Local Bob Statues and Some Bob’s Trivia

I just finished a popular run documenting my readers’ memories of our local Bob’s. But I couldn’t resist one last word on the subject. Over and over, readers wondered whatever happened to the Montrose Bob statue. No one seems to know its fate.

But I do know of two Bob statues here in the valley, neither of which are the Montrose Bob.

One belonged to longtime CV Chamber leader Jean Maluccio, who recently passed away. The other belongs to Steve Pierce, also of the CV Chamber, and an all-around “Eveready Bunny” volunteer at most valley events. Steve recently sent me an email about his and Jean’s Bob statue. Here what Steve wrote:

“Jean has a 4′ version that we haul to various events. In fact, to honor Jean her Bob’s Big Boy will be riding along in this year’s 9-11 motorcade.

“We have an actual 7′ Big Boy in our backyard next to our barbecue. It was originally at the Calimesa Bob’s Big Boy restaurant and during the restaurant’s restoration it somehow ended up in an Acton relics and antiques yard sitting on a buckboard. I saw it while driving along the 14 Freeway, pulled over and talked to the yard owner.

“Karen [Steve’s wife] had grown up in Glendale and was a frequent patron of Bob’s on Colorado Boulevard while attending Glendale High School. Karen’s mom knew Bob Wian and also the kid who frequented the original Big Boy stand and became the ‘logo.’

“Anyway, the antique yard owner said he rented the Big Boy for parties and it wasn’t for sale. As I was walking away, he stopped me and said he would be willing to sell it for $2500 ‘only because he liked Karen’s connection to the Glendale Big Boy.’ That’s how we got Big Boy.

“It was trucked to us on a flatbed truck from Acton; the driver said people were honking, waving and yelling as he drove it to La Crescenta. It was Valentine’s Day 1995 so I placed Big Boy in the garage with a bouquet of flowers in his arms. Karen was teaching at Mountain Avenue School. When she came home and opened the garage door, there was Big Boy with flowers to greet her.

“He’s been a member of our family for the past 28 years! Probably the best investment I ever made as well.”

Thanks, Steve! We’ll be looking for Jean’s Bob statue in the 9-11 motorcade.

To wrap up this article here’s a few items of Bob’s trivia. Lots of legend here, so bear with me if this isn’t the story you heard.

The original Bob’s on Colorado Boulevard in Glendale was built as “The Pantry.”

In 1936 Bob’s founder Bob Wian sold his car, a DeSoto roadster, to buy the hamburger stand, renaming it “Bob’s Pantry.”

The Double-Decker burger was inspired by a customer who asked for “something different” in 1937. One version of the story said it was a group of kids from the Glendale High orchestra. According to the Internet (so it must be true), this was the very first Double-Decker hamburger.

The “Big Boy” name was coined as a tribute to an overweight 6-year-old boy, Richard Woodruff, who helped out at the burger stand, taking his payment in burgers. Wian called him “Big Boy.” A Disney animator who was a customer drew a caricature of Big Boy on a napkin, and the icon was born.

Bob Wian was briefly mayor of Glendale from late 1948 to early 1949. He resigned, citing business conflicts and “a desire to make an occasional fishing trip.”

The Burbank Bob’s is the oldest original Bob’s Big Boy restaurant having opened in 1947.

In 1956, the first Big Boy comic book was issued, designed to entertain kids waiting for their orders. Comics superstar Stan Lee wrote the comic for the first five years, published by Timely Comics, which later became Marvel Comics.

In 1965, the Beatles ate at the Burbank Bob’s in a corner booth facing Riverside Drive. An oft-stolen plaque marks the booth and folks come from around the world to sit there.