Ask Madison: Where is Bubba the Gorilla now?

Published 7:15 am Saturday, August 2, 2025

When I was a kid, I’d always scramble to look out the window of my mom’s 1997 rose-colored Chevy Tahoe when we drove past the corner of Navarro and Rio Grande Street. Right in front of Tom’s Vacuum Center was a hairy black gorilla animatronic named Bubba who was always sporting a new colorful outfit.

I always wanted to know more about him and how he came to be one of Victoria’s most iconic figures.

In the landscape of Victoria today, it’s hard to think of any modern-day symbols of Victoria that compare to the ones I grew up with. Of course, there’s Brother Gary and the Playhouse marquee, but nothing nowadays seems to have that same whimsical charm. It feels like everything today is so boring.

There are no PlayPlaces at McDonald’s or Burger King; the sunrooms no longer exist at Wendy’s — all the fun and color have been sucked out of companies and buildings, leaving in its wake a beige and bland nothing burger. Everything in today’s world is just blah — everything is now this sterile corporate minimalism.

Maybe that’s just the pessimism of getting older talking, but when I was driving through town the other day, it was hard find some of the cherished businesses and landmarks I had grown up with. That day my search to find Bubba was ignited and I set out to reclaim a piece of my childhood.

Here’s the bits and pieces I remember:

• I know he was once a fully functional animatronic that used to wave at drivers coming down Rio Grande Street.
• I know he wore a Santa suit for the holiday season and Hawaiian shirts in the summertime.

Polls

Have you ever had a mentor in your life, or do you plan on either getting one or becoming one?

• Yes
• No
• Undecided

View Results

 Loading ...

• Polls Archive

Bubba was a full-time employee outside of Tom’s Vacuum for decades and, when the beloved business closed its doors in 2014, he stayed in sales and marketing and got a new job at Wilkinson Pre-Owned Supercenter. Gainfully employed by the dealership’s Sales Manager Jason Luck, Bubba had his own branded t-shirts and was hard at work greeting prospective car buyers.

At his new location, Bubba even had a Facebook page made for him. In an article from 2014, Luck details how much he wanted to adopt Bubba after Tom’s Vacuum Center owner Jan Bleeker expressed that she was unsure of what to do with the iconic gorilla. When Luck inherited the beloved gorilla, he also inherited the icon’s fabulous cardboard wardrobe.

Did you know Bubba wears a 6XL shirt?

When Wilkinson consolidated with a dealership in Refugio, all the cars and employees moved out of town, leaving Bubba at home in Victoria where he belonged. For awhile, Bubba was a nomad, bouncing around until he found a new home at Nissan of Victoria. He was posted on the roof of the dealership.

Legend has it that, for the three months Bubba was on their roof, sales were down. The old owners of the dealership wrote him off as “bad luck,” and tossed him in the trash.

At the time, Steve Birmingham was a shop foreman at the dealership. When they took Bubba down from the rood and threw him away, Birmingham went and saw Bubba’s eyes looking up at him in the dumpster. It was if the animatronic gorilla was saying, “rescue me”.  He knew they couldn’t just throw Bubba away.

Bubba came home with Birmingham and remained a family novelty for a year or two. The family enjoyed bringing him out for birthdays and football games but when they moved houses, they knew Bubba had to find a more permanent home. About five years ago, Bubba moved into his new home: The Shenandoah Neighborhood Pool at 105 Harpers Ferry St.

Today, you can find Bubba hard at work, greeting people as they enter the pool. Now, he dons a pair of swim trunks and is enjoying life in the shade. Occasionally he scares a few little children with his sun-bleached fur, his sagging skin, his dangling arm and his dry-rotted face. While he might not look like the bright eyed waving gorilla I grew up seeing, he’s still Bubba.

When I saw him again for the first time in a decade, I was so excited, I felt like a little kid again in the back of my mom’s car.

Bubba has aged just like the rest of us. He’s almost 50 years old, for goodness sake. What 50-year-old hasn’t gained some wrinkles or put on a little weight?

Bubba’s aged and so have we, and that’s OK. When you look at him today, Bubba tells a story and he bares the scars of everything he has endured from a fight with Pepper to a car accident to the long hot summer days spent outside in the blistering sun greeting residents.

He might not wave like he used to and yeah, he might need a facelift. But, he’s still a cherished part of the community and he’s still doing what he loves, greeting residents.

In this column called Ask Madison, Madison O’Hara, a Victoria native and Advocate reporter, answers questions readers have about anything and everything to do with the Crossroads. Email your question to Madison at askmadison@vicad.com or call her at 361-580-6558.