Who Stole Our Big Boy?!

He is an icon of midcentury America. He's cherubic. He's beloved. He's starred in Hollywood movies. And he's often stolen as a prank, but sometimes things turn darker –– but they always stay ridiculous.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hey Elizabeth zaren Burnette, So good to see you. I
got a question for you, Yes, sir, all right, do
you know what's ridiculous? I do?

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Sit down? You sit down.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
I'm all buckled up. Let me know.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
All right. So Christian Billion, that's he's not ridiculous, Christian
bon he's a cool dude. He is a Midwest He's
a rude dude. He's a rude dude. He sent us
a DM on Instagram, sure, and his caption was, I
don't think this is a mashup, but it's unclean, unclean, unclean.

(00:38):
And a couple other people sent it, but he was
the first through the gate, and he had the funniest
comment about it. Okay, And so when it was shown
to me, what it is is it's Krispy Cream cheesecake tacos.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yeah, so there's some sort of it looks like a
legit taco shell that has been dipped on the outside
in white chocolate, oh, which is just like oil. And
then I think there's some sort of cheesecake smashed inside.
And then they shoved donut in it, a Krispy Cream donut.
So It's like a taco shell filled with smashed up
cheesecake and then a Krispy Creme donut shoved in it.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
This is a taco in the line of like choco.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Taco completely, but shove a Krispy Cream up in there
between them taco lips, and then you just have this disaster. Right,
it's not a mashup, So Christian's right, it's not a mashup.
And we get a lot of stuff like this. They
were showing me our Instagram feed, the Ridiculous Crime. Yeah.

(01:38):
They in turn showed me that I hadn't really seen
the feed because we don't follow a lot of people apparently.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
No.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
No, it's just like a handful and it's no one.
It's like random weird accounts. Anyway, they were showing me
the feed, and it consists of basically dog stuff, a
lot of Golden retriever things, which makes sense that when
we talk about that, and then these horrible food things
that aren't mashups, but like we just were scrolling through

(02:06):
and I started writing them down. Cinnamon sugar cruffins, icy carbonara,
spring rolls. What was another one? Upside down pastry, upside
down puff pastry, tacos pass. There was one stuffed garlic
bagel filled with cream cheese and dunked in garlic.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Butter hard pass.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Some Moores dip barbecue, brisket, baked potato.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
I don't know if I can compete on all of
this stuff.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
Is like, if you hate yourself and you're drunk and
you've got serious issues, you just throw this food together
and you lay on the floor and eat it.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
As it sounds like you don't like food.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, I mean that's the other thing. But here's so.
So I pulled up the Krispy Cream cheesecake tacos. I
could only find it on the original link that tasted
that is the Instagram, and it said would you try
these Crispy Cream Cheesecake tacos? And you know whatever, and
then you can like follow them for food content hashtag

(03:04):
food porn. It is what it said. But the comments
Lawyer's first choice said anyone who would eat this doesn't
like themselves.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Lawyer's first choice hard comedy.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
Someone said, just got diabetes looking at this. Let me
get a dozen though, Okay hates himself. So anyway, it's
you know, everyone's talking about how it's gluttonous and it's
this and that. But you know, obviously their eye clicked
on it. And if you look down at the other references,
they have a cookie monster taco.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Can it possibly taste good?

Speaker 3 (03:37):
A loaded fries variety box.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
It's so rich it passes the point of being sweet
and saying.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
There's probably no flavored differential between. It just becomes a
big glob of sugar and oil.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah. I feel like it would give you like a headache, sugar.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Alcohol, everything. There's something wrong with us.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
This is not how we're supposed to be living.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
No, this is very late.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
And I like, I like desserts, and I like, you know, man,
I love chacos.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah, but this is like, you know, the desserts that
they were serving right before the French Revolution went to
the court completely our version of that, the Fall of Rome,
same thing.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
This is, this is the end times food. So that's
ridiculous that I know it is.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
Thank you so much, But how about this, Elizabeth on food?
How about people who can't stop stealing enormous statues of
fun little round boys. We just want everyone to enjoy
a cheeseburger.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
Oh I think I know what this is.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
This is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast about absurd and outrageous
capers heist in cons it's always ninety nine percent murder
free and one hundred percent ridiculous. Yes, oh Elizabeth, Yes,
Have you ever eaten at a Bob's Big Boy?

Speaker 3 (05:10):
They have?

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Did you ever eat at the famous one in Burbank?

Speaker 3 (05:13):
I don't believe I have.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
It's on the corner on Riverside.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
There are a lot of things that I've done in
my life and I don't remember. That could be one
of them, but I feel like I would have remembered
that one.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
I think you would have. It's a life changing event.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
Backing up, do you know what Bob's Big Boy is?
Can you describe it for me? Yes? Okay, you do
know You're not just like Bob's Big Boy, I know,
but you might just be being friendly. You're like, oh, yeah,
I've been there.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
I seek Yeah, if I if I don't know something,
around't been somewhere. I'll tell you a lot of times,
I like to tell you cities are beautiful. I've never
been there.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
There you go. This was my example. I'm not saying
you ever are a liar, but you will occasionally say things.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
It may not bear a truth physically entered Bob's Big Boy.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
That's impressive. That's really impressive that you've done that. And
then you say it was such relish because it's a diner.
As you said, it's relish icon from the era of
southern California car culture, right, very mid century. It was
originally called Bob's.

Speaker 3 (06:12):
Pantry, right, Oh, that's no fun.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
It was started as a ten stool hamburger stand. Oh yeah.
In August nineteen thirty six, his twenty year old named
Bob Weighan. He sold his DeSoto roadster. He got three
hundred bucks for the car. He then he used that
money to make a down payment on the hamburger stand.
That's a good investment known as the pantry. He's like
a good hamburger stand, same, right, and those were like

(06:34):
good hamburgers too back then.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Anyway, so he's like, all right, the pantry is now
Bob's pantry.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
They weren't shoving donuts, sip in there and stuff.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
My point, exact sprinkles, expecting the ingredients, keeping it del chipping.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
It and melted cheese exactly gold.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
So anyway, after he opens up shop, right, Bob wihen
six months in this customer comes in late. Right. They
were most likely a bunch of musicians. After a the
customer asked for quote, something different, and Bob's like, I
got you, brother. Now Bob listened, right, So he goes,
let me think about this for a little bit. I
got an idea, goes out in the back, slices himself
a hamburger bun, Elizabeth, but he slices it into three pieces,

(07:14):
not the traditional two pieces of the just cutting it
in half. He maced it, he big macked it. But
this was the first time anyone had ever created a top,
a bottom, in a middle slice out of a bun.
He added then to hamburger patties. Of course, he layered
that with cheese, lettuce and a relish based sauce. This
is how special pretty much special sauce. And this is

(07:35):
how he created the first double deck hamburger. That's what
he was called, right boy before this is like, uh hare,
I'll put it in context. Four years later, the first
McDonald's opened.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Right, So Bob's double patty burger was such a hait
he gives it a name. He calls it Bob's Big Boy. Right.
The name six, of course, as you said. You react immediately,
You're like, I want to order a Bob's Big Boy,
his new burger innovation. As I said, so popular, Bob
renames the restaurant Bob's Big Boy. He's like, just put
it on the sign.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
I feel like this is the villain origin story of
my what's ridiculous, you know what I mean? Like, yeah,
Bob's Big Boy, Like put more on there. And then
now fast forward here.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
We are being even worse, oh terrible, almost insufferable. One
would say, So Bob's Big Boy, he's this burger pioneer,
right leader in the field, out by himself. Erick, Yeah,
totally and for decades and totally leading the field. But
this is not bad for a guy Bob Weihan who
was voted least likely to succeed while he was in
high school.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Wait, they had a least likely to succeed and didn't
have one of those. And we had like bullying in
our day, I know we had, but we had like
you know, most it was all good stuff. You wouldn't
be like Biggest, I wouldn't least likely to succeed.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
They were a little rough for back then.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
It was a little rougher, but maybe we need to
bring that back the people up.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Nineteen fifty two, Bob we granted the rights of his
name to three brothers in Detroit, and so they franchised Bob's,
Big Man and Jack. Yeah, but Manny, Moe and Jack.
They decide, you know what, we don't want to call
it Bob's because none of us are named Bob. So
they open a hundred restaurants, but they replaced the name Bob.
They call it Elias Brothers Big Boy.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
Oh, that does not ring the way it's about boy.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Exactly right, the alliteration, it's right there, you can hear it. Anyway,
they become like the first franchises. There's a lot to follow, right,
there's this guy fresh, but it doesn't matter. A bunch
of franchises anyway. Big Boys start popping up all around
the country. Detroit soon opened, as I said, one hundred
Big Boy franchise restaurants bearing the name Elias Brothers Big Boy.

(09:43):
Just to imagine that, right, But so they're basically my
point is, they're not just in southern California at this point. Now,
if you look at the success of the Big Boy Burger,
another burger franchise decides to imitate the double Decker burger
in nineteen sixty seven. Nineteen sixty seven, Elizabeth Wild hectic
times in America. McDonald's franchisee named James delea Gotti. He

(10:06):
borrowed the recipe of the Big Boy Burger and he
invents a sandwich called the Big Mac. Now dele Gotti
has admitted he stole the idea, although he didn't use
the word steal like I did. He'd said he preferred
to compare it to innovation.

Speaker 3 (10:19):
And he was a franchise e, yeah, of McDonald's, so
he was just but he invented a McDonald's.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah. Then they brought it up to corporate and was
run with or whatever. Yeah, delea gotty. He says. This
wasn't like discovering the light bulb. The bulbs already there.
All I did was screw it in the socket. So
there you go. So if McDonald's is stealing from you,
you must be doing something right. Right, So back to
Bob's Big Boy, Elizabeth. Big Boy. It isn't just the

(10:45):
name of the famous double Decker burger. It's also the
name of the famous iconic statue that's outside of most
Bob's Big Boy restaurants. Is these the kid with the
red checkered overalls. He's got that swooping cow liga and
the a devilish look in his eye. All right, So
it turns out there was a real big boy. His

(11:06):
name was Richard Woodrought. Milk fed he was. He was
a milk fed, little cherubic boy. Right, he was six
years old. This kid loved cheeseburgers. What cand I tell you?
So he would go down to the Bob's Bob's Big Boy,
and he'd offer to do chores like sweep the floor
in exchange for burgers. Were like, He's like, yeah, it

(11:27):
goes for the deal. Meanwhile, at the exact same moment,
he's looking at a mascot that he's asked somebody to
draw up for the store, and he's like trying to
come up with a name for it. Right, he likes
this kid and just almost out of like instinct, pops
out of his mouth. He's like, hey, all right, big boy.
He's like, wait a minute. He hears it, right, so
is Bob Wien later recalled he was about six and
rolls of fat protruded where his shirt and pants were

(11:50):
designed to meet. I was so amused by the youngster, jolly,
healthy looking and obviously a lover of good things. Deed,
I called him Big Boy. The name sticks again. So
now this gets an animator from Warner Brothers. Ben Washam.
He's the one who sketches a little drawing of Richard
Woodruff wearing checkered overalls and then the kalick pompadoor mischievous
gleam in his eye. Boom. The sketch becomes the icon

(12:13):
of the Bob's Big Boy Burger chain. Wow, yeah, Soon
they make a statue made of this jolly burger loving boy.
Bob Wian added statues to all of his Bob's Big
Boy restaurants. The statues become as famous and beloved as
the Double Drucker for right right, in fact, so much
so I thought this was crazy. I didn't know this.
Stan Lee even wrote a Big Boy comic book series

(12:34):
made for the restaurant chain.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
Does this mean that Big Boy is part of the
Marvels universe extended Marvel universe and there could be a
Big Boy movie?

Speaker 2 (12:45):
There could be? I don't see why not?

Speaker 3 (12:46):
All right?

Speaker 2 (12:47):
The series The comic book series called The Adventures of
Big Boy and debuted nineteen fifty six, at the height
of comic book culture. We've covered. Yeah, any kid who
visited the restaurants, they were given free comic books and
these were so popular they gave out like one million
wow over the years. Yeah it was. It's considered one
of the longest running comic books in comics history. No way, totally, Anyway.

(13:09):
Over the years, Bob's Big Boys had many run ins
with the culture. I'm just going to run over just
a couple.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
Please do the Beatles they ran them over.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, do you know what they did? They ran one note,
they didn't run whatever. The Beatles have their own booth
in the Burbanks Bob's Big Boy. Really true story. Try
to say that three times. The Beatles have their own
booth in Burbanks Bob's Big Boys.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
See, I can't do it. Does Is the Burbank building
still standing?

Speaker 2 (13:33):
They still have the car shows on Friday down there.
Oh we should go. We should do a ridiculous road trip.
So your jin totally alright? Pencil that urns. I hope
they can hear that. Anyway. Nineteen sixty five, the Beatles
were on tour in the US. Right, They're in support
of their album help right. The story goes, the Beatles
were road weary, hungry, looking for quote, real American dinner.

(13:55):
Now in August, the Beatles were in southern California, and
they came to Burbank for a good spot for it.
Fab forward, they DeCamp to quote. The last booth on
the right is one walks in where the end of
the windows face out towards Riverside Drive. So there you go.
That's the spot that's known as the Beatles booth, and
people go there and like take photos in the Beatles booth.
It's there's a there's a plaque that marks the booth

(14:18):
as the Beatles booth. Yes, but they weren't the only
ones that loved this spot. Do you know us who
has a really interesting history with Bob's big boy Elizabeth
Bob Good. Guess he is weird. He's a filmmaker.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Quentin Tarantino.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
No, even weirder, John Waters, even the more odd. David Lynch.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
Oh, I was like fincher, No.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
No, no, no, not that kind. But anyway, if you
think about it, makes a lot of sense because of
course he loves an iconic American diner, David Lynch. So anyway, celebs,
they love to eat it. Bob's Big Boy, right, especially
this first iconic location in Burbank, and you could spot
Bob Hope grabbing a burger. Debbie Reynolds was known to
slurp on a shake or two. But the man you
could always reliably spot at the Bob's Big Boy was

(15:04):
David Lynch. During the eighties. He ate lunch there every day,
every day. Every day. He arrived always at exactly the
same time. Oh also very David Lynch, Yeah, two thirty pm.
He liked to arrive at that time because, as he
put it, it increased the odds that he would encounter perfection.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
Well, I you know I love a late lunch totally.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
I know you does. Why to bring it up? So
his daily order was never ending cups of coffee, just
keep them coming, and a chocolate shake. Now at the time,
the La Times, the newspaper, they wrote about this and
this they covered. They said that Lynch thought that the
sugar was really a beautiful thing. This is back back
when he thought he believes such things. He has since
changed his mind. He no longer drinks shakes every day.

(15:44):
Well and coffee.

Speaker 3 (15:45):
Bye, Dian and talk about the cherry pie.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
I don't know that's what I expect that ay Anyway,
So as he sit there sipping on his shake down
in cup after cup of coffee, David Lynch loved to
people watch, the tourists, the locals. He died down notes
on the Bob's Big Boy napkins. So, yeah, there's a
little thing. If you really want to be a David
Lynch fan, find one of his Bob's Big Boy napkins.
It has a note on it.

Speaker 3 (16:08):
Well, I'm going to go get a Bob's Boy, Bob's
Big Boy napkin. I'm going to write some fake notes.
I'm going to commit a ridiculous crime is auction on
eBay that it's a David Lynch note and make us
a little cash to fund our road trip to go
down to.

Speaker 4 (16:29):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
I feel like I'm a I'm like a member of
the bloods Now Burbank Bob's everything has to start with me.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
Blah blah. So well, here I got one more for
you about the Burbank Bob's Big Boy. It has a
criminal connection. But that's what we're here to talk about.
So let's take a break. When I get back, I'll
tell you about his connection to heat.

Speaker 5 (16:47):
Oh, Elizabeth, we're back, Saren. Saren, Now I promised you

(17:11):
a heat connection.

Speaker 3 (17:12):
You really did?

Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah? What does that even mean? Saren? What's a heat connection?

Speaker 3 (17:15):
Is a heat connection?

Speaker 2 (17:16):
As anything?

Speaker 3 (17:17):
You for asking?

Speaker 2 (17:18):
The nineteen ninety five film by Michael Mann So Good
came out in nineteen ninety.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
Five, Elizabeth, Oh, are we gonna do that?

Speaker 4 (17:23):
No?

Speaker 2 (17:23):
Not again? But you love the movies, right.

Speaker 3 (17:25):
I do love the movie.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Now, Val Kilmer Blonde bank robber movie. Do you remember this?
I do? Have you seen it?

Speaker 3 (17:30):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (17:30):
I am okay? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (17:31):
And then the like iconic diner seemed Yeah, he was
a big boy.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
No, but do you remember remember the epic shootout? Yes?
Also not in Bob's Big Boy. But do you remember
the getaway driver Dennis Haysburg? Yeah, you remember him.

Speaker 3 (17:45):
He later went on to be the president in twenty four.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
Extended heat franchise in the World. Yes, So do you
remember how he Dennis Haysburg gets shot and killed in
the big shootout on the streets of downtown La. Right.
He wasn't supposed to be there. Why because he had
a job. Where was his job? In a diame Bob's
Big Boy? He was working and that's where de Niro
vel Kilmer spot him and they pick him up and
they're like, hey man, he was like remember him from
like Chino or whatever prison they all went, and they

(18:12):
invite him to be the getaway driver, and he makes
the worst decision of his life. Right yeh, Bob's Big Boy.
I don't know why they allowed that, because the Boss
is all racist and weird and like taking advantage of
people because they're on parole. You think Bob's Big would
leave us out of this narrative, but nope.

Speaker 3 (18:25):
Anyway, Like, hey, listen any publicity.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
Speaking of that. The greater appearance in movies Bob's Big
Boys when Big Boy went to space.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
I have vague memories of this familiar Is it spaceballs?

Speaker 2 (18:39):
No, it's on the ether of your mind, just on.
I know you remember this visual Big Boy circling.

Speaker 3 (18:50):
The Earth.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
From what is it from or something? Oh good, guess
you're getting closer on the era. I'll give you a hint,
just lifting one pink y.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yes, Doctor Evil has himself crygetically frozen. He's launched into
orbit around the Earth, circling the planet in an enormous
Bob's Big Boy.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
He st I've frustrated a lot of people taking a
long time.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
That's the fun of the trip. So the CEO of
Bob's Big Boy at the time was his man named
Tony Michaels. Now, when the filmmakers approached him about getting
him to sign off on the use of the Burger's
chain mascot for the scene in Austin Powers, he had
some ideas of how the scene could play out. You know. Yeah,
Michaels came up with the exchange about Doctor Evil. And
this is the scene decades in the future, right, because

(19:38):
the Bob's Big Boy is still circling the earth decades
in the future. Seeing goes some military dudes. He's monitoring
his radar. He sees something on the screen. He tells
his commanding officer there's an anomaly. The commander looks and
he shouts, good God, he's back right, and then what
he's looking at is Doctor Evil's enormous big Boy statue. Right,
But the subordinate monitoring the radar, he corrects the officer.

(19:58):
He's like in many ways, Bob's Big Boy never left sir.
He's always offered the same I quality meals at competitive prices.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
Is room by the CEO.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
Yeah, classic Austin powers. It helps seal the place of
the iconic mischievous face Bob's Big Boy statue in American culture.
But those of us not in Detroit or southern California,
sudden you're like, I like that, Yeah that real? Is
that a real thing? They're like, Oh, I got good
news for you brother. Anyway, at the moment in twenty
twenty four, Bob's Big Boy still around. There are four
Bob's Big Boys in California left, Okay original there are

(20:31):
other Big Boys. There are fifty five in Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio,
and Nevada or Nevada, depending how you like it pronounce.
They're also franchises, I know, but some people like saying, hey,
I like having fun with those things.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
Wasn't you know what home means Nevada? Yeah, home means
the hill.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
Oh the song of the state song?

Speaker 3 (20:47):
Yeah, my cousin, Yeah, it's from Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada.
And he would sing that song the state song, right,
but he yeah, he learned it in school, but when
he would sing it for me, he would sing it Homie.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Nevada instead of home means Nevada.

Speaker 3 (21:02):
Was the Hills.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
That could Nevada and the Hills exactly. So, uh, there
are other Big Boys, And I say the reason I
say that is because they don't have the name Bob
in front of them. Remember, they have different names because
when the franchisees get them, Bob didn't require that they
put Bob in front, just that they kept the big.

Speaker 3 (21:28):
Boys like Marcus's Big Boy.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
It could be it could be Elizabeth Big Boy if
you wanted. So there are still franchises in Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky.
There's one in Thailand.

Speaker 3 (21:37):
Do you know if all the California ones are down south?

