Fun Facts About Cracker Barrel Front Porch

Since you are a die-hard fan of the restaurant chain in Tennessee, we are pleased to bring on at least a couple of these tidbits.

1. In 1969, the first Cracker Barrel was opened.

In 1969, a man called Dan Evins opened the first Cracker Barrel location on Interstate 40 in Lebanon, Tennessee. Also, the bread from scratch was made at the time, a tradition still strong today. (Unrelated fun fact: Lebanon is where we also keep the Tennessee Country Living Fair!)

2. Used for selling gas for Cracker Barrels.

When Evins opened the first Cracker Barrel, he was working for the fuel company of his grandparents. In the late 1960s, the interstate road infrastructure was still in its infancy and Evins decided to find a way to properly meet the drivers' needs, while expanding the oil sector of his family. He felt that the downhill country shop inspired by those he had seen as a child in Tennessee would cater to homesick tourists rather than restaurants for fast food.

More Cracker Barrel sites were opened in the early 1970s, many of which have gas pumps, but new sites were developed without pumps as the oil embargo of the mid 1970s struck. Cracker Barrel is now no longer in the petrol game, but 32 new stores have recharging stations for electric cars.

3. The restaurants have antique finds inspired by local culture.

All the equipment, posters, photos and toys that adorn your nearby Cracker Barrel walls? They are all original antique items—no reproductions approved. When the first Barrel of Cracker opened, the foundation Dan Evins begged Don and Kathleen Singleton to help him decorate the room in the style of an old country shop. Today, Larry Singleton, the son of the couple, tries to search unusual regional artifacts for new positions at restaurants. In reality, at the company's headquarters in Tennessee, Larry runs a whole decor warehouse full of over 90.000 artifacts, where his team restored and archived every fabulous old thing he purchased. Check details information about cracker barrel employee.

4. Each of the 650 Cracker Barrel shops has been adorned with a singleton.

In the early years, Don and Kathleen kept their antique discoveries in the dormitory of Larry's grandparents. Today, Larry claims he likes to visit the old Cracker Barrel shops his parents decorated in Nashville, including the Stewarts Ferry Pike. He receives several calls from dealers today to buy different antiquities from shops, but he still says no.

5. Every Cracker Barrel reveals five antiques of the same kind.

Each restaurant contains local finds which represent the history of the community; each Cracker Barrel Old Country shop contains an ox yok and a horseshoe over the front door, a traffic light over the toilets, a deer head over the mantel and a cookstove used as a show in the retail areas. (CB holds 783 cookware currently!)

6. 24 hours a day Cracker Barrels are manned.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores are run 24 hours a day to keep up with the dusting. When the shop shuts, a worker sweeps and dust everything.

7. Cracker Barrel serves Chicken n' Dumplins 11 million orders a year.

Cracker restaurants also serve 151 million eggs, 121 million bacon strips, 56 million pancakes, 37 million grains, 13 million pounds of chicken and more than 4 million moon bits each year.

8. In the late 19th century the word "cracker-barrel" was used.

American country shops stocked barrels of soda crackers in the late 19th century, where consumers frequently clustered to interact and socialize (think of them as the water coolers of their day). Eventually the word "cracker-barrel" referred to the simplicity, rustic informality and simplicity that dominated the discussions and the country stores in which they took place.