I first noticed this tall lady over a year ago while driving around Bradenton but it wasn’t until recently that I finally stopped to take a closer look. Tootsie, as the current owner calls her, is one of the 15 known remaining Miss Uniroyals.

The 18-foot-tall bikini-clad fiberglass ladies were made in the 1960s. They originally held a Uniroyal sign in their raised left hands and used for promotional events by the Uniroyal Tire & Rubber Company.

There were a couple versions of the Uniroyal Gals, as they are popularly known. Apparently, the company had to send the statues back to the International Fiberglass company to be fitted with shirts and skirts after complaints that they were too racy.

This “Uniroyal Gal” originally stood in front of a shop in Downer’s Grove, Illinois. When the owner retired and moved to Florida, he brought her along. When Tom Edmunds purchased her in 2013 for $500, she still wore her original (though faded) yellow bikini with black polka dots, matching yellow heels, and had blonde hair.

Tom gave her a makeover in 2017 and she proudly fronts the Edmunds Metal Works. Hopefully, she’ll be around for another sixty years!