Allen Gary outside the Pig-n-Whistle on Union Avenue.
I've mentioned the Pig-n-Whistle quite a few times over the years, but I don't think I've ever devoted an entire column to it. Maybe I'll get around to that someday.
In the meantime, though, I wanted to share with you one of its interesting features — an old-timey signpost that stood outside the restaurant on Union Avenue.
It's a simple concept. Diners could drive 1,204 miles, making quite a few turns and stops along the way, to get a decent meal in New York City. Or, if they didn't feel like such a journey, they could keep heading east another 227 miles until they got to Nashville — not a quick drive in these pre-interstate days.
But wait. Only 10 feet away, one could fine a tasty barbecue, a soda, or maybe a frosted malted (or all three), and you didn't even have to leave your car, since the Pig offered curb service.
Obviously, it was an easy decision.
If the guy standing besides the sign looks familiar, perhaps that's because you saw his picture in the column I wrote on Admiral Benbow. Allen Gary not only developed that chain of hotels, but also managed the Pig-n-Whistle, was a vice president at Holiday Inns, and operated one of Fortune's Drive-Ins.
What's really astonishing about this photo is what you see in the background. That happens to be Union Avenue, as it looked in the 1940s, maybe early 1950s. My, times have changed.