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah? They are. Yeah, Okay, I'll take you to one.
We'll go to the one in Burbank. That's the one
to see. There's also one in Norco.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
I think, still right.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
I think that one has a cowboy boots on.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
The and record little bits from that. I like that,
and then that way iHeart pays for the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Oh, don't tell them. So you can you guess? Are
there two hundred and seventy four Big Boys.

Speaker 3 (22:03):
In my pocket? I don't know.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
Japan.

Speaker 3 (22:06):
Yeah, I could totally see that.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
Yeah, they got really into it. So they there's a
Big Boy Japan Company Limited. They feature the same chubby
boy and checkered overalls, the devilish grand calich hair Big Boy. Right, yeah,
but want to hear something fun? In Japan, you can
order something called the Big Boy Viking Buffet. Wait, that's
a that's a combo deal where your meal includes quote
all you can eat, salad, soup, rice, and curry. I

(22:30):
don't know where the Viking comes in, but I'm into it.

Speaker 3 (22:32):
Well, the Vikings went all over the place, Oh they.

Speaker 2 (22:34):
Did, I just don't. And the food choice, I don't
see it. That's my thing, so to go along with
your Bob's Big Boy. The menu, by the way, is
also a little different. If you go to a Big
Boy in Japan, you can order the Big Boy double
decker hamburger, just like you can hear. You can get
it with fries, milkshake, or you can also order a
sid of spaghetti or or pork steak. They have. It's

(22:57):
a whole entree, I believe, or a whole the choice.
But enough about food and menya, So but let's get
into the crome.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
Yes please?

Speaker 2 (23:03):
Okay, Well, actually no, I want to tell you one
more thing. Sorry, I gotta tell you about this. Did
you ever been to Yellowstone?

Speaker 3 (23:11):
No, I've always wanted to go, pretending Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
No, no, I know, and people talk to you about
the Duttons and all that. Right, yes, okay, Well anyway,
I won't go there, but there's a big Boy statue
there that I'd like to show you. It's in Yellowstone apparently,
or just outside of Yellowstone. If you take the entrance
of the US Highway fourteen sixteen and twenty entrance into
Yellowstone into the National Park, it's about twenty miles west
of Cody, and there you can see the WAPPETI Boy,

(23:36):
which is big Boy. I guess it's a big boy.
He stands over a bunch of field and they're on
the distance of the like high plane.

Speaker 3 (23:44):
Cyberglass are made of stone.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
It's not a replica. It's it's some artist version. But
they took an actual Bob's Big Boy statue and then
they rescued it. That's what they rescued it. And then
they put it on and they got the person owns
the land, so it's not going anywhere, right.

Speaker 3 (23:58):
This is kind of like the San Francisco Doggy Diner. Yes,
total head head.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yes, so the guy's name is James Geyer. I may
be pronouncing that incorrectly. He's the owner of the what
Petee Boy Big Boy, And he says in a quote
big boy restaurants for everywhere. And I always wanted to
have a big boy and celebrate what's great about the
big boy. So he got himself with a big.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Boy celebrating what's good about the big boy. So we
can we put this on the road trip. You and
I have done a road trip that was pretty honestly
we have. Let's do another.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
Think we should plan one for the summer, perhaps.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
A big boy road trip.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yeah. So he plants his big boy in his field
twenty thirteen. We can go see it. It fast becomes
an audity. Everybody locals like at the tourists love it.
Then all of a sudden it disappears. In twenty twenty, Elizabeth,
the locals O get worry. What about our big boy?
What about the peat boy big Boy? Someone starts whispering,
all of a sudden, it's been stolen. Oh that's the
talk of the town, probably some punk Canadians. But no

(24:50):
fear not, Elizabeth, the big Boy was not stolen. And
turns out it also was not knocked over. It wasn't
even damage Geyer or Gear. He had taken him down
to do some maintenance at a fresh code of paint.
When Big Boy was back standing mischievously over the wyoming fields,
locals were once again pleased and all was right with
the Yeah. Yeah, So what if you want your own
enormous Big Boy statue? You said you want one, right, Sure, Well,

(25:13):
it turns out back I looked into this right now,
Big Boy in two thousand filed for bankruptcy the restaurant shame,
and a lot of restaurants closed, right, So that ended
up in a lot of restructure lost the Big Boys. Yeah,
like chapter eleven. So now you can often find them
for sale from former employees on sites like eBay. Now
keep in mind we're talking about something that can be

(25:34):
as big as sixteen feet tall.

Speaker 3 (25:36):
Enormous.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yeah, so some of them were like four feet five
feet tall, but a lot of them are the classic
ones sixteen feet There's one in Cincinnati at the ballpark.
Or it was a couple of them dressed as nineteen
seventies Cincinnati Red ballplayers. Oh, it was like a little
like running guy, right. Yeah, But most of the ones
you will find they're just the classic model. Now. For instance,
there's currently online Bob's Big Boy statue for sale and
eBay eight thousand dollars. Yeah, I looked the listing, says

(25:59):
and I quote sales for an authentic vintage Bob's Big
Boy restaurant advertising statue. This Big Boy was at the
restaurant located in the city of Thousand Oaks, California, which
burned in the nineties. I think you means the restaurant
now that the city city. We acquired it from one
of the employees and has been in our home since.
It measures fifty seven inches tall, thirty four inches wide,

(26:21):
twenty eight inches deep. Normal vintage wear with no major
damage to the fiberglass comes with the pressed wood pedestal
shown in the pictures. Pictures show the item on sale.
Feel free to ask any questions. Expect normal signs of
wear on all vintage items. Refer to photographs and description
for item condition. Sale is final.

Speaker 3 (26:38):
So this is getting into like Batman Megafunco territory.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
Oh yeah, totally. But also there's like I found out,
there's apparently East Coast Big Boy and West Coast Big Boy. Yes,
so there was the traditional version there's the chubby boy
with the cal lick pompadour hairstyle wearing the red and
white checkered overalls holding the Big Boy sandwich. But there's
also the East Coast Big Boy, created by original franchisee
Dave Frish I mentioned earlier, who started Frish's Big Boy.

(27:06):
Frish is big why it's a mouthful. His version of
the mascot a bit thinner. He wore a cap. He
also had striped overalls instead of checkered, and a pair
of saddle shoes. He also had red or blonde hair
dependent instead instead of the dark hair.

Speaker 3 (27:17):
That's the California ones where Chuck's not bally exactly.

Speaker 4 (27:23):
So.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
West Coast big Boy based on the original Warner Brother
animators like a sketch. But Bob Weiean grew to dislike
that original sketch. He thought Big Boy had this look
of a moron. He said, so in nineteen fifty five
he asked for a new mascot image to get drawn.
The new mascot becomes the one that becomes the most
iconic look that we think of.

Speaker 3 (27:42):
That poor little boy that was the model for it.
They're like, this one looks like a Moron.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Exactly like, oh man, it's lifelike, but Moron this kid
kid So the sixties though, then they go and updated again.
When the two different looks merge into one all time
big boy to check it outfit, it becomes Cannon the
pompadoor Hairdoo. Cannon. Big Boy gets seen sporting a lifted arms,

(28:07):
offering the world a cheeseburger. Yeah, but in the health
conscious eighties, Elizabeth Cheeseburger gone, so they get rid of
the cheeseburger. Now there's a running motif involved, so that's
what you see. He's yeah, he's a jogger. So with
all these various styles and restaurants scrapping these big boys,
what happens is you have this big Boy statue glut
of different styles and ones that are coveted and not
so desired. Okaycause also, by the way, a Big Boy

(28:29):
graveyard there in Michigan. Yeah, so they apparently the Big
Boy headquarters was in Michigan and Warren, Michigan. So these
these local cats they'd heard about this rumored big Boy graveyard.
They trek out to the Upper Peninsula woods. They bring
a camera with them. They also had an aerial map
like you would. And they're determined Elizabeth, and they go

(28:50):
out there and they find it. They find the Big
Boy Graveyard, and the adventure recalled and I quote it
was evident upon arrival that this was indeed a graveyard.
They're on it. This is a graveyard. But in better quotes,
he did say, and I give you this, it's not
often you come across a molded, fiberglass version of one
of your favorite childhood cartoon characters, tipped over in the

(29:11):
woods with a big hole in the side of his head.
So there you go. They snapped photos of discovery. They're
haunted images of Elizabeth. You'd love them.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
Bleak was the little boy who was the model. He
grew up and then died and they buried him there.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
No, no, it's not that kind of graveyard. It's more
of like a just toss it over here.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
It's more of a midden, because all the little boys
who are the live models for the design who died
over the years in industrial accident.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
A graveyard of broken boys exactly. So. But these cats
get home, they post these photos online, they do a
little write up about the Bob's Big Boy Graveyard. One
week later, they get their first email asking where is
it right? People are on it right. By the time
the Explorers go back to the Bob's Big Boy Graveyard,
statues are gone. They speculated it was cleared out. Someone

(29:57):
mus have taken them for scrap metal. I'm guessing they're
and then sold. That's exact anyway, So stolen big boys.
Back in the seventies, it was very much a teen
prank to steal a big boy statue and like put
it on the roof of your high school.

Speaker 3 (30:10):
Oh yeah, it's ripe for it totally.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
By the end of the decade and the start of
the reg and eighties, big boys were then often chained
down or cemented to their pedestals, so they weren't stolen
for pranks. That stopped would be pranksters, accidental thieves, kids
who were opportunists looking for a lark. Right. But during
the eighties, rather than steal a big boy and plant
them somewhere fun, instead folks started I just outright steal them,

(30:32):
and so they started stealing them and keeping them for themselves.
No more putting them on the school. They're justo gone.
What happened to a big boy? Ain't gonna see him no more.

Speaker 3 (30:39):
He's just in the living room. They caress his cheek
every night.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
I'm telling well here, for instance.

Speaker 3 (30:43):
Is they're not all sixteen feet tall.

Speaker 2 (30:45):
No summer seven feet six five feet thing. Imagine a
lot of them as being in the five to seven
foot range. So one night back in nineteen eighty five
and a town called Wenatchi in Washington State, a big
Boy was stolen. A man named Chris Hansen. He tells
the story of.

Speaker 3 (30:59):
This Chris Hansen.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Yeah, quote. The town was much smaller than 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 and 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

(31:20):
trophy in the wreck room of one of the perpetrators.
One thing I do know is that the statue was
never returned.

Speaker 3 (31:27):
Now was this one of them seven foot more fans
big boys or was it a five footer?

Speaker 2 (31:31):
I'm thinking this is a five footer because these kids
are picking it up as fiberglass, so it's not super heavy,
you know. Yeah, yeah, but little big boy napping is
one thing, right, But things turned uglier in nineteen eighty six, Elizabeth,
this was this was This is not a crack era crime,
but it feels like this new story has crackish front,
crackish right. Dateline, South Burlington, Vermont, May sixth, nineteen eighty six,

(31:52):
headline statue stolen shot in head the UPI reported and
I quote, someone stole a life sized Big Boy Status
you from its display outside a Hamburger restaurant, shot it
in the head, and dumped it in some nearby woods.
Police said Tuesday, this Big Boy statue mind You was
six feet tall. He was also fifty years old. For

(32:13):
thirty six hours he was missing, cops began their man hunt.
They scoured the woods. They began to search the rough
section of town. I don't know if there's a rough
section of South Burlington, but I'm guessing that, you know.
They anyway, Yeah, the cops they find the statue in
the woods with a single gunshot to the head. Big
Boy's been put down execution style, Elizabeth, like like Ronald
McDonald called out a hit on his rival.

Speaker 3 (32:35):
It's all like in the drizzling rain totally. The guy's
like holding the gun and like gives his little soliloquy
and the statue stands their stone face.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
It's a one tier running down his cheek in the rain,
distguised in the rain.

Speaker 3 (32:48):
And then like the investigators show and they're like, oh,
we can tell from the stipling this was a close
range execute. He didn't suffer.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
And you can see here the car tracks looks like
someone watched it occur. There's an oil patch that Ronald
McDonald puts the window back upt We find it size
eighteen shoe. So anyway, this burger turf war that ends up,
Captain Ray McGee says he'd been shot in the head,
right in the ear, so big boy. He gets airlifted

(33:17):
out of the woods. No, but he wasn't airlift. He
gets carried out, taken back to the restaurant. He gets
hosed down, hand washed, bullet hole repaired. Elizabeth meanwhile getting.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
The Gambino crime family will not take down Bob's Big bull.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
Uh No, not as long as they got some fiberglass.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
To feather out Bondo. He fixed that.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
Into eighteen hours. So the South Burlington Police. Mind you,
they have no suspects from motives in the case. Anyway,
the story has a happy ending though, the big Boy
was brought back to Greek customers.

Speaker 3 (33:45):
So I know.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Right, Let's take a little break, Elizabeth, and after this
I'll tell you even more grizzly story of a big
boy kidnap boy. Hey Elizabeth, Hey, we're back. Hey, you

(34:17):
want to hear some more about big boys? I big
boy do So this next one takes place in the nineties. Okay,
you've been a chronological for you the nineties, specifically March
nineteen ninety five. Okay, dateline Toledo, Ohio headline Police cracked
the Big Boy Caper.

Speaker 3 (34:33):
Oh a big Boy caper.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
Yeah, six foot tall, three hundred pound big Boy statue
was missing. It was stolen from a Toledo franchise. Detective
Ron Scanlon was assigned the case. His job find and
rescue big Boy, which means, Elizabeth, your job is to
close your eyes and to picture.

Speaker 3 (34:51):
It as a close.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
It's Friday morning in Toledo, Ohio. You are the manager
for one of the ten big Boys in the city
of t Only this morning you wish you weren't because
this morning, you arrived at the restaurant to open up
for the day, and you discover tragedy. Your big boy
is missing. How could that be? You had the feet
of the Big Boy statue encased in cement to prevent

(35:15):
exactly the sort of Big Boy napping. You're a good manager, Elizabeth.
But now you look at where your big boy once stood,
and all that's left is his pair of shiny black shoes.
That's right, the thieves left behind Big Boy's feet. You
gasp in horror at the side of Big Boy's shiny
black shoes and chopped off feet. The restaurant had been
closed for remodeling. You thought he would be safe. As

(35:38):
the morning birds whistle and call, you stroll the outside
of the restaurant looking for any clues. You spy your
first indicator of a crime. It's Big boys severed head.
You called nine to one one. You tell the operator
what you found. You're starting to break up, you say,
almost stream up conscious. I couldn't believe that someone would
would do that to Him's friendly Holy smially.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
Ready to greet our customers.

Speaker 2 (36:04):
I mean, what kind of person would do this to him?
The sight of Big Boy's severed head has done you
no good. The nine one one operator tries to calm
you down, to get you to answer her questions. But
you're just too keyed up, you say, as if to yourself.
Nine times out of ten, if the big Boy is missing,
he's usually down at the University of Toledo during Fred's season.

(36:26):
They do this as a prank. The nine to one
operator says, okay, okay, do you think it was the
fraternities this time, ma'am? If so, is there a fraternity
you suspect might have you interrupt the nine one one
operator not not this time, because I just found his head.
Oh no, The nine to one operator says, real emotion
colors her voice. Police arrive on the scene, Elizabeth. A

(36:47):
pair of patrol cars roll up. They silence their sirens
when they see you. They park. You've had time to
walk the parking lot. You show the responding officers what
all you found. You show them the severed head. You
take them over to where you also found the arms.
You also found a note. It's like a ransom note.
The letters are cut out from magazines and glued to
the paper. You hand the ransom style note to the police.

(37:09):
One of the officers reads it aloud, big boy is dead.
You hand him the other note you found. He reads
that one aloud too, big boy is almost dead. Never
mind now he's dead. Huh tape to the big boys.
But is another note. The cop reads that one aloud
as well. Strip steak two twenty nine a pound. Sergeant

(37:33):
Richard Murphy chuckles to himself. You shoot him a dirty look,
He apologizes with just his eyes they soft, and he says, well,
at least they had a sense of humor. Now, naturally,
you don't find your dead dismembered big boy to be
so funny. No one of the notes identifies the thieves.
The cop reads it aloud, the pimps of pimpliness. Hm,

(37:55):
you roll your eyes. Sergeant Murphy turns and asks, are
you familiar with these pop so Elizabeth. Later on, before
the press gathers to cover this local news story, which
they do this, these quotes are all from the local news,
Sergeant Murphy he does a quick five like basically a
comedy set for the reporter. Sergean Murphy. He's on a roll, right,

(38:16):
so he tells the press this is a sad, sad
day for the city when somebody would desecrate a hagloaed
symbol of the nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties. He then
furrowed his brow for effect like he's just like so tough,
like you know, like one of those Brolind boys might
do it. And then then he grinned to let the
reporters in on his joke before he said, it's really

(38:37):
hard to keep a straight face when you talk about it.
We've been trying to put him up together again, like
humpty dumpty. I think he looks pretty good for a
guy who's been cut up. So yeah, this stolen's Big
Boy statue was valued at three three hundred dollars, which
means these purps could have been charged with grand theft.
That's a felony punishable by two years in jail. However,
days later, the adolescent thieves were found caught, unmasked, the

(39:02):
pimps of Pimplinis were collared. Elizabeth and Detective Scanlon informed
the press that the young thieves never intended to arm
the Big Boy. Things just spun out of control. Yes,
and I quote from him, it was just gonna be
a plan to take the big Boy and move him,
Detective scandal And told the press, And but things got
out of hand. They took the head and cut it off,
and then the arms, and then the legs. The initial

(39:24):
prank became malicious. So in the end, Elizabeth, each of
the unidentified underage suspects they were possibly going to be
charged with a third degree misdemeanor and punishable by sixty
days in jail. But I'm betting the judge did not
throw the book at them and chalked it up to
a mostly harmless prank. Cut to one year later, May ninth,
nineteen ninety six, dateline, Tucson, Arizona, headline Dismembered big Boy

(39:49):
Bob found an abandoned motel. Oh god, he started to
get darker and darker right now, Big Boy's body is
found in an abandoned hotel. Like he's Bob Crane, right,
So what does that mean for this story? Well, the
story this, I gotta give it up to the writer
on this one. The second sentence of this story is
quote the east Side Big Boy Restaurant's Big Bob isn't

(40:12):
so big anymore after kidnappers literally cut off the grinning
figure at the knees. Oh God, just comes in hard hitting.
This is like yellow journalism, right, it's like, you know,
like a Gangbuster's era.

Speaker 3 (40:25):
Well, imagine if like you're reading these headlines and you're
not familiar with the restaurant exactly.

Speaker 2 (40:29):
That's what I love about it, Like, oh my god,
the grinning figure at the knees he got cut off. Honey,
I will have some eggs. Yes, So the Big Boy
restaurant manager discovers that her spots Big Boy had been gaffled,
and since the statues are largely chained or cemented to
a pedestal, the thief or the thieves in this case
had to saw the Big Boy free of the foundation. Later,
when local radio stations reported on the Big Boy napping,

(40:51):
a loyal customer went out looking for the missing mascots.
They found of Elizabeth good News add an abandoned motel,
oh god, or rather what was left?

Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
Oh, the customer discovered and I quote found poor Bob's
legs from the knees down and maybe an arm and
a parking lot at a boarded up abandoned motel in
a park story and they quote police were still looking
for the rest of the victim one hundred and fifty
to two hundred and twenty pounds before Micah formerly five
feet tall with huge eyes and big brown wavy hair,

(41:23):
red and white checkered pants, black shoes, and a white
big Boy T shirt. So the general manager's name was
Omar Corey, and he'd been worried after he'd heard about
the Big Boy napping Elizabeth and because he'd also knew
about the dismemberment that went down in Toledo the year before.

Speaker 3 (41:38):
Sure that gets through the Big Boy grape vine?

Speaker 2 (41:40):
Are you kidding me? Active grapevine? Corey told a reporter,
I hope that doesn't happen to this guy, but it
comes back in one piece. I bet the we'll not
press charges, right, So he was trying to let him know,
just give me back my big vie. Yeah, Yeah, Fortunately
that did not happen, Elizabeth. Yeah, he was one of
a matching set of two Bobs. The stolen and dismembered
Bob was quote one of two identical running bob's Bob's

(42:02):
who look as if they're running away. The other is
the burger serving bob holding up a gigantic yeah. So
Corey added that Bob's twin is wondering where the other
guy went. Sad to break up a couple like that,
you know. But Elizabeth, guess who has a new nickname.
That's right, me Burger Serving Bob. Please use that in
all public settings. So as it turns out, this latest

(42:23):
theft was not the franchise's first stolen Bob.

Speaker 3 (42:26):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
Three years earlier, Elizabeth, my man Burger Serving Bob was stolen. Yeah,
he was found alone in the desert, the running Bob,
one of the pair. He was stolen and dismembered. Yeah,
he'd previously been stolen two years earlier. He was found
in someone's backyard. Yeah. So omar Corey. He gets why
the cops like to write up their silly little police
reports about a stolen big boy, and that radio stations

(42:50):
like to get off their jokes too. But to the
people who love the missing Bob, to the people like
Corey who have to worry late, stay up night warning
if their Bob will make it through the night, it's
not funny and I quote, it's like losing a member
of the family. Yeah. Speaking of radio, Elizabeth, you ever
heard of their old radio morning show, Mark and Bryan
sound vaguely familiar on the edges there. Yeah, they were

(43:11):
big in the nineties and the early odts. They had
a syndicated morning show, usually on like a like a
classic radio stations. Back when I was a painter and
i'd be stuck in LA traffic, I listened to them
sometimes regrettably. Anyway, I know who they are, and they
used to have their own stolen Big Boy. It was
a legend that they stole from a local restaurant, I
don't know which one, and then they would have fun

(43:32):
with it doing the most like outlandish like morning show
kind of guys things like Brian said, and I quote,
over the last six years, he's gone skydiving, bungee cord,
jumping down the White rapids. We even took him to
Vegas and slung shot him across the fountain. Evil Canievel jumped.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
Like this is radio though when.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
They described it very well, forty feet above and now
he's coming down me. They did it for.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
Radio, Big Boy. They just have you know, sound effects.
I think Whitewater raft totally.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
It's like some like NPR Saturday shows, just like they're
just making stuff up. Anyway, it is full of this action.
Bob doesn't exist so anyway. Turn of the century, in
two thousand, things turned even more comical and more dire
for the Big Boys around the nation. Boy Hell Times
published the story examining the trend of big Boy thefts
and other statuary based crimes, but not only around the nation,

(44:22):
around the world. Elizabeth, because apparently it was a thing.
I didn't know this, but dateline January thirty, first, two thousand,
headline Stolen Moments with Bob's Big Boy and the Garden Nomes.

Speaker 3 (44:34):
Of France Stolen Moments.

Speaker 2 (44:36):
Yeah, I know, it sounds so dirty, sounds like like
a Harlequin novel that you could go anyway. The news
story opened with tales of quote, a growing plague of
innocent statues being kidnapped and even dismembered by ruthless criminals.
The source for this claim was Garden Design Magazine, the
periodical I had written.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
About next quotative journalism, the.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Front Deliberation than a the Jadin or Deliberation Front for
garden homes.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:03):
A group that steals lawn statues, takes them to a
secret camp for liberation rituals and repainting, then leaves them
in odd locales, squatting on cliffs, crouching along highways, or
floating aboard rafts on lakes.

Speaker 3 (45:15):
Liberation ritual Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (45:17):
The leader of the Liberation Front said, and I quote,
we off fight thing against bad taste as ibadi by
the ze garden gnome of the proletariat household.

Speaker 3 (45:25):
Oh my god. Yes.

Speaker 2 (45:25):
So in Germany similar provocateurs, but not only steal the
lawn gnomes, but they would take them on vacations, pose
them for photos, and then they send the photos to
the owners of their stolen nomes living a better life
than them and some neighbors back in Boden. Boden it
gets a photo over a gardenome enjoying himself at taj
Bahology's like a So now that's all fun, right, But

(45:46):
meanwhile the La Times story covered the American version of this. Right,
the paper focused on Tucson, which where you just were there.
It is a rash of big boy thefts and dismemberments, apparently,
But instead the t Times they decided to focus on
a rival Burger Channelizabeth the story of a Ronald McDonald's
statue that quote flaming red hair, bright yellow jumpsuit, striped socks,
and red clown shoes. Last spotted joy riding on East

(46:08):
Broadway in the back of a silver blue CJ seven jeep. Oh, Wowlizabeth,
there's a.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
Lot of fast food rivalry in Tucson. That's home of
the Sonora exactly.

Speaker 2 (46:17):
That's why I called your attention. It's the food rivalry
home of the Southwest. But that wasn't all, Elizabeth, because
this paper also ran a litany of recent statue nappings
in this ongoing turf war. And I quote Tony the
Wonder Horse, who disappeared from a monument to actor Tom Mix.
A second Wonder Horse was kidnapped a few years later,

(46:37):
also never to be seen again. A pair of wooden
lions stolen from the sanctuary at Missioning Sand Xavier. Several
cast aluminum fish abducted from a sculpture at the University
of Arizona. A carved wooden bear chopped off at its
feet and swiped from a business. A Bob's Big Boy
mascot taken from the front of a restaurant and recovered
in pieces days later. That's by you, and giant statues

(46:59):
of Winnie the Pooh and er speared it away from
a Christmas display. Oh man, I'm telling you. But that
was not all, because they also cited the theft of
a quote four foot tall Pillsbury dough boy, a seven
hundred pound captain with a parrot on his shoulder, assorted
religious statues, and a two hundred and fifty pound fiberglass
dolphin that once stood at Marine Land. What's going on?

(47:20):
In two something happens? Those statues are safe. So my
favorite part in this news story is.

Speaker 3 (47:25):
Right now, like the idolatry of it all.

Speaker 2 (47:27):
They pathologize the crimes and they ask for an opinion
of a psychiatrist. What is driving this craze? Enter doctor
Sigmoid Flexure.

Speaker 3 (47:36):
Wait, Sigmoid Sigmoid not Sigmund Sigmoid Flexure, noted as the
author of quote men who love statues and the statues
who are indifferent toward.

Speaker 2 (47:47):
Them, Doctor Sigmoid Flexure, which almost absolutely has to be
a made up name because when you look him up
or his book, the only result is this one La
Times news story. So I'm thinking somebody got a over
on the Times reporter in Tucsons.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
Yes, or let's bust him for making.

Speaker 2 (48:05):
Hey, I ain't going to do that to him, but hey,
they told the paper that statue thieves were driven by
their psychology, their past traumas, and that by stealing a
big boy or your own, Ronnie McDonald. They were attempting
to fix a wound in the past, as doctor Sigmoid
Fletcher put it, and I quote Elizabeth most had cold
and distant parents and are trying to recreate that relationship

(48:26):
with a statue. And he concluded that this is really
a cry for love.

Speaker 3 (48:32):
Now, I wrote for a daily paper needing for a question.
I had to do stuff like when you do like
a little feature like that and it's a dumb thing
and you got to call people and.

Speaker 2 (48:42):
Ask for yeah, and you couldn't get one.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
I had to do a New Year's Eve thing about
like hangover cures. I'm calling bars.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
And they were just playing along.

Speaker 3 (48:50):
Yeah, or they were just being so creepy and make up.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
A bar owner. Huh, you make up a battle.

Speaker 3 (48:55):
But I mean you get you get tempted.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
You can see why somebody might come up with doctor
Boid Flexure.

Speaker 3 (49:00):
And make up that book.

Speaker 2 (49:02):
The book is the giveaway, right that title has got
to be fair men who love statues and the statues
who are indifferent toward them. How many people need that book,
Doctor Sigmoid Flexuer, come anyway, Well, it really isn't this.
I swear to God it's in the story. But Elizabeth,
would you ever steal a statue as a desperate cry
for love?

