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.

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 was a registered trademark in the United States from May 14, 2009 until June 11, 2011.^[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 uses as its logo an ironic version of the mudflap girl holding up her middle finger.^[11]

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. Boosh News. 28 March 2010.
4. Kieth Barry, Apr 29, 2011 Wired.com Mudflap girl was this guy's Mom
5. "Trademark Registration Number 3742024". United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
9. tfwiki.net
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.