looking muffler men for mini golf courses. They used the usual muffler-man body, but changed out the head and gave him different clothes. The official word is that these mini-golf versions were meant to look like Mortimer Snerd, but to my eye he’s a dead ringer for Alfred E. Neuman. Almost everyone these days refers to them as “Happy Half-Wit” muffler men.

Two of the Happy Half-Wits resided on the boardwalk at Seaside Heights, New Jersey, for many years, but they were destroyed by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. And this is where Mr. C came to the rescue, purchasing one of the Halfwits, having him restored, and placing him on display here outside the tire factory/museum. Oh, and he is not on the official Wikipedia list!

OK, that’s enough of the muffler men for awhile. Tomorrow will be our Blobfest Extravaganza! I promise!

movie theaters · Movies · Muffler Men

BlobFest 2026

July 10, 2026July 10, 2026 steveboilard1 Comment

Alert readers will recall that about two years ago, while traveling in Pennsylvania on a secret mission, I stumbled upon the old Colonial Theater in Phoenixville, where parts of the 1958 movie The Blob was filmed. Marquee posters informed me that every summer the theater hosts BlobFest, which honors that film and, presumably, the larger genre of classic B movies. I mused that it would be fun to come back for BlobFest one day.

Well friends, “one day” has arrived!

Blobfest begins tonight at 7 pm, and I will be there! I just landed in Philadelphia, and once I get my Blobmobile from Avis, I’ll make my way toward Phoenixville. And for those of you unfortunate enough to miss Blobfest this year, I’ll be ~~blobbing~~ blogging from the Colonial Theater. Stay tuned; you won’t want to miss it!

*“Blobs, blogs…this is starting to sound fishy…”*

Until then, I’d like to share these…

Muffler Man Sightings

Loyal reader Brian W sent us this photo he took of a Muffler Man in Wilmington, IL.

This is a classic muffler man, with the distinctive hand positions and that same determined half-grin that was worn by Babe at Babe’s Mufflers in San Jose. This one is huge, standing 30 feet tall. Just look how it dwarfs the picnic table!

According to my research, this muffler man–which is named “Gemini Giant”–was installed at a restaurant on Route 66 in the 1960s. That restaurant was originally named “Dari-Delite,” but was rebranded as “The Launching Pad” in a cynical but successful effort to capitalize on the then-extant space race. He was outfitted with a space helmet (which to me looks like a welding helmet) and a handheld rocket which, confusingly, is labeled “Launching Pad.”

Gemini Giant soon became one of the most famous attractions along Route 66, and the Launching Pad served hungry travelers for over sixty years, until finally closing down in 2022. The Gemini Giant sold for $275,000 (!) at auction in 2024, purchased by the local historical museum. It now stands at the entrance of South Island Park in Wilmington.

Meanwhile, loyal reader Chris F. sent us this photo of a Paul Bunyan-themed muffler man in Coeburn, Virginia.

*Note that Paul Bunyan has traded in his axe for a fishing pole.*

Chris helpfully provided several links verifying this muffler man’s provenance. He’s a 20-foot-tall statue from International Fiberglass, and was first installed in front of Palmer Hardware in the Elkhart, Indiana in 1967. The hardware store experienced several ownership changes, and along the way the muffler man’s clothing colors and handheld implements changed as well. In 2011 the hardware store closed for good, and the muffler man was relocated to Coeburn, VA, where he stands in front of the Red Oak Trading Company.

Both of today’s muffler men appear on Wikipedia’s official list. I’m still holding out hope that we can locate a new one that’s not on the list!

California history · Muffler Men

The Muffler Man Cometh

July 7, 2026July 7, 2026 steveboilard1 Comment

Back in the 1960s, when I was just a sprout, there was a muffler shop in San Jose called Babe’s Mufflers, and facing the street they had a 20-foot-tall fiberglass figure holding a muffler. I always thought the guy’s expression looked a little too determined, like he was about to clobber an unsuspecting passerby with the muffler. I also felt his hand positions on the muffler were unnatural; one was facing up, and the other was facing down. That his shirt pocket was embroidered with “Babe” didn’t help. Anyway, I thought this was just a unique, if unsettling, piece of advertising art.

It turns out “Babe”is a reference to Roland “Babe” Royer, who owned the place. He died in 2011. But Babe’s Muffler lives on. What’s more, the iconic fiberglass figure still stands in front, holding a muffler. (Sometimes, when the San Jose Sharks hockey team is playing an important game, the muffler gets swapped out for a hockey stick. I’m not making this up.) Indeed, the giant figure is now an official San Jose landmark.

On my travels over the years I’ve encountered a number of similar fiberglass figures. Some look identical to Babe (but advertise other businesses), and some look a little different. Most have the same odd hand positions.

It turns out these “muffler men” (as they are usually dubbed) were made in the 1960s by a company in Venice, CA called International Fiberglass. They’re the same company that made all those brontosauruses (brontosauri?) that you see in front of Sinclair gas stations. Apparently their first muffler man was actually a Paul Bunyan figure to advertise the Lumberjack Cafe on Route 66. In this case the hand positions actually made sense, as the figure was holding an axe.

International Fiberglass would end up making thousands of these fiberglass figures, with a handful of variations (different faces, different attire, etc.) They could be spotted along the highways all across the country. Later, when establishments would go out of business, the new owners would often repurpose the muffler men.

Anyway, I was reminded of all this the other day, when I arrived in the town of Jackson (pop: 5,000), in order to collect dead animal parts at Swingles Meat Company (nickname: A Carnivore’s Playground). On the side of Highway 88 I spotted a muffler man in front of a fitness center called Warriors Lodge. He predates the Warriors Lodge, having stood in this spot (and perhaps other parts of town) advertising other businesses, including a thrift store. He doesn’t quite look like that original Paul Bunyan muffler man, but he looks pretty close, with the telltale hand positions.

If you know any of this guy’s back story, please let me know. Better yet, why don’t you join the Muffler Man Challenge? All you have to do is send me a picture of a muffler man that discover in your own travels, and give me a little information about it (location, associated business, back story, whatever). Bonus points if you can find one that’s not listed on the Muffler Man Wikipedia page. The one I spotted in Jackson is not listed on the page, and I’m guessing there are many more out there.

Poe Corner

(Not to be confused with The House on Pooh Corner)

I was recently interviewed about my Poe-related writing by the hosts of Poe Unplugged. Check it out, if you dare: