Joe Miller / Enjoys dealing with imposing figures

Joe Miller's no dummy, just ask that stoic bunch he works with. Well, you can't really, because Miller repairs, rents and sells mannequins for a living as owner of Northwest Mannequin (www.nwmanikin.com). His loyal workers, who stand poised and naked in his Green Lake home showroom, don't crack too many jokes, but they don't give him any guff, either.

Q: Is this a competitive business?

A: I'm the only one around here who sells used mannequins, repairs mannequins and rents mannequins. That's why we say, "Covering all your mannequin needs." People don't even know they have mannequin needs.

Q: How many mannequins do you have?

A: About 250.

Q: Who rents mannequins?

A: People rent them for trade shows. For 50th-wedding anniversaries people will put the wedding dress on them or the man's military uniform. We had a local band rent a whole bunch of them for a music video.

Q: Is calling a mannequin "a dummy" a derogatory term?

A: Yeah, I think they would take offense because a dummy is actually like a ventriloquist's dummy.

Q: What's the evolution of the mannequin?

A: The oldest ones they've found are from the 1700s from the French court. They were dolls for the aristocracy's little girls to play with. The first ones had wax heads and straw bodies.

Q: So you're like a doctor for mannequins, right?

A: Most of the repairs I get are broken fingers and cracks in the arms and legs. They fall over. Kids are actually my best customers. They tend to pull on the mannequins in the stores.

Q: Who buys a mannequin?

A: People that need them for a boutique . . . when they're starting an Internet business and want to display clothes. I also have a few old customers who put them in their home, dress them up, give them names and move them around periodically. Those people are harmless, they're good fun.

Q: What's a good mannequin selling for these days?

A: Anywhere from $100 to $300.

Q: What do you call a bunch of mannequins?

A: A gaggle? A murder? I dunno. I guess they call them a grouping; that's what they do when they put them together in a store.

Q: How have the mannequins changed over the years?

A: They've gotten pretty skinny now; they're size 0s and 2s, even though the average American woman is a 14. Q: Does it ever creep you out having everybody in your basement?

A: Not really. Sometimes when I get a new mannequin, and I'm not used to where it's standing, it will throw me when I come around the corner. But they've never revolted or anything.