Fat Charlie is the cheery mascot of the Little Chef chain.
Charlie is probably the most recognisable feature of Little Chef. He can be easily spotted on service station totems at Little Chef sites. He always has a smile on his face and greets customers coming to dine at a Little Chef.
Appearance
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Charlie is a small, plump chef (hence the name Little Chef) with a large smile on his face. On the Little Chef logo, he stands in front of a red background, carrying a tray and wearing a chef's hat. There is a variation of Charlie logos at Little Chef restaurants. For example, most Little Chefs have a 1990s Charlie design positioned on the logo, however the refurbished Little Chef restaurants have a 2011 Charlie design positioned on the logo. 56 years old, Charlie is always the icon of Little Chef and is happy to greet customers to a restaurant.
Over the YearsEdit
1950s
Born in 1958, Charlie started out as a very plump chef and differs to other Charlies on Little Chef logos. This Charlie is seen carrying a very large tray and wearing a large chef's hat. This Charlie is very special as it has many differences to other Charlie's: the eyes are facing towards the tray, there is no neckerchief on the clothing, the smile is very faint and there is no outline of the body. A Charlie that sadly no longer exists today as it has been replaced by a more modern one. Reading, Camberley and Bagshot are examples of Little Chef restaurants that had this logo.
1960s-1970s
A large difference in this Charlie compared to the first one. The iconic Little Chef is seen to be a lot smaller than the first one, a lot less plump and carrying a much smaller tray. The chef's hat also has a different design. The eyes are focused on the person rather than the tray, there is the addition of a neckerchief, the smile is more happy and the tone in red is different too.
1980s
Not much of a difference with this Charlie. In the 1980s, the words 'Little Chef' were added to the logo and positioned below Charlie. This Charlie can be found on quite a few buildings and signs at sites such as Honiton, Bardon Mill and Uttoxeter. Charlie has the same tray, hat, clothing and face.
1990s
A little bit of a change with this Charlie. The eyes are slightly different than the old Charlie. The writing also has a different font. The tone of red is slightly darker too. This Charlie is used on most Little Chef signs on buildings and totems. Only the refurbished restaurants have had a change to the Charlie.
2011
A massive change to this Charlie. The face has a different, more cheery smile and oval shaped eyes. The chef's hat also has a different design and the neckerchief has been replaced by a proper chef's jacket. Charlie also lost his tray and instead waves his arms out to greet customers to Little Chef. This Charlie can only be found on logos of refurbished restaurants . The font of the writing is also different with loopy writing rather than the block font.
