Sweet Home’s A&W recently showcased some of the original A&W statues during the Sportsman’s Holiday Parade, July 13.
According to roadarch.com, A&W’s Burger Family of Papa, Mama, and Baby Burger appeared for the first time in 1963. When the Great Root Bear mascot was introduced a year later, A&W instructed restaurant operators to remove the Burger Family and their statues from advertising materials, though many ended up being saved.
Although these statues are no longer made, owner Josh Hankins, has still always had the idea of incorporating more “nostalgia” pieces into the restaurant. Hankins and his wife, Patty, purchased this A&W location from the Weaver family in 1999.
“[I’ve] been told throughout the years that this is a destination,” Hankins said. “[It] feels like it’s an original, still following the old styles.”
As for keeping the drive-in style of the restaurant, Hankins stated the Sweet Home location is a legacy store. He also mentioned how many other legacy stores around the nation have found and purchased these statues.
As Hankins sits on the board of franchisees, he must attend a quarterly meeting at the A&W headquarters in Kentucky. It was during the most recent meeting that he was able to meet Pete Knight who, according to Hankins, is the historian of the franchise group.
Hankins mentioned his hunt for those statues to Knight and, in 2021, Knight was able to find the full family set. The only issue was, they were on the other side of the country in Missouri; due to increasing travel costs, Hankins was unable to secure these statues. Information about more statues went silent, until Hankins was sent a message about three of the set of four statues being located in Turlock, California.
He immediately jumped at the opportunity, requesting the original listing to be taken off of eBay to ensure a private bid could be placed. He paid an undisclosed amount and traveled to California to get the statues.
These statues have been kept behind closed doors until the Sportsman’s Holiday Parade, where a float showcased them to the community for the first time in decades. The only issues are the missing burger one of the statues is holding, and the absent Baby Burger statue.
Hankins stated his hopes for these statues is to get them up as early as fall, with the latest being by the end of the year.