I love you to the MoonPie and back

It was a Monday, my 30 minute commute back home from work was looking like it was going to take 3 hours. It ended up taking only two hours and 45 minutes. At one point, I sat still under an overpass on the interstate for an hour. It gets boring and frustrating. There was no getting off the interstate, so I just sat and thought and listened to the radio. A little AM radio station plays wonderful music, I was thankful for that as I sat in my car watching people get out of their cars and talk and stretch.

Moon River came on the radio and it made me happy. It made me think of the movie, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” – a movie before my time, but one that I enjoy. I think of Audrey Hepburn sitting in that window, singing and strumming on a guitar. It’s easy to think while stuck in traffic.

Moon River also made me think of Andy Williams – the song was kind of his calling card. Henry Mancini composed the song, but the lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer. I just remember that because Mercer was from Savannah, Georgia, and being from the South, I like to know such things. The South is wonderful and her people are intelligent and kind and caring.

My mind continued to stray and after hearing Moon River and singing along, I started thinking about MoonPies. I was stuck in the car, I had no food, nothing to drink and I got MoonPies on my mind. It was difficult.

I tried to remember my first MoonPie. I was sure it was with my Papa (grandfather). He was kind of big on food bought at country stores and gas stations. He was also big on hamburgers wrapped in wax paper and served out of a walk up window with flies attempting to either escape or sneak in. You don’t remember things like your first MoonPie if you have had about 50 years’ worth of them washed down with RC Colas, Nehi soda waters and other sugary sweet bottled magic.

I had my phone and just a little battery left, so I invested the power remaining on researching the origin of the MoonPie. It seems the idea of the MoonPie was born in Kentucky in 1917, not Chattanooga, like I originally thought. A Kentucky coal miner told a traveling salesman that he wanted a snack “as big as the moon.” Coal miners were known to dip crackers in marshmallow creme for a snack.

The salesman went back to the bakery in Chattanooga and the MoonPie was born. It easily fit in a coal miner’s lunch pail and was very filling.

The Chattanooga Bakery produced a whole lot of different snacks, but they realized they had a winner in the MoonPie. They sold for a nickel and people were getting hooked on them. Can you get anything for a nickel now?

MoonPies were sent to war with the servicemen. Families filled care packages with MoonPies to ship to soldiers in World War II. It helps you realize why the South has had so many heroic veterans. They weren’t fighting for MoonPies, they were fighting for their families back home. And yes, soldiers from other parts of the United States were doing the same thing.

From the coal mines to the battlefield to the lunch boxes and brown paper bags of school children, the MoonPie and its popularity continued to grow.

In the 1960’s and 70’s, the Double-Decker Deluxe and new flavors like vanilla and banana were introduced. Folks were just eating MoonPies up left and right.

At Mardi Gras, MoonPies became a favorite to throw out of the parade floats because Cracker Jack boxes had corners that could be quite painful if you got popped upside the head with them. A soft MoonPie caused less pain and tell me, would you rather get hit by a box of Cracker Jacks from Chicago or a MoonPie made in Tennessee?

The traffic finally started moving enough for me to have to pay attention.

I wanted to hear Moon River again, watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s and hear Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) say, “I love you to the MoonPie and back.” She didn’t say that, but she did say, “Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot.”

You know that is very true…

If you want your heart broken, tractor cranked, etc. you can see Holly Golightly/Audrey Hepburn singing Moon River here.

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Cranks My Tractor

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