Over the years I had a number of part time businesses, one of
which was called "Riverfront Balloons". I worked full time at
McDonnell Douglas but in my part time business I would rent out advertising
balloons. I'm sure you have seen many of these, mostly they are hot air
balloon shaped which I owned but in addition to those I had character shaped
balloons. Some of my character balloons included a panda bear, snowman,
cowboy, Godzilla and King Kong.
Without a doubt King Kong was the most popular character balloon. These balloons stood 25 to 30 foot tall and would be installed on rooftops or the ground depending on the situation and city codes. I was contracted to install a King Kong balloon at a local carpet store, one of my regular customers, in St. Charles on Hwy 94 near Zumbehl road. This was a ground installation because a roof would have been tricky.
It just so happened that I passed by the carpet store on my way to
my main job at McDonnell Douglas so I would check to see if King Kong was doing
his job when I passed by in the morning. Everything was going well until
one day when I looked over King Kong was gone, stolen or escaped? I
stopped at the scene of the crime and found only the 3 foot metal stakes and
the security cable that had been cut, no huge footprints running away so I
assumed he hadn't escaped but had been stolen, Crap! I immediately called
my wife (Mimi) to tell her about the missing King Kong, I ask her to call the police,
which she did plus she did one better by calling Channel 4 News. She
quickly got a return call from Robin Smith and said she would come out and do a
story if we gave her an exclusive. We agreed without reservation.
Robin came out and did an interview with Mimi and said it would be on the 5 o'clock news that evening. It was an excellent report and was picked up my many newspapers, which helped in our search for King Kong. The Channel 4 news report started out with a clip from the black & white King Kong movie showing him hanging on the side of the Empire State building then faded to doing the interview with Mimi while she (Robin) held one of the 3 ft stakes that had been used to hold the balloon down. We had video taped the news but over past many years the tape has disappeared.
The news report got us great attention everywhere. At work a co-worker (Maria S-R) drew up a picture of King Kong on a milk carton which made me laugh, you've gotta admit that's kinda funny. I had a small pickup with a magnetic sign on the door advertising my balloon business and it seemed like everyplace I went someone ask about King Kong.
King Kong was scheduled to rented the next week another regular customer (Pool and Spa company) also on Hwy 94. Kent one of the owners at the spa company told me he heard King Kong was setup on the football field at Francis Howell, which I could never verify but it was helpful information. I called Francis Howell and they were unaware of any event but they said they would investigate. I had stated that I would not prosecute if Kong was returned in good condition.
One day a week or so after the theft I received a call from Dave, the owner of the carpet store and he told me King Kong was returned by 3 girls claiming they found him in a ditch on the side of the road. Well, I doubt that's what happened but I was glad the balloon was returned without damage. I left a message with Dave at the carpet store letting him know that the blower was still missing and to ask the girls if they found that as well. Surprisingly, the blower also showed up a couple days later. The balloon was worth almost $4000 so these young girls saved me some money and more importantly probably saved their boyfriends from major trouble.
That whole year, I would receive calls from people asking if this was the company that had the King Kong stolen, it seems they wanted to do business with me. Wow, I guess it's true TV gets peoples attention. Thanks to Robin Smith that was one of the best years I had in my balloon rental business.
Without a doubt King Kong was the most popular character balloon. These balloons stood 25 to 30 foot tall and would be installed on rooftops or the ground depending on the situation and city codes. I was contracted to install a King Kong balloon at a local carpet store, one of my regular customers, in St. Charles on Hwy 94 near Zumbehl road. This was a ground installation because a roof would have been tricky.
It just so happened that I passed by the carpet store on my way to
my main job at McDonnell Douglas so I would check to see if King Kong was doing
his job when I passed by in the morning. Everything was going well until
one day when I looked over King Kong was gone, stolen or escaped? I
stopped at the scene of the crime and found only the 3 foot metal stakes and
the security cable that had been cut, no huge footprints running away so I
assumed he hadn't escaped but had been stolen, Crap! I immediately called
my wife (Mimi) to tell her about the missing King Kong, I ask her to call the police,
which she did plus she did one better by calling Channel 4 News. She
quickly got a return call from Robin Smith and said she would come out and do a
story if we gave her an exclusive. We agreed without reservation.Robin came out and did an interview with Mimi and said it would be on the 5 o'clock news that evening. It was an excellent report and was picked up my many newspapers, which helped in our search for King Kong. The Channel 4 news report started out with a clip from the black & white King Kong movie showing him hanging on the side of the Empire State building then faded to doing the interview with Mimi while she (Robin) held one of the 3 ft stakes that had been used to hold the balloon down. We had video taped the news but over past many years the tape has disappeared.
The news report got us great attention everywhere. At work a co-worker (Maria S-R) drew up a picture of King Kong on a milk carton which made me laugh, you've gotta admit that's kinda funny. I had a small pickup with a magnetic sign on the door advertising my balloon business and it seemed like everyplace I went someone ask about King Kong.
King Kong was scheduled to rented the next week another regular customer (Pool and Spa company) also on Hwy 94. Kent one of the owners at the spa company told me he heard King Kong was setup on the football field at Francis Howell, which I could never verify but it was helpful information. I called Francis Howell and they were unaware of any event but they said they would investigate. I had stated that I would not prosecute if Kong was returned in good condition.
One day a week or so after the theft I received a call from Dave, the owner of the carpet store and he told me King Kong was returned by 3 girls claiming they found him in a ditch on the side of the road. Well, I doubt that's what happened but I was glad the balloon was returned without damage. I left a message with Dave at the carpet store letting him know that the blower was still missing and to ask the girls if they found that as well. Surprisingly, the blower also showed up a couple days later. The balloon was worth almost $4000 so these young girls saved me some money and more importantly probably saved their boyfriends from major trouble.
That whole year, I would receive calls from people asking if this was the company that had the King Kong stolen, it seems they wanted to do business with me. Wow, I guess it's true TV gets peoples attention. Thanks to Robin Smith that was one of the best years I had in my balloon rental business.
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