Tag: closer look

The first Gibson instruments, mandolins designed as an after-work hobby by company namesake Orville Gibson, date back to 1894. Headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitars, now one of America’s oldest musical instrument manufacturers, has produced an extensive collection of electric and acoustic models.

Fiesta dinnerware has been brightening American kitchen tables with its bold colors, art deco–style designs, and mix-and-match appeal since its inception in 1936. The flagship brand of the Homer Laughlin China Company in Newell, West Virginia, Fiesta was created in response to stuffy Victorian tableware trends and Depression-era gloom.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” could reasonably be considered Mother Nature’s approach to American alligators, prehistoric holdovers that have remained largely unchanged for at least 8 million years. With a range extending from coastal North Carolina across to East Texas, these lords of the bayou are symbols of a wild, untamed South—and its preservation.

Of the 500-plus species of crayfish that exist worldwide, more than 300 varieties inhabit the rivers, lakes, and bayous of the southeastern United States, where they are colloquially called crawfish. Throughout the region, these freshwater crustaceans are considered a springtime delicacy.

Created in 1917 in Salisbury, North Carolina, Cheerwine owes its abundant popularity, in part, to a time of scarcity.

Emblazoned with features both grotesque and enigmatic, face jugs are a style of folk pottery primarily concentrated in Georgia and the Carolinas. Though these vessels have ties to many cultures, past and present, the...

If there’s an Atlantan with something interesting to say, there’s a good chance they’ve said it to Rose Scott. Her radio program, Closer Look, which airs live every weekday afternoon on local NPR member station WABE, hosts a vibrant cross-section of the city’s movers and shakers, interviewed by Scott herself. “I always say we’re a curator of conversations,” she told me. “Community conversations.”

The Pawleys Island rope hammock has long been a symbol of Southern relaxation, and its latticed, heavy-cotton design was groundbreaking for its time. Before 1889, hammocks were made from canvas or low-quality hemp—hot, rough materials that did not accommodate muggy climates like that of South Carolina.

Discover the origins of this Southern kitchen essential

It’s a Southern road-trip rite of passage: Veer off the highway and snag a bag of briny boiled peanuts scooped fresh at a roadside stand.