I remember walking to school and walking past construction zones where busses were being driven off unfinished freeway bridges. I remeber going to get my parents at the resturant where they would park thier truck (it was one of the only places easily accessable for them and convenient for family dinner too) that has been used in dozens of movies. I never thought there was anything special about it - at least not until my sister gave news of its impromtu (and illegal) demolition. It was just Johnie's.

The resturaunt, my second home, my favorite childhood memory. An old coffee shop and drive-in diner built in Googie style architecture that would bring flashes of the 1950's cruisers, sock hops and doo wops to mind. The Fat Boy on the neon sign holding his serving tray wearing his little white paper cooks hat.

Installed in 1969, just after the resturaunt had been renamed, Fat Boy stood proudly atop the neon fixtures displaying his famous Harvey's Chubby (the original double decker cheeseburger). Granted by the time I was graced with his remarkable presence, only about half of the neon signage still lit up, on most days. Not unless there was a movie filming.

In my memory, there was a movie filming everytime we went. The lights so bright, so colorful, the passage of time can not dull . For films they would even bring the carhops back in thier skates. And we went a lot. I hated going in the daytime and missing the bright lightsn even though they were half burnt out by the mid 80's.

We moved in the mid 90's- out of Downey and with not many reasons for me to be grateful for being uprooted. It did spare me the trauma of what became of my beloved second home. In 1999, Fat Boy and his burger lit Firestone Boulevard for one last movie. Ironically the same year my mother passed away - maybe she was following the lights.

Johnie's closed its doors and shut the resturant operation down in 2001 for reasons unknown and in 2002 it was converted into a used car dealershi. But the resturaunt was still there, Fat Boy and all. In 2006 the dealership's lease was terminated. A new tenant signed a 99 year lease and despite having been denied permit, illegally demolished much of the dining area and car hops stalls.

After many years of attempting to purchase it and being turned down by Harvey (the origional owner), Bob's Big Boy (Johnie's competition) entered into a long term lease. With the help of the Downey Historical Society and Downey's Redevelopment society the resturaunt was rebranded as a Bob's Big Boy Broiler.

Fat Boy is still displaying his world famous cheeseburger but his neon no longer lights the sky on Firestone, he now quietly greets guests as they drive into the parking lot. But still he stands gaurd and proudly gives diner patrons and cruise clubs a quiet reminder of the world famous diner's rich history.