TREASURES OF THE VALLEY

A Family Connection to Bob’s Big Boy

Cindy Redden, owner of the Montrose gift store Twigs and Things, has a two-generation memory of our beloved Montrose Bob’s Big Boy. For atmosphere, I got the story from her over a classic Big Boy Combo at the Burbank Bob’s.

Cindy was born here in the valley. She grew up in the hills above Montrose near what was then Glenhaven Park. Little is known today about Glenhaven Park. The large park is described by Cindy as having a baseball diamond, four tennis courts and lots of oak trees. It was on the south side of the San Rafaels, below today’s Crescenta-Cañada YMCA, bounded by Hilldale and La Granada. The freeway took the park, leaving a postage stamp park that still carries the Glenhaven name.

Cindy’s dad, Robert “Bob” T Glassett, joined Bob’s Big Boy right after his Navy service. He started as a dishwasher/busboy, and worked all the way up the Bob’s hierarchy to vice president of Personnel. Cindy describes company owner Bob Wian as a generous boss. He wined and dined his corporate people with off-site retreats in Palm Springs and golfing excursions. He was generous to all of his employees, offering a health plan, profit sharing and the opportunity to open a franchise.

And that’s just what Cindy’s dad had in mind – a Bob’s Big Boy of his own. But a heart condition struck him down at only the age of 39. Cindy was 3½ when she lost her father.

When Cindy reached 16, she decided it was her turn to work at Bob’s. She applied at Montrose Bob’s, but was turned down because of her age. Higher ups in the company caught wind of this and, remembering Cindy’s dad, they pulled strings to get her in at Bob’s. After hiring, the training was rigorous. One didn’t immediately start out working as a waitress at Bob’s. A month-long training period was required, including classroom instruction on subjects from grooming and appearance to holding multiple plates. Cindy shared with me a book given to new employees that detailed Bob’s Big Boy history and provided strict guidelines for appearance and deportment for both waitresses and kitchen staff.

Cindy started as a fountain girl, wearing the Bob’s uniform: brown skirt, nylons and hair in a bun. The shift started at 6:30 a.m. and was busy all day! The waitresses wrote the orders by hand and had to mentally add up the bill at the end. With her waitress paycheck, Cindy was able to buy her own car, a Mercury Capri.

The Montrose Bob’s was relatively small, so it was packed all the time. Everyone wanted to sit at the counter. Of course there were regulars. One of them was voice actor Clarence Nash. Nash was the longtime voice of Donald Duck for the Disney cartoons. Nash loved to entertain local kids and at Bob’s he could often be found quacking away at the bored children who were waiting for a table to open up.

Cindy worked at Bob’s in Montrose from 1977 to 1984. This was during the years that Marriot owned the company. Cindy feels that Marriot ran it into the ground. She said there was even a time when Marriot considered ditching the iconic Bob statue, but it was saved by popular demand. Perhaps it was just a gimmick, but we’ve seen other companies ditch their established icons to the detriment of their businesses.

After she was no longer at Bob’s she worked various other waitress and retail jobs, gravitating to gift shops. Creating her own unique floral arrangements and wreaths, she opened Twigs and Things in 1997 on Honolulu. She’s now just around the corner on Ocean View, a couple of doors up from Honolulu where she sells candles, holiday flags and her own wreath and floral designs. Stop in and say hi to Cindy and ask her about her time at Bob’s.

Bob’s Big Boy was such a big part of our valley’s history. In the next couple of weeks, I’ll feature some memories of Bob’s. I invite you to join in. Send your stories and memories of the Montrose Bob’s to lawlerdad@yahoo.com.

Mike Lawler is the former
president of the Historical
Society of the Crescenta Valley
and loves local history.
Reach him at lawlerdad@yahoo.com.