During the final leg of our Nashville trip, we spent our last night in Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri. Our hotel was next to a Cracker Barrel and per family travel tradition, we did not waste the opportunity to stop and shop. I was also eager for my wife to experience the “country” vibe of the restaurant and shop. This prompted some conversation about the culture of rural America and some of the differences between regions. It seemed that this stop was a fitting conclusion to our trip which seemed to feature some of the major contrasts in American culture.
While eating at the restaurant, my mother and I explained some of the foods on the menu to my wife as well as their cultural origins. We also talked with my wife and nephew about some of the older items hanging on the wall. I was impressed about how familiar my mother was with some of the items. She had used several of them growing up which seemed unusual for a Baby Boomer. Many of the items were from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This was another intriguing overlap between eras and generations.
After eating and conversing, we got a few items from the shop and proceeded to leave. On our way out, I noticed the rocking chairs that are sold at Cracker Barrel and looked at some of the options. A gentleman and his elderly father were sitting in the chairs and recommended them stating that they owned a couple. This prompted some conversation which eventually became political in nature. Within the politically charged dialogue there was a broader theme of old and new, urban and rural, conservative and liberal.
Although I agreed with most of what the man said, I was noticing that we were broaching the main ideas explored on this trip. Ironically, the Cracker Barrel made national news just a few weeks after our trip. This stemmed from a controversy regarding the company’s decision to change their logo. Many loyal customers (myself included) were upset with the change saying that it went against the traditional and nostalgic vibes of the restaurant. My personal bias aside, this move seemed to undermine the part of the company that made it so popular in the first place.
Regardless, our stop at the Cracker Barrel made me think about how strong the clash between old and new must be in the United States. When a large company like this is willing to change the very thing that makes its name and reputation, what can it tell us about the country as a whole? Just as the Cracker Barrel eventually decided to keep its old logo, the country seems to go back and forth between tradition and progression. It seemed that this trip traversed different cultures, events, and political views that comprise the larger American identity.
Concluding with a family tradition like the Cracker Barrel seemed an unexpected but highly apt finale for the vacation. Examining cultural changes and traditions while engaging in my own was an interesting experience. I found myself trying to absorb wisdom from my mother while passing mine to my nephew, sharing the complexities of American culture with my wife, and engaging in political and philosophical dialogue with strangers. All of this while incorporating my two major passions of history and travel.
Do you think the Cracker Barrel’s decision to change their logo and the reversal of this decision reflect the tumultuous nature of the larger American culture? Do you think that the Cracker Barrel’s reliance on its tradition and nostalgia mirror that of the American identity? Could it be that the symbols of past feats like the Gateway Arch are the icons that provide structure for the larger American identity?