 |
| The Porky Chops Social Aid and Pleasure Club headquarters. |
I'm not saying that all the members of the Porky Chops Social Aid and Pleasure Club go ga-ga for pork chops, but some of them are like Li'l Abner.
You have to be my age to know what that means. Li'l Abner was a newspaper comic strip that ran for 43 years. It ended in 1977. It was never my favorite but it was very successful in it's day. In 1956, if I said Li'l Abner, you'd know who I meant. Li'l Abner loved pork chops.
I would link to the Li'l Abner Wikipedia page but it's so full of details that nobody cares about any more that you'll get lost in minutia. Yet, 60-70 years ago, everyone knew all about it. Lena the Hyena was the Tiger King of her day.
The Porky Chops Social Aid and Pleasure Club (social aid and pleasure club is usually abbreviated SAPC) has their own headquarters, unlike most SAPCs, who hold their meetings in public. It's not that the Porky Chops are secretive, though they kind of are, it's that the club owns a house with a kitchen and a banquet hall.
They own a double shotgun with all the walls removed except for those around the toilets. The table where they hold their monthly dinners is 400 feet long. It's like something out of a Joseph Mitchell story except with pork chops instead of beefsteak, and set in New Orleans instead of New York.
Every month, the Porky chops have a pork chop dinner at their headquarters, which they lovingly refer to as their "Slophouse." Only members of the SAPC and their personally invited guests get to attend.
There are pork chops served, of course, family style, along with greens, boiled potatoes and garlic bread. The only things to drink are water, Dixie, Big Shot, and highballs. The cost of the meal is covered by annual membership dues. Drinks, except for the water, are charged separately.
I hear that one of the members is a big muckety-muck over at Big Shot and that's how the club gets donations of soda that's about to expire that month.
Aside from the camaraderie, the highlight of these monthly feasts at the Slophouse is a speech made by the guest of honor. All sorts of people have graced the Slophouse over the years since 1918. There are photos on the walls like in a restaurant that likes to brag what celebrities have eaten there.
I don't have space to list all the photos of people who have been invited to address the Porky Chops' general membership and share in the Porky Chops' bonhomie. The club has been around since 1918. That's a lot of dinners. Suffice it to say, you know some of them and that many, many of the names will be unfamiliar to you unless you are student of New Orleans history.
My picture's up there. Go figure. I was a guest once. I attempted to give a speech. It didn't work out as planned.
I can't say there is bad blood between the Porky Chops and I. I've been invited back. I am banned from membership, though. It hurts but I've learned to get over it.
As long as I can visit the Slophouse from time to time, when invited, that's good enough for me. The Porky Chops are a swell bunch of fellows. Some of them are women, too. They're all a swell bunch with their hearts in the right place and they are a part of a New Orleans institution that has been around 102 years come this July.
Their anniversary banquet is held the Saturday closest to July 17th every year. I've already gotten my invitation in the mail. I'm looking forward to it.
Hopefully, this coronavirus shut-down will be over by then. If not, a lot of people are going to be disappointed. That will be five months without a pork chop dinner. The very thought makes one weak.
À votre santé.
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR:
No comments:
Post a Comment