Well, desperately may be strong. Life will still be worth living without it, but it will lose brightness. As a fan of barbecue, you want this map. It’s a creation of Joe Veazey, who, besides being a serious barbecue fan, is a very talented and much-honored artist and designer about whom you can read here. His clients have included everyone from Gucci to Foot Locker. You can see his work on Adult Swim and at the Library of Congress. Still, the man has his priorities straight. The design you really want to see, his pièce de résistance is this —
Mine just arrived, curled up in a tube, so I flattened it by placing bottles of barbecue sauce from Ollie’s, Fresh Air, and Wilber’s, three of the best barbecue sauces on the planet, at the corners. I’ll need to get it backed and framed, of course, but that could take a while and I want to share it right away. I first learned about the map from The Godfather, John Shelton Reed, and it’s even better up close. It highlights barbecue places all over the South, with insets to celebrate the barbecue of places like Kansas City (which Robert Moss just kicked out of the South), Chicago, and even Hawaii.
Mmm. some pig! The map celebrates many barbecue places that you’ll recognize right away, but I especially like that it also honors lesser known barbecue spots that often are better than the big name spots. How many of you have heard of Bum’s, the best barbecue place in Ayden? Or Rusty’s, Big T’s, or the Original City Market in Luling, my own favorite place in Texas.
This is not only a work of art, it’s a travel guide.
And there’s more. The map celebrates the “kings and queens of barbecue.” You’ll recognize many names, but how many know of John Mills of Memphis or Skelton Dennis, the founder of Eastern North Carolina Barbecue, or Walter Jetton of Texas? And at the bottom there’s a ribbon of the history of barbecue, notably the arrival of the first pigs in North America in 1493 (yes!) and the dread anti-barbecue movement of 1827.
You can see a clearer map on his website — go to “store.” You’ll also see a host of other barbecue-related products, including more maps (a great one of Georgia), photos, and lots of stickers. There. I’ve solved your Christmas shopping issues, with something at every price point. Can you even imagine a study, rec room, man cave, or she-shed without the map on the wall? Okay, maybe, just maybe the she-shed, but you can do a lot of shopping on the website.
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