SARASOTA – Local restaurant brands are fickle, particularly the local concept restaurant. The concept restaurant was a relic of the 1960s and 70s, an idea that a diner not only needed food, but a unique atmosphere to make it an experience. In tourist areas, the concept restaurant has a particularMORE HERE
Connecticut Presbyterian minister, writer and investor C.R. Wiley is a thought leader in the area of old style rural conservatism. While reading his other great stuff on the website The Imaginative Conservative, I saw a great piece of his about his favorite New England brands. A recommendation for a brand is evenMORE HERE
WAYNESBORO – Perhaps the greatest American brass company of the 20th century was Virginia Metalcrafters. The company started as a stove manufacturer, early on making, of all things, the Hotpoint brand. Begun by William J. Loth as the Waynesboro Stove Company, it was born at a time when there wereMORE HERE
PALMETTO – Across the U.S., there is no shortage of run-down small and medium-sized towns that used to be far more prominent than they once were. Through most of the 20th century, these towns and small cities often had regional brands connected to them, the most prolific being agricultural produceMORE HERE
MATHEWS, Va. – For brand archaeologists, the best dig site is Cracker Barrel. They are fascinating museums of America’s business history, not to mention their gift shops filled with old-time brands. Here pictured in a restaurant near Jacksonville, Florida are cans of Tidewater Long Wearing Motor Oil. We thank CatesbyMORE HERE
ALMA, Arkansas – Each summer, my grandmother in Somers, Virginia would save the watermelon rinds after we ate watermelon on the patio of the farmhouse. I never could understand it; you want to eat the flesh, but the rind? Bitter! That was until I tasted watermelon rind pickle. Yes, theyMORE HERE
We got a call from actor Jeffery Jones (no not the one in Ferris Bueller) who told us a story about Ranch Style Beans, and the Ranch Style Beans Factory, in Fort Worth. Jones lived in the projects of Fort Worth, right near the Ranch Style plant, and it wasMORE HERE
Bridgeville, DE – Scrapple is one of those things that if you overthink, you lose the appetite. As a child in 1970s Virginia, it was served in fashionable suburban houses in the 1970s. The dish is primarily German derived, and is usually some mixture of offal, or meat scraps. GoodMORE HERE
Chitterlings (pronounced chitlins) are still popular, though do not appear on many restaurant menus. Nevertheless, there are strong brands, each having a following in different parts of the U.S.MORE HERE
Boston papers are reporting the sad news. Brigham’s is closing its last store in Boston. The ice cream company has been an icon of Boston since 1924, and locals and tourists have seen it as a part of the Boston identity. It’s a great regional brand, and much beloved. TheMORE HERE