Manny, Moe and Jack

Now, this might be a familiar icon to the American-born, but when I spotted these three comical characters posed atop a tyre/tire service station here (perhaps)in a Philadelphia street, I was baffled.
Turns out they're known as the Pep Boys and they represent the three founders of a now-nationwide chain of automotive aftermarkets originally started here by four US Navy pals who left after WW1 and decided to go into business together. Emanuel (Manny) Rosenfeld, Maurice (Moe) Strauss, Moe Radavitz, and W. Graham (Jack) Jackson clubbed together to rent a small storefront in 1921. The limited space meant that there was only room for a very short signboard so they adopted the name Pep from an existing product. One of the Moes dropped out but the remaining three founders prospered and built up a the company that now operates a chain of stores in 37 states. The caricature of themselves has become a widely recognized trademark.

For me coming from the other side of the pond, there's something quintessentially American about this whole thing: the vision and enterprise of the naval buddies (whose names betray their European immigrant roots), ambition and hard graft rewarded with success and fame, and the confident self-parody in employing their own cartoonish personae to represent the cheerful, willing service their outlets provide. The American dream become reality!

The trio remind me a little of The Three Stooges that Guinea Pig Zero blipped a while ago and of whom I was equally ignorant.