photograph courtesy special collections, university of memphis libraries
Pappy Sammons with two feathered friends — or is he considering a way to put them on the menu?
Our 2023 City Guide lists more than a hundred of this city’s “movers, shakers, and other news-makers.” And though all of them certainly deserve to be listed in “Who’s Who,” let’s face it: Few of them held as many titles, knew as many people, and were as genuinely beloved as the gentleman you see here.
His full name was Lehman C. Sammons, but everybody knew him as Pappy. He was also known as “The Lobster King,” “The Mayor of Overton Square,” and even “The Oldest Chef in the World.”
This remarkable fellow was born in 1879 in Dancyville, Tennessee, and came to Memphis at the age of 10 because, as he later told a reporter, “My family couldn’t afford to feed me.” In his teens, he opened a hamburger stand Downtown across from Union Station. There he met plenty of show-business people, and his little restaurant became extraordinarily popular with entertainers passing through town.
“It was here that movie stars, celebrities, and just plain folks all dined when they were in Memphis. And regardless of who they were, Pappy Sammons greeted them individually and made them feel special.” — Memphis Press-Scimitar
In fact, it was supposedly the famed singer Sophie Tucker, who called herself “the last of the red-hot mamas,” who first told him about a delicacy being served at restaurants in New England — lobster. Pappy imported some to Memphis and it soon became the most popular item on his menu.
menu courtesy ruth hendrix
Let's face it — the human-headed lobsters on the sign and menu were a downright creepy image.
In 1947, Pappy teamed up with a pal, Jimmy Mounce, bought a couple of ramshackle cottages on Madison, and opened Pappy and Jimmy’s Lobster Shack. It was an astonishing place, with every room cluttered with clocks, musical instruments, paintings, moose antlers, antique mirrors — even a pair of aviator Amelia Earhart’s flying boots (or so he claimed). Over the years, the unusual eatery continued to attract celebrities, and Pappy became friends with such stars as Tyrone Power, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Dizzy Dean, Yogi Berra, and countless others.
“Long before there was an Overton Square, Madison near Cooper was known throughout the country for Pappy’s Lobster Shack,” according to the Memphis Press-Scimitar. “It was here that movie stars, celebrities, and just plain folks all dined when they were in Memphis. And regardless of who they were, Pappy Sammons greeted them individually and made them feel special.”
Pappy suffered a setback in March 1962 when a blaze destroyed most of the original Lobster Shack. Most people would have just called it quits — after all, by this time Pappy was more than 80 years old! — but after a few months, he reopened the place, with just a bit less clutter.
In the 1970s, the Overton Square entertainment district began to develop around the old Lobster Shack. He didn’t mind. In fact, Pappy enjoyed his status as the “mayor” of the area, and on April 25, 1979, a parade was held in honor of his 100th birthday. The president of the Memphis Restaurant Association gave him a nice plaque officially declaring him “the oldest active chef in the world.”
I’m sorry to tell you that Pappy would not enjoy the honor long. He died one month to the day after his 100th birthday. His daughter took over the business, but closed it in 1980. The site of the Lobster Shack is today a parking lot. But plenty of Memphians hold fond memories of Pappy Sammons — and the restaurant’s somewhat terrifying human-headed lobster sign.
