Michael Bushnell
Northeast News

The Lumberjack Café welcomes you to Flagstaff, home of their famous $1.66 dinners!

The Lumberjack Café was a fixture on America’s Mother Road after the restaurant opened in ‘62.

This giant, 25-foot-tall lumberjack may well be the world’s first “Muffler Man” created by sculptor Bob Prewitt’s company Prewitt Fiberglass in 1962, specifically for the Lumberjack Café.

The fiberglass molds created by Prewitt were purchased in 1963 when boat builder Steve Dashew created International Fiberglass.

Different molds allowed different heads, torsos, and arms to be created in the process.

The result was a variety of Lumberjack-esque characters, including a fifteen-foot Amish man overlooking a diner in Pennsylvania, the Gemini Giant, a giant spaceman advertising a diner in Wilmington, Illinois and a bikini-clad, grass skirt-wearing Uniroyal tire girl.

Sinclair Oil’s Dino the dinosaur is another popular creation from International Fiberglass.

The two Paul Bunyans at Lumberjack Café were donated to the University of Northern Arizona in the late 1970s when new owners purchased the café and re-named it Granny’s Closet.

The mascot for the school is the Lumberjack. Named “Louie,” they both reside at the J.Lawrence Walkup Skydome sports facility. One of the Lumberjacks was decapitated as part of a homecoming prank in October of 2018, but has since been repaired.

The description on the back of the card reads: “The Lumberjack Café, 7,000 feet above the sea, 7,000 sights to see. Delicious pancakes, waffles, and breakfast. Heavenly fried chicken.

Famous for our $1.66 dinners. Look for the big 20 foot Lumberjack.”

This chrome-style postcard was never mailed.

Stick with us as we motor on down US Route 66. Next stop, Kingman, Arizona, where we’ll overnight at the iconic White Rock Court Motel.
Happy motoring!