REMEMBERING BOB THE BIG BOY: And the Stolen Statue in Wenatchee

Recently a bunch of us at work were reminiscing about old beloved restaurants long gone in Wenatchee, Yakima and the Tri-Cities. I brought up one of my favorites as a kid in SoCal, wondering if there ever was one in Central Washington. To my surprise, many had great memories of Bob the Big Boy in Wenatchee, that was located on North Wenatchee Ave…until the late 80’s. Some even remember the jingle on TV and radio. “At Bob’s Big Boy. We love good food just like you do.”

Chris Hansen told the tale of the night the Bob the Big Boy statue in his red and white checkered overalls suddenly disappeared from the unique art-deco Wenatchee building about 1980. This actually was happening so often nationally, that the restaurants had to replace it and either bolt down Bob or bring Big Boy inside. But that didn’t happen in Wenatchee.

Photo: Mav3rick
Photo: Mav3rick
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“The town was much smaller then, so something like the disappearance of the Big Boy statue was about as scandalous as it got around these parts. One evening, my brother said that several of his friends (but not him of course) had been downtown partying the weekend it went missing and had decided to Big Boy-nap it from the restaurant. He also claimed that it was definitely still in one piece and was now residing as a trophy in the rec room of one of the perpetrators. One thing I do know is that the statue was never returned.”

Photo: Mav3rick
Photo: Mav3rick
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When I was a lil fella, my family often went to eat at Bob the Big Boy on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Hawthorne Blvd in Torrance, California. My sister’s favorite meal was the spaghetti. My brother’s was the chicken. And I always got the Big Boy Combo. Every. Time. That Double Decker burger, fries, salad (served in that plastic triangle dish), chocolate shake or a chocolate Coke. And of course for dessert, I had to have Bob’s famous hot fudge cake. Yummmm.

Oh! Let’s not forget! Once a month, we needed the latest edition of the Big Boy comic book. This kept us kids busy in lobby waiting for our table to be ready.

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Photo: Mav3rick
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Bob, his girlfriend Dolly, and his dog Nugget had great adventures. I would send them my own comics that I personally drew. The address to write to them was just up the hill in Palos Verdes. So we wrote to them often. I was shocked to see that they actually used one of my ideas…although never gave me credit. It was about Bob and Dolly SCUBA diving when they came across a shark! I remember sitting there reading in some of the cartoon balloons, word for word what I wrote.

Another memory I have with the Big Boy comic book was a bit embarrassing. In the comic book, Bob and Dolly would answer letters from readers. One night I was my sister’s name. I screamed so loud in the lobby of Bob’s, “KELLY! YOUR LETTER IS IN THE COMIC BOOK! YOUR LETTER IS IN THE COMIC BOOK!”

Everyone sitting there in the lobby who had a copy turned to the letter section. Others ran over to the cash register and grabbed a copy. I probably should  have read it first before announcing to the entire restaurant that a celebrity was in the building. Because the letter went something like this. “Dear Bob. My two brothers are always fighting and hitting each other. They are so annoying and driving me crazy. What should I do?” After everyone read it…they all laughed at me and my brother.

Years later, I would end up working as a dishwasher at the Bob the Big Boy in Lompoc, California. I was broke and near homeless, so I lived off the food at Bob’s. The kitchen staff would sometimes say, “Oops. I accidentally made a Double Decker.” And they would give me the burger.

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It was in the mid-80’s that suddenly there was this television and radio ad campaign asking, should Bob the Big Boy stay or should he go? WHAT?! Why would they want to get rid of the young looking version of Ronald Reagan? The restaurants handed out painter caps and buttons with Bob’s face. One saying Stay, and and another go with a red circle and slash over his face. WHY?

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Photo: Mav3rick
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 Of course America spoke up and said that Bob the Big Boy was an icon and that yes, he should stay. But suddenly, without warning, Bob disappeared. And it wasn’t because of those seniors or college students. Many of the Big Boy restaurants turned into a JB’s. I remember joking at the time that JB’s stood for, Just Bob’s. Apparently the Wenatchee location had the same fate. 

So, where is Bob, Dolly, and Nugget today? Are they still around? We’ll find out in part two with, Whatever Happened to Bob the Big Boy?

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