Anyone For Tacos?

You’ve all heard about college pranks. Looking through a pile of old photos, I came across a snapshot that reminded me of the best prank I ever pulled.

It was back in June of 1974. My best bud, Skip Rung, was visiting me in Corcoran. I decided to show him the town, which didn’t take long, Corcoran having less than 5,000 residents at the time. We drove past the newly completed, soon-to-be-dedicated City Hall and Police Station. Tan stucco, terra cotta roof, red-orange tile arches. The more we looked the more we realized: it looked like a Taco Bell. But there was one thing missing: the sign. Civic minded fellows that we were, we were determined to provide it. Oh, but it couldn’t be just any sign. It had to be exactly like the real thing. We noticed two wall lamps positioned about 12 feet apart, which would be perfect to hold the ends of our sign.

OK, but what about the sign itself? Remember, this was back before the internet, so we couldn’t google a photo of a Taco Bell, and the nearest one was a half hour away in Visalia. No matter, we needed to go there anyway to find the construction paper we’d need. So we drove there, took notes on the colors, the alternating angles of the tiles, etc. We came home and crafted our sign, stapling the letters to a 2X2. We affixed long wires to each end, so that we could race up, quickly whip the wires in place and make our getaway.

We rose early the next morning and drove with our sign to the Civic Center. Thankfully the streets were completely empty. Now’s our chance. We stopped, got out, looked both ways, ran up to the Civic Center, wrapped our wires around the wall lamps, stepped back, snapped a quick photo (see right) and turned to go.

We then realized that three workers standing outside the farm equipment shop across the street had been watching us the whole time. Uh oh, I thought. We’re busted now. But then they let out a laugh and started clapping and cheering. All right. We’re home free.

But that’s not the end of the story. My dad, who loves a good prank himself, was aware of our plot, and called a friend on the newspaper staff as we were making our getaway. He said he had been driving out to feed his horses (which was in the exact opposite direction from the Civic Center, by the way) and as he passed the Civic Center, he saw that someone had hung a sign. He thought they ought to drive right over and check it out. Oh, and they might want to bring a camera, too.

Their photo made the Corcoran Journal, I’m proud to say. The icing on the cake, however, came several weeks later in a Journal article about the dedication ceremony, in which Mayor Burnham Smith presented the architect with... a taco!