Chip, Chip, Hooray! Coopersburg ice cream giant restored to his retro glory | Southern Lehigh County

COOPERSBURG, Pa. — Whether customers stop at The Inside Scoop for a cone or simply drive past the parking lot, many in the Lehigh Valley recognize the same towering figure: A giant fiberglass man in bright red pants holding an ice cream scooper.

His name is Chip, and for many residents, the oversized roadside figure has become more than a quirky attraction outside the popular ice cream stand.

It has become a local landmark steeped in nostalgia.

“It’s kind of a staple at this point,” one customer said.

“I feel like when you drive down the street, it’s the thing that you take notice to the most,” another added.

According to owner Penny Caciolo, Chip’s story began with her husband’s determination to find a “Muffler Man,” the tall molded fiberglass statues commonly built in the 1960s and often displayed outside roadside businesses across the country.

After an extensive search, the family finally found their future icon in an unlikely place: A junkyard in Canada.

“Chip was originally found in a Canadian junkyard in all different pieces,” Caciolo said.

“So then all those pieces were taken and actually sent to a gentleman by the name of Mark Klein, who basically cobbled him all back together and created a mold,” she said. 

In 2018, Chip officially made his debut at The Inside Scoop, towering over the business and quickly becoming part of its retro, 1950s inspired atmosphere.

“It was really for something iconic that fits our vibe and our ’50s look, just something unusual,” Caciolo said. “And it certainly has been unusual.”

Over the years, customers embraced the giant figure, snapping photos and using him as a familiar roadside marker. But earlier this year, disaster struck when a February storm caused Chip to split in half at the waist.