What is the Mammenator?
updated July, 2005 - see below
As you may have learned on our company history page, John and Jim, the sons
of our founders, both served in the U.S. Army Reserves. What you do not
know is the remarkable series of events that took place during those years.
Until recently, when we made the Mammenator our company mascot, very few
people knew the story, and the Army still denies it.
John had his basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, but after that his
career was anything but ordinary. After basic training, John "volunteered"
for a special project at what is now called the U.S. Army Environmental
Center located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Each month, while his
buddies played weekend warrior, John was shipped to Maryland for his participation
in the secret project.
It was during this time that the Army was attempting to develop new types
of biological weapons. The effects of these weapons were to be tested on
different animals so that the government could determine what the effects
of these weapons would be on the environment; they did not want to harm
the fragile ecosystems of enemy countries while crushing the evil humans
that inhabited them! Animals that were representative of various regions
were brought in: everything from rain forest bugs and birds to elephants
and monkeys to kangaroos.
John was one of their very best animal handlers. There wasn't an animal
alive that didn't love John! Not only was he loved by the animals, but the
program administrators adored him as well. He got all kinds of special treatment
and perks when he was in Maryland. John did not hold the administrators
in such high esteem. Every time one of his animals died a painful death
as a result of the testing, which happened quite often, he loathed them
more. Not that he was some kind of activist - he just grew attached to the
animals he worked with. John was smart, though; he knew he had a good thing
going and didn't rock the boat. As a result, they never suspected he would
do what he eventually did.
The animals that did not die from the tests often underwent mutations instead.
Most of these animals had to be destroyed, which also was very painful for
John. In 1972, his last year of service, John decided to fight back. The
Army was testing alligators, due to the possibility of having to crush a
militia uprising in Florida. Two tiny baby alligators were to be the subjects
of the test. Both survived the test, but John falsified the results to indicate
that one of them had died during testing. He snuck the baby alligator back
to his barracks and placed him in his duffle bag. The next morning he left
Maryland for the last time.
His duty done, John returned to civilian life in Irving, working with his
parents and brother. The baby Mammenator enjoyed the good life as a pet
in the Mammen house. He was incredibly gentle and often played with little
Chris, John's son. But the Mammenator never quit growing! Fortunately, being
in the glass business, they were able to build larger and larger tanks to
accommodate him. In 1996 the Mammenator became the mascot of Mammen Glass
and Mirror, Inc. Our 7,000 square foot service center houses his biggest tank yet and has plenty of room for continued growth.
UPDATE ... JULY 2005 ...
The Mammenator has further mutated. In 2004 smoke was seen coming from
his snout, and by January of this year flames began shooting out whenever the
Mammenator became agitated. His agitation was usually the result of
frustration; frustration that there was still one major fabrication process that
was out of our control! Tempering! In July, we completed the installation
of our own high-tech glass tempering system. The higher quality and
quicker lead-times have relieved the Mammenator's frustrations. We did,
however, capture this image to serve as our Tempered Glass logo:
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