At the corner of 20th and Oregon Avenue in South Philly there is an abandoned Checkers drive-thru that has become overrun by a hyper local inside joke. The failed fast food restaurant has turned into a venue for public art in the most bizarre way.
For years, this Checkers has sat abandoned on the corner across from Acme by the SEPTA depot.
What is “Penis Wigs for Sal?”
Through the years – Philadelphians have enjoyed messing with the sign outside the store, rearranging the letters to spell out all sorts of crazy things; the most interesting and eye-catching thing added to the board was “PENIS WIGS FOR SAL.”
Passersby chuckled and questioned the sign wondering, did it mean “penis wigs for sale” or is the joke that a man named Sal needs or wants a wig for his penis. The sign advertising Sal’s Penis Wig situation lasted months – forcing locals like myself to ponder “why would he need a wig for his penis” or “is Sal selling or buying the penis wig?”
In November 2026 if you go to the Checkers on 20th & Oregon, you will find that the penis wigs for sale joke has exploded into a full-blown grotesque immersive art exhibit.
Wigs covering industrial tubes to mimic a hair covered penis in a non-sexualized way cover the area where patrons once ordered cheeseburgers and fries. In front of the Checkers, there is a “Take a Pune, Leave a Pube” box akin to a little library except in this case, it’s for pubic hair – presumably for Sal.
“I’m not sure who’s behind it, but I appreciate what they’re doing, and love driving by it seeing the updates” said local artist Ralph ‘Pink Bike’ Stollenwerk to the Philly Plain Dealer via Instagram DM. There are “Penis Wigs for Sale” shirts and koozies available on Stollenwerk’s website pinkbikeralph.com.
Unfortunately, visiting the ‘Penis Wigs for Sal Exhibit’ is not something I recommend in any capacity. The property is in dismay, trash covers the landscape, and unsafe cinder blocks and cement structures line the parking lot. The drive-thru looks to be a legacy dumping site, piles of clothes and debris line the curb. A man was asleep on a mattress in the drive-thru when I visited.
Checkers In Dismay
According to Philadelphia Public Records, the dilapidated Checkers is owned by “W O H Management LLC” which is a Domestic Limited-Liability Company based out of White House Station, New Jersey. The official Checker website has removed all memories of the 20th & Oregon location. The property is so mismanaged and ignored that a mostly silent multi-year community wide joke based on the neglect of the Checkers sign, has expanded to an art exhibit which incidentally highlights the neglect of the property as a whole.
Who is responsible for up-scaling the abandoned Checkers into an absurdist art exhibit about pubic wigs? Is the person responsible for the original “Penis Wigs” sign, the same person who modeled this exhibit? Due to the likely crimes needed to create this type of thing – it’s unlikely we’ll ever know who’s behind this penis shrine. Similar to why graffiti artists remain anonymous.
The Penis Wigs for Sal Exhibit is abhorrent and absurd, but it is no less absurd than the neglect of the property and a society that allows a man to sleep amongst trash in the drive-thru. Perhaps that is the point of Penis Wigs for Sal, or maybe it’s all a big coincidence and a bit of gross-fun! Isn’t art fun?
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