Speaker 3 (49:21):
No?

Speaker 2 (49:22):
Well, if so, what statue would you cry?

Speaker 3 (49:26):
If I had to steal a statue, like, I.

Speaker 2 (49:28):
Would probably steal one of them, babe, the big Blue
Ox statues like I don't need to.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
Go Dinosaur in Dixon, California.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
Yes, on the side Milk Farm Road there. Yeah, just
a little past that.

Speaker 3 (49:44):
Yes, i'd steal that. I don't want I mean it
would upset people. I wouldn't want to steal a statue
that would like really hurt people's feelings.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
No, No, we're just wipe swiping something.

Speaker 3 (49:53):
Maybe I wouldn't do that because I'd be upset if
someone stole that.

Speaker 2 (49:56):
Well, just to close this out, Elizabeth.

Speaker 3 (49:58):
I think it's gone already.

Speaker 2 (49:59):
No, I think it's that they moved it back. I
think it's still there. So we've covered statue theftist comedy, Yeah,
statue theftist tragedy, yeah, and statue theftist psychological compulsion must
cover statue theftist marketing stunt.

Speaker 4 (50:11):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (50:12):
In twenty twenty, stealing a big Boy statue became a
great way to drive some engagement and get some eyes
on your new product line dateline June thirtieth, twenty twenty,
headline who stole Norco Bob's Big Boy Statue? So after
Noorko raise.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
Up Norco California.

Speaker 2 (50:29):
After one of the last remaining original Bob's Big Boys disappeared,
locals were concerned. Elizabeth. The statue, which adorned the Norco
franchise was iconic. Yeah, I mentioned it before, right in
social media, people, they lit up all these stories of
the stolen Big Boy. Everybody's worry, Where's Big Boy? What
up to Big Boy? Who took Big Boy? Do you
have Big Boy? Anyway? Soon enough, footage of the thieves
making off with Big Boy surfaces. It's uploaded online. Everybody's like, oh,

(50:52):
they got Big Boy? Who are they? Surveillance camera footage
records four men working in a coordinated effort to disconnect
and lift the two thousand pound Big Boy. This is
one of them, like long daddy big Boys, real big
big Boys?

Speaker 3 (51:06):
Was it members of the Burdeaux Hell's Angels?

Speaker 2 (51:09):
Good guess No, they would not deign to be involved
in this crime. The thieves loaded the statue into pickup
truck and they drove off The Big Boys later discovered
unharmed in a field. Yes, it was safe. The thieves
then came forward. They posted on their Facebook page and
I quote, Okay, we're busted. Yeah it's true. We were
in Cahusa Bob's Big Boy Norco to borrow one of

(51:33):
their iconic Big Boys statues. We hold a centement, place
our arms for a big Boy. We will be returning
Big Boy to the Norco location later this evening, along
with a monetary donation to help them feed frontline heroes
within their community. Thanks big Boy, what a blast. Support
your local big Boy, and if you steal one, treat
it with the respect it's earned over all these years.

(51:55):
As kids, we crave their burgers, and as adolescents we
stole their statue. So how better to demonstrate the two
thousand pound payload of our decked truckbed drawer system. Then
with a real live Big Boy himself, we apologize for
anie stress this may have caused. You see your local
big boy hashtag who stole Big Boy marketing? Yes, for

(52:17):
a two thousand pound payload of the deck truckbed drawer system,
You're welcome decked. Oh my god, there you gobeth. One
long strange ride stolen Big Boys. What pray tells our
ridiculous takeaway here?

Speaker 3 (52:32):
I would say for to say, if I ever have
a Big Boy franchise, let's just say.

Speaker 2 (52:37):
When, yeah, when, Let's be positive, I would.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
The statue, right, I would have a skeletal system of
fiberglass installed inside and then have it just filled with
red jello. And then when someone goes to cut it,
then all the jello spills out and they see the balls,
and they just lose it and we killed the Oh

(53:01):
my god, he was a real boy.

Speaker 2 (53:03):
Big Boy came to life and we killed to see.

Speaker 3 (53:06):
I mean, I think that's the only answer here. That
is the one way to address this.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
Elizabeth Pinocchio, big Boy.

Speaker 3 (53:13):
Saren, Yes, what's your ridiculous takeaway?

Speaker 2 (53:15):
Let's say that again one more time? I missed that.
Could you say it one more time? My good ear,
Hello Elizabeth, thank you for asking my ridiculous takeaway? Is
big Boy? Right?

Speaker 3 (53:31):
Yeah? Come on, it's big Boy.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
I mean he's a big boy right right there, big Boy. No,
In all honesty, I love the big Boys, and like,
all I want to do now is to go down
and take you to the Bob's Big Boy in Burbank.
On riverside so you can get the full experience. Sit
there in the Beatles booth and just get ridiculous with it. Yes, hey,
you in the mood for a talkback?

Speaker 3 (53:54):
I have always in the mood for talkback.

Speaker 2 (53:56):
One of them up, producer, Dave, you got one?

Speaker 4 (54:00):
Oh oh my god?

Speaker 2 (54:03):
Did you just see that?

Speaker 3 (54:07):
I went cheat.

Speaker 6 (54:12):
From one former petty Criminal to another. I thought you
were dead. Then I heard you were hosting this podcast,
which I have to say isn't exactly a good way
to lay low after that nasty business in Libya. Anyway,
kiss Elizabeth for me. I gotta go just playing. Ain't
going jacke itself?

Speaker 2 (54:37):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (54:38):
Is that DV Cooper.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
That's the best ever. You just made all my dreams
come true. It's all time Petty Criminal told me I
thought you were dead. Thank you, brother, I appreciate you.
You the rudest or rude dudes. I did not kiss
Elizabeth because I'm not gonna interrupt her space in her
personal boundaries like that just for a bit. But other
than that, thank you, well, that was great. As always,

(55:03):
you can find us online Ridiculous Crime, Twitter, Instagrams and
so forth and so on. We have a website that
we do like Ridiculous Crime dot com and we love
your talkback, so please go down load the iHeart app
and hit us up there. Email us if you like
a Ridiculous Crime at gmail dot com. Always right, Dan,
Dear Elizabeth. Once again, we'll catch you next crime. Thanks

(55:24):
for listening. Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and
Zarahn Burnett, produced and edited by Bob's Biggest Happiest Boy
Dave Kustin. Research is by Viking Buffet of Fishonado's Marissa
Brown and Andrea Song Sharpen Tear. Our theme song is

(55:45):
by Thomas Bob's Fish Taco Boy, Lee and Travis I
prefer Nations, Giants, Burger of East Bay Loyal Dotty. The
host wardrobe provided by Botany five hundred. Guest hair and
makeup by Sparkleshot at Mister Andre. Executive producers are Ben
Japan Has the Best Big Boys Bowlin' and original Flavor

(56:07):
Bob's Big Boy Diehard.

Speaker 4 (56:09):
No Brown, Ridicous Crime, Say It one More Time, Giquous Crime.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. Four more podcasts
from my heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,