.A
Tale of 3 Pigs!!!
The
Pig 'n Whistle in Albany GA was my teen hang out.
Friday and Saturday nights usually consisted of a date to see a
movie at the Albany or State Theatre, then to "the
Pig" for refreshments, and as
Walter Dees ('55) said, "The "Pig was THE place to be seen
before the
Arctic Bear became so popular!" To see and BE seen ...
that was the point!! I tell the truth when I say I don't
remember eating anything ... I just remember THE BOYS!!!
When
I began to put together Albany Landmark pictures for the Albany
High Times, I noticed there were shots of wonderful places
around Albany ... Jimmie's Hotdog's, the Arctic Bear, Burger
Chef, Stem's Restaurant, The Campus, etc., but only ONE picture
of our "Pig." How could that be?
This
picture (sadly I do not remember who sent it),
was taken at night
and therefore difficult to see much more than the lights on the Pig
sign and roofs.
So I
sent out a plea for memories and more pictures.
Linda Anderson Burgess
('66)
sent an excellent black and white picture, and
wrote that
her mother worked there for several years.
Strangely,
only a few memories came in, even then.
A
few years later, after Jean Weiner, popular Albany artist, painted
"The Arctic Bear", a cry came forth from Harry Helton
('52), who wrote, "What about the
"Pig and Whistle"? That
was in my time. That was the center of the World. We had all kinds of
meetings there. When we went off to college or the army and would come home on
the weekends, or any time, you could go there and find many of your buddies.
After a movie, we would go there with our dates for a hamburger and coke
(Coca-Cola). After we took our dates home so the father would not come
out looking for us, we (the boys) would have another meeting at the
"PIG". When they took that place away in the name of
progress, they took away a life long monument! With tears in
my eyes I thank you. With this plea ... Jean began to consider
painting "The Pig"!!! We crossed our fingers!
She
said she would need more info ... so we sent out another request for
memories and pictures, and this time asked the Indians to try
and remember specifics such as colors, and what the Pig sign looked
like, as it was not clear in the Anderson photo. The memories
began to pour in ... (see all memories posted at
http://albanyhightimes.com/the_pig.htm).
Trouble was ... memories of folks like me (at nearly 72) remember
the socializing and not important things an artist might need
for a painting, such as colors and details, etc. All we had for
Jean was the two pictures of the "Pig", but in those pictures we
couldn't determine what the Pig sign looked like, nor the colors on
the building and roof.
One Indian,
Milt Robinson ('59)
wrote:
"The Pig & Whistle
sign (the pig itself) is at Satterfield's
Bar-B-Que in
Macon
near downtown, and just off Riverside Drive. It has been several years
since I've been there but I had always understood that was the original
pig sign from Albany." Another,
Sherry Mixon
Pierce ('60) wrote, "I believe it is a pig standing on its' hind feet holding a
whistle."
Milt and Sherry both
gave some good info. So, my husband, Tommy Herrington ('56)
and I set off from Lawrenceville for a pig sandwich at
Satterfield's, and more importantly, in search of a Pig sign of
yore!!!
As we drove up - we saw a pig
sign out front at Satterfield's ...
but I was disappointed ... very cute pig, but not our pig sign!
Then Tommy drove into the back parking lot - and
at the back of the parking lot ... THERE IT WAS ... the side
view of a pig with the whistle that went up and down (neon).
It took my breath away!
(click pictures to enlarge)
We
went inside and asked for the owner ... but he had just left 10
minutes before we arrived (yes, we should have called). We
talked with his wonderful manager (great personality). When
Tommy asked her about the Pig 'n Whistle (we thought Satterfield's
was previously the old "Pig") she pulled a painting off the wall and
said it was the old "Pig". Obviously it was at another place
because, like our Albany "Pig", this "Pig" had drive-in parking
spaces out front. But it was exciting because it looked very
much like OUR "Pig" ... and there were the colors on the roof ...
red, blue and white!
Macon Pig 'n Whistle hangs in Satterfield's
BBQ
Joy Hulgan, artist
(click
to enlarge)
Inside, I ordered a
"Pig Special" and Tommy ordered a "Pig Platter". It was
magical ... the moment I took my first bite
of the sandwich ... I was
immediately 16 again! (Visit their website at:
http://www.satterfieldscatering.com/index2.html
) .
They have
BOILED PEANUTS
TOO while you wait for your "Pigs"!!!
The manager offered to let Tommy leave a message on the owner's
voice mail, which he did.
On the way back to Lawrenceville, owner John
Satterfield McCord
called, and talked with us. He patiently answered our
questions. He told us he used to frequent the Macon "Pig"
in the mid-sixties (he was class of 1966).
How did he get the sign?
He told of a call he received from a woman whose grandmother had
passed away. She knew he collected "pig" memoriabilia and
called to let him know they were having a yard sale and that
there was an old pig sign found in the grandmother's back yard,
and that the sign would be on sale at a yard sale they were
having if he was interested. He was, but forgot the yard
sale. Some days later, the woman called
again saying, "the Pig sign did not sell" and if he wanted it,
he could have it for $20. He and a friend immediately took a
truck to pick up the Pig sign - and that is how the "Pig sign"
was saved! More than likely it was the Macon pig
sign and not the Albany pig sign ... but at this point ... who
cares ... it still brought back a flood of memories.
I had previously thought a
classmate's (Tommy Webb - '55,
who is now deceased) father was the owner of the "Pig" in Albany and
then moved to Macon and opened another "Pig" there. I find this is
not the case - Mr. Webb must have managed the two places, and built
neither! I discovered this when I Googled "Pig
'n Whistle Albany GA" and
that search brought up "Sanford Historical Society"
2004 July-August newsletter
at
http://sanfordhistory.tripod.com/newsletters/jul2004.pdf
On that website, I found this
history written, "In
talking with Mr. Ford, I learned that the cook and a few others had
come from the first Pig 'n
Whistle in Macon, GA
to help get the Sanford restaurant started and then went back.
James Bryan, had been born in Orlando and later went to Macon where
he built his first Pig 'n Whistle restaurant.
He later built others in the
South; the Pig in
Sanford [was built] in 1948."
The Sanford Pig
(click to enlarge)
So
that leaves us with a lot of history we did not previously have ...
but not all the history we hope to have! Never fear Pig fans
... the search will continue!!!
