If he lived in Gary, “American Pickers” star Rob Wolfe said he would open up a retro hotdog stand called Frank-N-Stein, with its 21-foot-tall mascot standing watch over the region once again.
“I would sell hot dogs and I’d sell root beer,” Wolfe said. “And you know what? It would probably be one of the most popular places to go to, because people want to enjoy that kind of stuff.”
For now, the custom fiberglass statue also known as Frank-N-Stein will inhabit Wolfe’s personal collection in his hometown of Davenport, Iowa, where he displays 130 vintage signs and other Americana memorabilia inside a former 1920s United Motors Shop.
Since 2001, Wolfe has road tripped around the nation co-hosting a History Channel series with his brother Mike Wolfe as they hunt for rare antiques with stories behind them.
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Wolfe became the owner of the massive fiberglass statue after a tour stop at its original location at 4629 Melton Road in Gary on Sunday. The statue’s creator, Dave Distler, of Noblesville, transported it using a half-ton pick-up truck and a 22-foot trailer.
The 475-pound creature’s pilgrimage drew honks and waves along the interstate before Frank-N-Stein finally pulled up to the spot of the original restaurant, which is now a dental office.
“There were about 100 people that came through,” Distler said. “It was so busy from the minute I arrived. There was never a time when there wasn’t somebody coming up and taking a picture of Frankie. .. And it was great because I heard so many stories of the locals who remember him as a kid and that was very fulfilling. I learned a lot of stories about the drive-in, about the people that used to go there, about how things looked back then.”
Wolfe, an old school horror movie fan, was immediately interested when he heard about the fiberglass creature through his connections at American Giants, a preservation organization for giant Muffler Men and other unique roadside fiberglass statues. Previously, Wolfe has owned a giant Paul Bunyan and Texaco man mascot.
“For any type of collecting that I have done over the years, I’m a big advertising guy,” Wolfe said. “…And the reason is that advertising tells you a story. A story maybe of a different time, or it tells you a story of something that was in your childhood. But every piece of advertising in America is always telling a story. And this giant Frank-N-Stein, that’s exactly what it was. It was a piece of advertising for a restaurant, kind of like the McDonald’s arches.”
Distler recreated the statue from photos and witness accounts of the original, which was built in 1967 for Gary restaurant Frank-N-Stein but was later destroyed in a 1982 storm. Distler made the sale of the $20,000 handmade piece exclusive to Northwest Indiana residents at first, but when no local buyer could make the purchase by the deadline, he opened up the sale to the rest of the nation.
That’s when the “American Pickers” host stepped up and contacted Distler to make the deal. Distler, a fan of the show, drove straight to Davenport, Iowa after he departed Gary to deliver Frank-N-Stein to his new spot in the limelight.
“I think it worked out the best for Frankie when it comes to publicity,” Distler said. “I think that Robert (Wolfe) has such a following. He’s got a show, he’s got thousands and thousands of followers on his pages, and he’s so well known.”
This isn’t his first piece of Gary memorabilia that Wolfe has treasured. His collection also includes vintage Region advertising, such as a “Gas for Less” sign from the 1920s from Gary. He said he plans to include Distler’s research about Frank-N-Stein and his roots in Gary in the display, and is also open to selling the custom piece down the road to the right buyer.
“..I wake up every day thinking to myself, I want to save a piece of history today,” Wolfe said. “It’s not just that, I also want to put that history in somebody’s hands. And Dave, him entrusting this piece to me, that’s great. But at the end of the day, it’s probably going to end up in somebody’s museum, somewhere where a lot of people can enjoy it.”
Currently, Wolfe does not have regular hours for his collection at 330 West 5th St., in Davenport, Iowa, but if he happens to be there if someone comes by, he typically allows them to take a look around. Wolfe has been traveling in southern Illinois for filming and will be continuing to shoot the remainder of the season in the coming month and a half.
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“I mean, here’s the deal,” Wolfe explained. “If I am there, I am more than happy to let you in and wander around. But if I’m not there I’ll have the door closed. I’ll be filming for the next six days, so I won’t be there. Everybody’s asked me to open it up full time and I just don’t have the time.”
As far as the reemergence of giants on America’s landscape, Wolfe said he predicts interest in retro roadside attractions will continue to grow.
“That’s what the resurgence of the Giants has done,” Distler said. “Across the United States, people are going back to that. It was back to traveling the back roads of America. That’s where these giants come into effect. I mean, you can actually pull up a map of where all the giants are in the United States and take a road trip and go see them for yourself. And people do it every day.”
Anna Ortiz is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.