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Mammy's Cupboard

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Coordinates: 31°28′41″N 91°22′17″W / 31.47806°N 91.37139°W / 31.47806; -91.37139
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Mammy's Cupboard
Map
General information
TypeRestaurant
Architectural styleNovelty architecture
Address555 U.S. 61
Town or citynear Natchez, Mississippi
CountryUnited States
Coordinates31°28′41″N 91°22′17″W / 31.47806°N 91.37139°W / 31.47806; -91.37139
Opened1940 (1940)
Height28 ft (8.5 m)

Mammy's Cupboard (founded 1940)[1] is a roadside restaurant built in the shape of a mammy archetype,[1] located on US Highway 61 south of Natchez, Mississippi. The woman's skirt holds a dining room and a gift shop.[2] The skirt is made out of bricks, and the earrings are horseshoes.[3] She is holding a serving tray while smiling.[4] Mammy's Cupboard has been through several renovations; the exterior has been repaired and the interior refurbished.[5] The restaurant currently serves various lunches and desserts.[2]

History

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The restaurant's founder was originally a tour guide of Natchez's nearby antebellum mansions and she believed tourists would also be interested in this type of restaurant.[1] Also a mammy character had been portrayed in the very popular 1939 film Gone with the Wind, about the same time plans for the restaurant were being made.[1] During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s the Mammy's skin was repainted a lighter shade.[1] The current owner said of the Mammy, "There is honor in everything you do and for those who have young people. You have a crying child. Who are they going to run to? Nine times out of ten, they are going to run to the mammy... I want people to look at her and see that."[6]

Description of the Aunt Jemima-like character in Crossings: A White Man's Journey Into Black America

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The author of Crossings: A White Man's Journey Into Black America described the restaurant as "a massive statue—twenty-eight feet [8.5 m] high—of a black woman dressed like Aunt Jemima, wearing a red scarf, a white blouse, and a red hoopskirt that actually houses a restaurant",[7] while the authors of Frommer's USA said that if you want to visit the restaurant, "you need to check your political correctness at the door".[8] The restaurant's homemade pie was covered in the book American Pie[9] and the newspaper The Press Democrat for National Pie Day.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Butko, Brian; Butko, Sarah (2005). Roadside Giants. Stackpole Books. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8117-3228-4.
  2. ^ a b Jensen, Jamie (2009). Road Trip USA. Avalon Travel. p. 281. ISBN 978-1-59880-101-9.
  3. ^ Hinckley, Jim; Robinson, Jon G. (2005). The Big Book of Car Culture. MotorBooks International. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-7603-1965-9.
  4. ^ Carter Kirkpatrick, Marlo (2007). Mississippi, off the beaten path. Globe Pequot. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-7627-4422-0.
  5. ^ "Mammy's Cupboard". Roadside America.
  6. ^ Norris, Michele (2010). The grace of silence. Random House Digital. ISBN 978-0-307-37876-7.
  7. ^ Harrington, Walt (1999). Crossings: a white man's journey into Black America. University of Missouri Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-8262-1259-7.
  8. ^ Warnock, Kathleen; Kraus, Naomi (2009). Frommer's USA. Frommer's. p. 435. ISBN 978-0-470-38746-7.
  9. ^ Le Draoulec, Pascale (2003). American Pie: Slices of Life (and Pie) from America's Back Roads. HarperCollins. pp. 82–84. ISBN 978-0-06-095732-2.
  10. ^ Michele Anna Jordon (January 21, 2009). "Rejoice! It's National Pie Day". The Press Democrat.
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