It started in Memphis (Knoxville, Martin: motels, home, school)

[JMT]

Kabluey mentioned some things I'd never thought of before. Memphis has played a pivotal role in developing much of our American lifestyle. How cool is that? I'd like to expand on what Kabluey wrote.

Piggly Wiggly - Memphian Clarence Saunders introduced the concept of the self-serve supermarket to the world, right there in Memphis.

FedEx - Fred Smith, a college student from Memphis, introduced the concept of overnight delivery to anywhere in the country from anywhere in the country, and Memphis was (and still is) its high-tech home.

Holiday Inn - Memphian Kemmons Wilson introduced the concept of inexpensive, reliable motels along America's highways for traveling families.

Music - not only did Memphis introduce the world to a singing style that eventually became known as rock & roll, it also had America's only all-female radio station at one time.

Saint Jude - at one time, every school in America raised money to help fund Danny Thomas's cause célèbre, curing children of otherwise incurable diseases. Danny Thomas's face was on every television station in the country asking people to send money to support his amazing research hospital in Memphis.

Coppertone - Memphis entrepreneur Abe Plough started a pharmaceutical company (which became known as Schering-Plough once FDR seized the American assets of the German pharmaceutical company Schering during WW2) in Memphis. In 1944, Memphian Benjamin Green invented a sun-tan lotion which he called Coppertone. It was purchased by Schering-Plough. In 1959 it introduced the world to the Coppertone Girl advertisement.

These things are so engrained in our daily lives (self-service supermarkets, overnight package delivery, chain motels, rock & roll, suntan lotion, and the hope of Saint Jude) that it's hard to imagine our lives without them. And to think they all got started right there in Memphis. Whatever problems Memphis has, there's no denying its role in developing much of our modern American lifestyle. I think that's something to be very proud of.

[defiepilex]

I had no idea Coppertone was from Memphis.

[Kabluey]

I believe so was St. Joseph's aspirin? Another Plough product before the ignominious merger?

W/ respect to music, how many cities can claim a role in the development and popularity of so many musical forms? Blues, rock, soul, jazz, gospel, even country, rockabilly (is that the same as "Americana"?) and folk. The number is certainly in the low numbers.

Also, to extend and embrace our metro, the Memphis region has had a significant influence in literature, particularly southern lit. America sometimes gets overlooked in its cultural contributions to the world, but two of its major contributions have been music and literature, and the Memphis area can be proud of its influence on creating some distinctly-American cultural forms.

[strumpeace]

Dr. Wanda Rushing, a sociology professor at the U of M, wrote an article for an academic article some time back in which she argued that Memphis was the center of American culture for two decades. I'll see if I can find a link to it.

BTW, our most recent wonderful, terrific export is: Lenny's.

[defiepilex]

Oooooh, I love me some Lenny's!

Also, we have Back Yard Burgers. Fred's was founded in N. Mississippi, but grew to what it is out of Memphis and is still headquartered here.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by defiepilex

Oooooh, I love me some Lenny's!

Also, we have Back Yard Burgers. Fred's was founded in N. Mississippi, but grew to what it is out of Memphis and is still headquartered here.

BACK YARD BURGERS!!!!! No three words evoke more saliva in my mouth. Of all the things I miss about Memphis (and there are plenty), BYB is high on that list. I don't think it's a coincidence that BYB's profits plunged the same year I left Memphis for Knoxville.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by strumpeace

Dr. Wanda Rushing, a sociology professor at the U of M, wrote an article for an academic article some time back in which she argued that Memphis was the center of American culture for two decades. I'll see if I can find a link to it.

BTW, our most recent wonderful, terrific export is: Lenny's.

I read a study once, and maybe it's the same one you're referring to, that said that if it hadn't been for the Yellow Fever epidemics that destroyed Memphis early on, Memphis would've been America's 2nd city instead of Chicago.

[beach_babe]

didn't Dr. Martin Luther King get killed Memphis, Tennessee ?

Originally Posted by JMT

Kabluey mentioned some things I'd never thought of before. Memphis has played a pivotal role in developing much of our American lifestyle. How cool is that? I'd like to expand on what Kabluey wrote.

Piggly Wiggly - Memphian Clarence Saunders introduced the concept of the self-serve supermarket to the world, right there in Memphis.

FedEx - Fred Smith, a college student from Memphis, introduced the concept of overnight delivery to anywhere in the country from anywhere in the country, and Memphis was (and still is) its high-tech home.

Holiday Inn - Memphian Kemmons Wilson introduced the concept of inexpensive, reliable motels along America's highways for traveling families.

Music - not only did Memphis introduce the world to a singing style that eventually became known as rock & roll, it also had America's only all-female radio station at one time.

Saint Jude - at one time, every school in America raised money to help fund Danny Thomas's cause célèbre, curing children of otherwise incurable diseases. Danny Thomas's face was on every television station in the country asking people to send money to support his amazing research hospital in Memphis.

Coppertone - Memphis entrepreneur Abe Plough started a pharmaceutical company (which became known as Schering-Plough once FDR seized the American assets of the German pharmaceutical company Schering during WW2) in Memphis. In 1944, Memphian Benjamin Green invented a sun-tan lotion which he called Coppertone. It was purchased by Schering-Plough. In 1959 it introduced the world to the Coppertone Girl advertisement.

These things are so engrained in our daily lives (self-service supermarkets, overnight package delivery, chain motels, rock & roll, suntan lotion, and the hope of Saint Jude) that it's hard to imagine our lives without them. And to think they all got started right there in Memphis. Whatever problems Memphis has, there's no denying its role in developing much of our modern American lifestyle. I think that's something to be very proud of.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by beach_babe

didn't Dr. Martin Luther King get killed Memphis, Tennessee ?

Are you asking because you honestly don't know? Or are you merely trying to add a negative post to a positive thread about Memphis?

[strumpeace]

Thanks for reminding me. Memphis is home to the National Civil Rights Museum, which has honored everyone to Nelson Mandela to Oprah Winfrey to Bono. People come from all over the world to visit the museum and pay their respects to Dr. King.