Image courtesy Central High School
Duke'sSummer-1948
I've mentioned Duke's a few times in this column. It seems to have different names: Duke's BBQ, The Duke's Drive-In, and The Duke's Cafe. Originally opened in the 1940s on North Watkins, it moved to Summer Avenue, where it remained busy until 1967, when it was demolished to make way for an expansion of the Pryor Oldsmobile dealership.
I found this advertisement for the establishment in the 1947 edition of the Central High School Warrior yearbook, and I'm sharing it with you for a particular reason.
Pay special attention to the pig displayed in the ad. Most restaurants rarely, if ever, show a creature before it is slaughtered, cooked, and set on a plate before hungry diners. Steak shops don't show cows in lovely fields. That might make you change your mind about what you're actually eating.
But BBQ restaurants seem to take this in the other direction entirely. They don't just show a fat hog in a pen, so you might think, "My, that would make a tasty rack of ribs."
Instead, they show the hogs, or pigs, dressed up and having a grand time. The pig at Duke's is ready to hit the town, with his cape, top hat, cane, and monicle. The original Leonard's BBQ, on South Bellevue, had a sign showing an equally dapper pig, swinging a cane (what is it with these pigs and walking sticks??) above their slogan: "Mr. Brown is going to town."
And even stranger — if not downright horrifying — on one side of the old Leonard's was a neon image of pig actually being roasted on a grill. but instead of writhing in pain as those hickory flames consumed him, he was rolling around with no more discomfort than a simple sunburn.
Of course, as far as Memphis goes, I guess nothing beats the human-headed lobster sign that once greeted customers to the original Pappy and Jimmy's.
