Next Exit: Stuckey’s!
Until it was finally confiscated by my father, I once too many times hid a rubber snake and alligator in my mother’s kitchen. Where did a six year old acquire such endlessly fun gifts? Why at Stuckey’s of course—the roadside Pecan Log/Texaco Gas/ Gift Stop and more—found along Florida’s two-lane country roads during the 1960’s.
Mrs. Stuckey, wife of Mr. Stuckey a Georgia pecan farmer, was a very clever baker in the kitchen who turned excess crop into Pecan Log Rolls, Divinity Fudge, Chocolate Pralines and Peanut Brittle. Mr. Stuckey took notice and action. He opened over 300 roadside stands with clean bathrooms and built 4,000 billboards to promote them during the “golden age of family motor tourism”.
The story goes that Mr. Stuckey himself drove all the popular drives in the South calculating the distance needed between rest, fuel and snack stops. His bold red and yellow billboards simply counted down the miles to the next Stuckey’s—giving backseat members of the family ample time to alert the driver!
