Truck nuts
Truck nuts, also known as Truck nutz, truck balls, BumperNuts, BumperBalls, CargoNads, Drive-thru Danglers, Trucksticles, HitchNuggets, Highway Hangers, Balls-on-a-truck, or, as they are known in the United Kingdom, Bumper Bollocks, are plastic or metal accessories for pickup trucks and other vehicles which resemble a pair of dangling testicles.[1] Truck nuts are usually hung for humour or amusement. They are attached under the rear bumper of the vehicle so they are visible from behind.[2]
Contents
Manufacture
Manufacturers of truck nuts use HDPE, ABS, and PVC plastics to create them; truck nuts made from hollow aluminum and solid brass can also be found. Truck nuts are sold in a variety of different colors and metallic coatings.
Reaction
Public reaction to truck nuts has been mixed. A columnist from Metro Silicon Valley wrote that she was "actually not sure whether or not this is a joke product, or if someone would really proudly display them".[3]
Attempts at prohibition
In 2007, a proposal was made by Maryland politician LeRoy E. Myers Jr. to prohibit motorists from "displaying anything resembling or depicting 'anatomically correct' or 'less than completely and opaquely covered' human or animal genitals, human buttocks or female breasts".[2] He referred to the testicles as "vulgar and immoral," and stated that his proposal was made at the request of a resident who was offended by the accessory.[2] On January 15, 2008, Virginia Delegate Lionell Spruill proposed Bill HB 1452, which would prohibit truck owners from displaying or otherwise equipping their vehicles with devices resembling human genitalia.[4][5] In April 2008, Florida lawmakers launched an additional attempt to ban truck nuts, making their display punishable by a $60 fine.[6]
In 2011, a South Carolina woman was ticketed for adorning her truck with truck nuts. The case is pending trial,[7] and as of 2013 a trial date had not been set.[8]
In Art and Media
- Cremaster 4, by Matthew Barney[9]
- In an episode of Squidbillies, Early Cuyler gets some chrome truck nuts for his Truck-Boat-Truck and is quite proud of them, until he finds out that Granny Cuyler has gotten some chrome truck nuts for her walker and realizes that they have become trendy and mainstream.
See also
References
- ↑ Blair, Zachary, "Junk in the Trunk: A Queer Exploration of Truck Nutz as Contemporary Material Culture," paper presented at Queertopia, Northwestern University Graduate Student Conference, Chicago, IL, 2009.
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