P. Nicole King
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617032516
- eISBN:
- 9781617032523
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617032516.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
In 1949, Alan Schafer opened South of the Border, a beer stand located on bucolic farmland in Dillon County, South Carolina, near the border separating North and South Carolina. Even at its ...
More
In 1949, Alan Schafer opened South of the Border, a beer stand located on bucolic farmland in Dillon County, South Carolina, near the border separating North and South Carolina. Even at its beginning, the stand catered to those interested in Mexican-themed kitsch—sombreros, toy piñatas, vividly colored panchos, salsas. Within five years, the beer stand had grown into a restaurant, then a series of restaurants, and then a theme park, complete with gas stations, motels, a miniature golf course, and an adult-video shop. Flashy billboards—featuring South of the Border’s stereotypical bandit Pedro—advertised the locale from 175 miles away. An hour south of Schafer’s site lies the Grand Strand region—sixty miles of South Carolina beaches and various forms of recreation. Within this region, Atlantic Beach exists. From the 1940s onward, Atlantic Beach has been a primary tourist destination for middle-class African Americans, as it was one of the few recreational beaches open to them in the region. Since the 1990s, the beach has been home to the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, a motorcycle festival event that draws upward of 10,000 African Americans and other tourists annually. This book studies both locales, separately and together, to illustrate how they serve as lens for viewing the historical, social, and aesthetic aspects embedded in a place’s culture over time. In doing so, the book engages with concepts of the “Newer South,” the contemporary era of southern culture.Less
In 1949, Alan Schafer opened South of the Border, a beer stand located on bucolic farmland in Dillon County, South Carolina, near the border separating North and South Carolina. Even at its beginning, the stand catered to those interested in Mexican-themed kitsch—sombreros, toy piñatas, vividly colored panchos, salsas. Within five years, the beer stand had grown into a restaurant, then a series of restaurants, and then a theme park, complete with gas stations, motels, a miniature golf course, and an adult-video shop. Flashy billboards—featuring South of the Border’s stereotypical bandit Pedro—advertised the locale from 175 miles away. An hour south of Schafer’s site lies the Grand Strand region—sixty miles of South Carolina beaches and various forms of recreation. Within this region, Atlantic Beach exists. From the 1940s onward, Atlantic Beach has been a primary tourist destination for middle-class African Americans, as it was one of the few recreational beaches open to them in the region. Since the 1990s, the beach has been home to the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, a motorcycle festival event that draws upward of 10,000 African Americans and other tourists annually. This book studies both locales, separately and together, to illustrate how they serve as lens for viewing the historical, social, and aesthetic aspects embedded in a place’s culture over time. In doing so, the book engages with concepts of the “Newer South,” the contemporary era of southern culture.
P. Nicole King
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617032516
- eISBN:
- 9781617032523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617032516.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter focuses on the Atlantic Beach Bikefest. The event enables Atlantic Beach to act as a venue for the growth and diversification of African American leisure culture, and brings back the ...
More
This chapter focuses on the Atlantic Beach Bikefest. The event enables Atlantic Beach to act as a venue for the growth and diversification of African American leisure culture, and brings back the lively, crowded streets, blasting music, and sidewalk vendors fondly remembered by early tow residents. However, the controversy surrounding the festival beginning in the late-1990s—a reaction against young African American bikers as an undesirable group of tourists on the Grand Strand—reflects a refashioned racism emerging in the Newer South.Less
This chapter focuses on the Atlantic Beach Bikefest. The event enables Atlantic Beach to act as a venue for the growth and diversification of African American leisure culture, and brings back the lively, crowded streets, blasting music, and sidewalk vendors fondly remembered by early tow residents. However, the controversy surrounding the festival beginning in the late-1990s—a reaction against young African American bikers as an undesirable group of tourists on the Grand Strand—reflects a refashioned racism emerging in the Newer South.
