Your eyes do not deceive you: This unique contraption is indeed a giant wooden man, over eight feet tall, appearing to pull an intricately carved circus wagon behind him—an utterly captivating promotional vehicle devised well over a century ago by a pair of Empire State inventors. As described in a US patent granted in 1910 to L.P. Perew and J.A. Dischinger of Tonawanda, New York, this is “a device designed more especially for advertising purposes, and it has for its object to produce an attractive novelty of this character which includes an automation representing a walking man.”

One of very few completed, the wagon on offer is said to have been originally ordered by a brewery in Milwaukee in the early 1920s. As Dischinger was by then an agent for the Overland Automobile Company, an Overland chassis was used as its basis. It was decorated in the style of a circus wagon—North Tonawanda being a hub of circus and amusement equipment manufacturing at the time—and fitted with controls that allowed the giant man up front to turn his head from side to side as he “walked.” Adjustable walking height accommodated a variety of terrains, while a microphone in the cabin and a rooftop megaphone allowed him to “talk” to onlookers.

Apparently, the brewery was unable to use the wagon (perhaps because they could not register it for road use), and Dischinger adapted it to his own purposes, painting it to promote J.A. Dischinger & Son, his garage and machine shop. The wagon was later moved onto a 1932 Plymouth chassis, and it was eventually acquired by Michael “Mickey” Percell of Rochester, New York. Percell was the proprietor of Pioneer Shows, a regional traveling carnival. At times, the oversized man, by then nicknamed “Oscar,” was removed. On other occasions, he performed exactly as intended—with a period newspaper clipping on file noting how the giant startled a local resident…earning Percell invaluable publicity in the process!

After selling the traveling carnival, Percell opened an amusement park, where the wagon found a less itinerant home. It was later acquired by Howard Crain of Towanda, Pennsylvania, and added to his wide-ranging Tee-To-Tum Museum of automobilia and Americana, remaining there until his collection was dispersed in the late 2000s.

A truly unexpected and unique piece of 20th-century Americana, this circus wagon retains much of its original oddball charm, though it has been fitted with a 1984 AMC Jeep 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and Pioneer audio system, as well as modern switchgear and instrumentation. It is accompanied by an interesting file of photos, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and period amusement park ephemera. This would be the ideal vehicle for promoting one’s business, sparking conversation, and inspiring countless double-takes on parade routes—just as “Oscar” has been doing for over 100 years!