Big memories of McDowell's Big Boy, Purple Cows, and 'Flying Style'
Mar. 27—FARGO — A few things stand out about my first year in Fargo after my family moved here from the Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia area when I was in kindergarten.
I remember being teased for my Southern accent. (Now, when I return there, I'm sometimes teased for my northern one.) I remember walking to school in a skirt (we weren't supposed to wear pants) surrounded by snow banks that were taller than I was. It made me wonder if I was on another planet instead of west of the Mississippi.
And best of all, I remember sitting in the back seat of the family car while Dad drove us way down south on University Drive to get a burger at McDowell's Big Boy.
It was hard to miss, right? The restaurant featured one of America's most iconic brand mascots described by the company as "a chubby boy with a pompadour hairstyle wearing red-and-white checkered overalls holding a Big Boy sandwich (double-decker cheeseburger)."
The symbol is so iconic it was featured in Mike Myer's "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" and was the first bobblehead figurine released by the popular Funko corporation.
Earlier this month, Funko announced it's releasing high-end collectibles, and the Bob's Big Boy mascot will be the first one. They're only selling 750 of the 11-inch-tall limited edition figurines. But save up your pennies—they'll cost close to $300 a piece.
That's a lot of burgers.
After reading news about the hubbub surrounding the Funko launch in Southern California, I thought back to those days in the back of the Buick waiting for Mom and Dad to order us a cheap burger and fries. That first bite was always so good. Do you remember it?
But what do we really know about this beloved old-time burger joint?
Big Boy was born in 1936, when Bob Wian sold his prized DeSoto Roadsters to purchase a hamburger stand in Glendale, California. He named it "Bob's Pantry," according to the Big Boy official company website.
The next year, the iconic double-decker burger was born when a regular customer requested "something different for a change."
But Bob needed a name for his new creation, and he would look no further than a chubby six-year-old boy named Richard Woodruff. He wore droopy overalls as he would help sweep up the restaurant in exchange for a free burger.
Wian decided to name his mascot after Woodruff, the "Big Boy." Another regular customer, a movie animator, sketched the mascot on a napkin, and a craze was born. Wian changed his restaurant's name to Bob's Big Boy shortly thereafter.
Big Boy came to North Dakota in 1954 after Harley McDowell, a native of New Rockford, North Dakota, ate at a Big Boy in another state and decided to bring it to Bismarck. McDowell was already in the franchise business, as he was just the fourth franchisee of Kentucky Fried Chicken and a close friend of Colonel Harland Sanders, according to the Bismarck Big Boy website.
After a few years, McDowell set his sights on expansion. Big Boy opened in Fargo on November 11, 1963, at 2727 South University Drive, roughly where Baker Garden and Gift is now. In those days, it was near the southern edge of the city.
Jane Lackman, of Hitterdal, Minnesota, remembers the early days. She shared her memories of Big Boy with late Forum columnist Bob Lind a few years ago.
"My mother, Anna Lackman, started with Kmart near the Big Boy on University Drive before opening in the early '60s. I can recall seeing that Big Boy sign during those early years," she said.
Terri Garske of Fargo worked there in 1973-1974 while she was in high school.
"I remember it well," she told Lind. "There was a drive-up where the customer would order from their car, then drive up to the window to pick up."
It was named "McDowell's Big Boy" after McDowell, who not only owned the Bismarck restaurant but also one in Minot. Fargo's restaurant was also owned by brothers Lynn and William Kennelly, two young Shanley high school graduates. William attended the University of Arizona and served in the Marine Corps, while Lynn served two years in the Army in Korea.
The brothers appeared to know who their potential customers might be. They started advertising in local college newspapers.
This advertisement from Concordia College's newspaper about a month after the restaurant opened promotes them as the place to go to pick up Kentucky Fried Chicken, homemade onion rings and a double-decker burger (or a Big Boy) for just 60 cents.
By 1974, the Fargo restaurant changed to "Bill's Big Boy" after William Kennelly purchased McDowell's interest in the business. Kennelly also had a second location at 1201 N. University Drive. Around this time, Big Boy stopped selling Kentucky Fried Chicken in favor of their store brand called "Kitchen Krisp."
Additionally, they started a catering business. According to a September 7, 1974 story in The Forum, "The Big Boys will cater any kind of meal from candlelight dinner for two to a full menu buffet for a thousand."
Kennelly added, "We're not just in the chicken business. We can cater a clam bake or a fresh lobster dinner if that's what they want."
It's hard to say what Big Boy catering would charge for that lobster dinner, but their everyday prices were very reasonable and competitive with
King Leo's, another favorite burger joint just down the road.
* Big double burger, 50 cents
* Chicken salad, 35 cents
* Jumbo drink, 20 cents
* Foot-long, 40 cents
* Big Boy sundae, 30 cents
* Pizza burger, .35 cents
The prices and the food were a hit. Mike Deplazes of West Fargo told The Forum he's thought about Big Boy a lot since he'd go in the '60s and has fond memories of the food.
"The Big Boy burger was quite similar to today's Big Mac, with a similar 'secret sauce,' he said.
There were also homemade onion rings and French fries that came with a cup of gravy for dipping.
"Although it wasn't on the menu, they often offered a basket of gizzards via a sign in the drive-up window," Deplazes said.
However, all gizzards and good things must come to an end. By 1977, the North and South Fargo Big Boys were no longer in business. Neither were the ones in Minot, Dickinson or Medora. Bigger burger chains, like McDonald's, Burger King, and Hardee's, were taking a greater share of the burger profit.
However, Bismarck's Big Boy stayed open. It was the city's first drive-in and is now the city's longest continually operating restaurant. Of the 60+ Big Boys in the nation, it's the only one in North Dakota. The vast majority (84%) are in Michigan.
Chad Wachter, owner of Bismarck's Big Boy, said they owe their success to introducing a few new items on the menu while keeping the original items, which are made from the same recipes.
"Bismarck Big Boy isn't only a restaurant but a repository of cherished memories for the locals. Generation after generation comes back to relive those memories," Wachter said.
For those missing some of the more unusual items on the Big Boy menu, all it takes is a road trip.
Kent Farley told Lind, "You can still get a brown cow at the Bismarck Big Boy, as well as a purple cow and the 'hot-n-tot.'
For those of us not proficient in Big Boy speak, let's break that down: The "brown cow" is ice cream mixed with root beer, and the "purple cow" is ice cream mixed with grape soda. A 'hot-n-tot,' is a Coke with cinnamon syrup.
Also still available is a pizza burger made 'flying style' by putting the burger, pizza sauce, and cheese between two pieces of white bread and sealing them together with a grill press.
The takeaway from all of this is that while people in Fargo-Moorhead are relying upon our memories of the old Big Boy, our friends out west are still knee-deep in it. Fortunately, Bismarck's Big Boy has sent a food truck here in the past to satisfy our needs.
If only Mom and Dad were still alive, I'd insist on jumping in the back seat of the car making a road trip to Bismarck to see that Big Boy mascot that I remember so well as a little girl or even finding that food truck.
But I guess it's not meant to be. I'll make the trek myself. It's probably less expensive than that $300 Funko pop and a lot more satisfying.
