Big Boy Statues

The Big Boy restaurant chain was founded in California in 1936, but was soon franchised across the country under different names such as Bob's, Kip's, and Vip's. Outside of each diner stood the trademark statue of a rotund boy carrying a cheeseburger (actually a caricature of a real boy named Richard Woodruff, who also inspired the name when the founder affectionately called him "Big Boy"). Over the years, many of the statues suffered the indignity of being temporarily "kidnapped" by pranksters. Now, most are gone forever, victims of remodeling and modernization; sightings these days are a rare glimpse of a bygone era.