Mudflap girl

The mudflap girl is an iconic silhouette of a woman with an hourglass body shape, sitting, leaning back on her hands, with her hair being blown in the wind. The icon is typically found on mudflaps, clothing, and other items associated with trucking in the United States.[1] The image is sometimes also known as trucker girl, trucker lady, or seated lady. In western Canada, the metal pieces forming the image are known as ‘chick weights.’

Mudflap girl

This famous design was created in the 1970s by Bill Zinda of Wiz Enterprises in Long Beach, California, to promote his line of truck and auto accessories. It is variously claimed to be modeled on Leta Laroe, a famous exotic dancer at the time;[2][3] or on Rachel Ann Allen, a friend's wife, and mother of Ed Allen, the trademark's owner.[4]

The Mudflap Girl received a trademark registration from the United States Patent and Trademark Office in January of 2010.[5]

Parody

• As a parody, Wyoming Libraries use a mudflap girl holding a book, in an effort to attract readers.[6][7][8]
• In issue #4 of the Dreamwave Productions comic Transformers: The War Within, Optimus Prime is portrayed as having a mudflap with the silhouette of Elita One.[9]
• The Mudflap girl (as a chicken) was used in the Wacky Package "Perdude Chicken", parodying Perdue Farms.[10]
• The feminist blog Feministing used as its logo an ironic version of the mudflap girl holding up her middle finger.[11]
• The "Feministas" protest group in Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder has a similar logo in pink that has the mudflap girl using a megaphone.[12]

References

1. Trebay, Guy. "Front Row; Burly Girl Power". The New York Times. 19 August 2003.
2. "Mud Flap Girl", simonroy.blogspot.com, April 16, 2007
3. What I Learned About Truck Mud Flaps. Archived 2010-12-30 at the Wayback Machine Boosh News. 28 March 2010.
4. Barry, Keith (2011-04-29). "'Mudflap Girl' Was This Guy's Mom". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
5. "Trademark Registration Number 3742024". Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (TSDR). United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
6. The Wyoming Libraries Campaign Archived March 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
7. "Library's Mudflap Girl Campaign Turns Heads", by Matt Joyce (AP), Casper Star-Tribune, March 23, 2009.
8. "Wyoming Libraries Mudflap Girl bookmark". Wyoming Libraries. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
9. "File:TWW4 ElitaOne.JPG - Transformers Wiki". tfwiki.net. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
10. "Wacky Packages Topps 6th Series 2007 Sticker: Perdude Chicken - #18". Wackypackages.org. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
11. "Frequently Asked Questions". Feministing. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
12. "Feministas - The Infosphere, the Futurama Wiki". theinfosphere.org. Retrieved 2020-11-13.