Embudo man is one of world’s dullest

When Embudo resident Johnnie Meier first began collecting “classical gas memorabilia” more than three decades ago, the last word he would’ve used to describe the passion was “dull.” But now, former hot rod enthusiast and current curator of the Classical Gas Museum, Meier has won the distinguished honor of being chosen as one of the 12 “Dullest People in the World” by the Dull Men’s Club (DMC).

Don’t let the name fool you. The DMC is only a club in the loosest sense; it is not just for men; and those who win every year are anything but dull. (But don’t tell DMC cofounder Leland Carlson that. He and the other DMC members wear their “dull” status as a badge of honor and the organization’s motto

proudly proclaims, “Celebrating the Ordinary.”) Every year they select 12 honorees to represent the DMC in their annual calendar.

The 2021 calendar is themed “Is This the New Normal,” and it features people from around Great Britain and the United States who have wide-ranging interests that many may consider dull.

Take Californian Elena Kamas, for example. She is documenting the variety of pictograms on “Wet Floor” signs — she and her friends take selfies of themselves imitating how people in the pictograms are falling. Or New Yorker James Folta, who is cataloging the diversity of security envelope patterns.

And then there is Johnnie Meier, 70, and New Mexico’s lone representative, and the DMC calendar’s Mr. June. Meier runs what he says is, “the largest collection of classical gas items in the country ... I think. I mean there are private collections that are huge, but mine is open to the public.”

The 1,000-square-foot space in Embudo offers a glimpse back in time, through America’s long love affair with the road.

“The car and the road are linked to our whole American identity,” said Meier.

Despite the earnestness of his philosophy about the romance of the road, Meier is most certainly in on the joke when it comes to winning his spot in the DMC calendar.

“I have some dull interests,” he says. “But I own it. And to be selected alongside these other dullsters, well that’s some pretty amazing company.”

According to Carlson, Meier was selected through a highly technical process that involved hearing about him from the owner of a rug shop in Durango, Colorado, and then driving down to Embudo to visit him.

“When we round up candidates, we look for people with unique interests, quirky passions; people who turn ordinary into extraordinary,” Carlson said. “Two predominant sources: word of mouth and newspapers, more often local newspapers rather than national ones ... Johnnie was a word-ofmouth find.”

Meier, who had never heard of the DMC before winning this award, said “I hang out with a lot of dull guys, but I didn’t know there was a club. Then the DMC guy came into my museum and introduced himself and I guess he decided I was a world-class dull guy.”

All humor aside, the Classical Gas Museum is a colorful and unique trip through America’s past, its expansion, and its love of the open road.

The museum is located at 1819 State Road 68 and visits are available by appointment. Call 505-8522995 to get more information or to order a calendar. You can also find Meier and the other 11 dullsters in calendar form at

MORGAN TIMMS/Taos News ‘I think a lot of people don’t really appreciate the sculptural qualities of these pumps,’ said Johnnie Meier on Monday (Jan. 25) at his Classical Gas Museum in Embudo. ‘To me, the gas pumps are beautiful pieces of art: the patina, the way the colors are faded out and soft. They have character and craftsmanship. They’re beautiful.’ Meier’s fascination with roadside culture has earned him recognition as one of the Dullest Men in America, a designation for people who ‘enjoy simple, everyday, mundane, run-of-the-mill things, pursuits other people often think are dull.’

MORGAN TIMMS/Taos News ‘I kind of like them rusty,’ Johnnie Meier said of his antique gas pump collection. ‘They look beautiful to me.’ Meier poses for a photo on Monday (Jan. 25) by an alignment of unrestored pumps from the 1920s.

Inside his Classical Gas Museum, Johnnie Meier displays hundreds of antique oil canisters in fluorescent lighting. ‘Good font design is something to appreciate, at least for me,’ Meier said. ‘Today we have these libraries of digital fonts everybody uses, but for these, people created these fonts one at a time by hand for each product.’

MORGAN TIMMS/Taos News Johnnie Meier’s Classical Gas Museum is seen on Wednesday (Jan. 27) in Embudo.

‘In a normal tourist season people stop by every day,’ Meier said. ‘They’ll tell me, “Hey I know where you can buy an old refrigerator, I know where you can get an old carousel horse, I know where you can get the Blues Brothers!” I get tips, leads and phone numbers and I call people up.’

‘They are very huggable,’ Meier said, posing with a gas pump from the 1930s at his Classical Gas Museum in Embudo. Meier has been gathering and restoring antique gas pumps for 30 years. ‘Some people call them “rustorations”,’ he said.