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Planters Peanuts was founded in 1906 in Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania. In 1916 the company held a contest to
create a company logo. A 14 year old boy, named
Antonio
Gentile, won the contest, and $5 for his drawing of a peanut man with
a cane. A Planter's artist later added spats, a top hat,
and a monocle to the drawing. Would you believe Mr.
Peanut has a name? Bartholomew Richard Fitzgerald-Smythe.
By the mid 1930s he had become so familiar that he symbolized
the entire peanut industry. He is now one of the
best-known icons in advertising history.
Planters Peanuts opened a shop in Memphis at 134 S. Main, next
to the Strand Theatre. For years it roasted its own
peanuts daily in an antique roaster which was in the shape fo
a giant Mr. Peanut. Sadly this section of Main Street,
and the Strand Theatre have been demolished, but Mr. Peanut
and the antique roaster continue their business at "The Peanut
Shoppe", 24 S. Main Street, next to the Wm Len Hotel (Marriott
Residence Inn).
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"You
could always smell the aroma of roasting nuts when you got near
Planter's Peanuts. As you approached the store window you heard
a "tap, tap, tap". It was a small mechanical version of Mr.
Peanut, whose cane tapped on a 50 cent coin glued to the front window.
The real Mr. Peanut was on the street nearby passing out
samples to anyone who held out their hand". -
Gene
Gill, 1951 |
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"Yes,
I remember this guy (I guess it was a guy) out on the sidewalk by the
Loew's State Theater. The aroma in that area was wonderful. Once
I bought a half-pound of cashews at that store and ate them all during
the movie. I felt pretty sick afterwards but really enjoyed them
while I was eating them".
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Bob Mann, 1945
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The
Peanut Shoppe is now at 24 S. Main with the original Peanut
roaster in the shop ... |
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1957 |
1959 |
191970 |
Today ... |
Can you
smell them? |
Tap!
Tap!.. |
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Some
vintage photos above show the original Planters Peanuts next to the
Strand Theatre. By the mid 60's the Strand had begun
showing "Porn", and the building was demolished in 1975.
Planters moved to 24 S. Main and became The Peanut Shoppe, and it's
still in business.
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Antonio Gentile?
He
went on to become an eagle scout and graduate in 1920 as
Valedictorian of his high school class, He then went to
medical school for specialized obstetrical surgical study.
After graduation he became one of the youngest surgeons admitted
as a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons. In 1938
he married but sadly passed away a year later from a heart
attack, while on duty at the hospital. His original
Mr. Peanut drawings are now in the Smithsonian Museum
Collection. Below are photos of the original drawings. |
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Antonio
Gentile's original Mr. Peanut designs |
Original and
Final |
Vintage ad |
Porcelain |
Antonio |
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Planter's Peanuts on Summer Avenue
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"Recently, a long
time friend, Dave French and I have been reminiscing
about favorite places from our youth. The Peanut Shoppe on Summer
Avenue came to mind. Built in 1959, it was located next to the 1st
McDonald’s built in Memphis".
"On Saturday's, we
would all pile up into the family’s blue & white, Chevy station wagon
and drive to the Peanut Shoppe. Back then there were no seat belts, so
we would sit in the back, with the back window up, and wave to cars
behind us. As we pulled up to the shop, you could smell peanuts
roasting and were greeted by “Mr. Peanut” himself, a tall peanut
shaped figure in a top hat, monocle and cane".
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Maureen Thoni White and Dave French, 1969
Note:
This shop is still located at 4305 Summer Av. It opened in 1959
as a Planters Peanut Shop. In 1961 Planters decided to get out
of retail and most of these shops started going by the name of "Peanut
Shoppe". This building is still basically intact, inside and out,
but the giant neon sign with Mr. Peanut is gone. |
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Peanut Shoppe |
Original Sign |
Mr. Peanut |
Mr. Peanut |
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Peanuts and McDonald's |
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"We used to love to walk to the Peanut Shoppe on Summer Avenue on
Saturdays. There was always a man dressed up as Mr. Planter Peanut,
and he would give out samples. We would pay a nickle for a ride
on the mechanical horse. The first McDonald's in Memphis was just
right next door. The building is still there, and you can see the
"arches" that made the front of the glass building, that is now a used
car place. If you took your report card to the McDonald's with
straight A's, you would get a free burger"!
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Deena Spuryer |
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Credits |
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The
Historic-Memphis website does not intentionally post copyrighted
photos and material without permission or credit.
On
occasion a "non-credited" photo might possibly be posted because we
were unable to find a name to give credit. Because of the nature of
our non-commercial, non-profit, educational website, we strongly
believe that these photos would be considered "Fair Use. We have
certainly made no monetary gain, although those using this website
for historic or Genealogy research have certainly profited. If by
chance,
we have posted your copyrighted photo, please contact us, and we'll
remove it immediately, or we'll add your credit if that's your
choice. In the past, we have found that many photographers
volunteer to have their works included on these pages and we'll
also do that if you contact us with a photo that fits a particular
page. |
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The "Historic-Memphis" website would like to acknowledge and thank the
following for their contributions which helped make this website
possible:
Memphis
Public Library, Memphis University Library, Memphis Law Library,
Memphis Commercial Appeal, Memphis Press Scimitar, Shelby County
Register of Deeds, Memphis City Schools, Memphis Business Men's
Club, Memphis Chamber of Commerce, Memphis City Park Commission,
Memphis Film Commision, Carnival Memphis, Memphis Historical
Railroad Page, Memphis Heritage Inc, Beale Street Historic District,
Cobblestone Historic District, Memphis Historic Districts, Vance
Lauderdale Family Archives, Tennessee State Archives, Library of
Congress, Kemmons Wilson Family, Richard S. Brashier, Lee Askew,
George Whitworth, Woody Savage and many individuals whose assistance is
acknowledged on the pages of their contributions. Special
thanks to Memphis Realtor, Joe Spake, for giving us carte blanche
access to his outstanding collection of contemporary Memphis photos.
We do not have high definition copies of the photos on these
pages. If anyone wishes to secure high definition photos,
you'll have to contact the photographer or the collector.
(To avoid any possibility of contributing to SPAM, we do not
maintain a file of email addresses for anyone who contacts us). |
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historic-memphis.com |
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