 |
|
DOE'S EAT PLACE
Interviews and photographs by Amy Evans.
---
Clarke
Reed
Once in a while, [Aunt] Jay, you know, would cook lunch for [the Signa family], and so there's always a great lunch there in the back, if you happened to be there and stop and get some of it, see. Aunt Jay died with a really great cornbread recipe that I wish I had.
--Clarke Reed
A restaurant is defined by its owner, its employees, and, not insignificantly, its regular clientele. Clarke Reed, former Republican National Committeeman and father of the Southern Strategy, is one of those regulars. He became a customer at Doe’s Eat Place soon after moving from Missouri to Greenville in 1950. In the ensuing years, Reed has entertained family and friends, journalists and politicians, over steaks and fries, tamales and shrimp. When he began eating at Doe’s, he walked through the back door as the rest of white Greenville did. Today, black and white walk through the front door, past the red glow of the broiler, by steaming pots of tamales, into the dining rooms beyond. Reed is one of the regulars who put Doe’s on the map, entertaining visiting journalists who came through Mississippi in the 1960s and 70s. Of course, the food speaks for itself, as does the character of the place—character imbued by regulars like Clarke Reed.
• • • Listen to this 3-minute audio clip of Clarke Reed talking about when he first heard of Doe’s and how the menu has evolved over the years. [Windows Media Player required. Go here to download the player for free.]
---
What follows is a portion of the original interview that has been edited for length. To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here.
SUBJECT: Clarke Reed, long-time customer
DATE: July 21, 2005
LOCATION: Reed Joseph International-Greenville, MS
INTERVIEWER: Amy Evans
Amy Evans: This is Amy Evans on Thursday, July 21, 2005 and I'm in Greenville, Mississippi, with Mr. Clarke Reed. Mr. Reed, would you mind saying your full name and your birth date, too, if you don't mind?
Clarke Reed: Clarke Reed, August 4, 1928.
[W]e’re here to talk about Doe’s Eat Place, but if you wouldn't mind giving us a little of your family background and--and your family's time in Greenville.
Okay; I came here out of school in 1950 in business with
my father and--and soon on my own, and of course Doe’s [Eat Place]
was an established place to stop at that time. I think it started back
in the '40s and it was always pretty much the same--very memorable. And
in those days, as you--you'll learn later, we--you came in the back door…And
at that time, the whole 
dining
room kitchen was it--one room you see, except for the front and where
people used--it started out people would come in and buy hot tamales and
whatnot as take out there, and then people started coming in the back.
Those were the--back in the old days of segregation of course, and so
I think the place started out pretty much [with a] black clientele but--for
take out of hot tamales all, which as you know has been a staple of the
Delta, and I grew up thinking hot tamales were of-- from the Mississippi
River, not--not Mexican.
Where were you born?
In Southeast Missouri. It was just like the [Mississippi] Delta. Caruthersville. It's--it’s just like--it's all cotton and all Democrats and a big black population; so it was kind of like home and hot tamales were there. People walk on the street and you could just buy--buy them for a dime for--for three or if you would roll the dice with the man you--you could pay him 20 cents or get them for nothing, see. So you know they've been a staple up and down this river for--forever, I mean as far as I can--for it’s--before my time.
But anyway, the--the menu then was pretty much the same.
Doe was a fairly shy guy; he was not one of these gregarious folks, but
he was very nice you know and then of course his sister is always there--the
two--they’re dead; I'm sure glad to have Florence, his sister-in-law
still there, but Jay was--was his oldest sister as I remember and then
Rosalie was great. She--I think she was the last one to die. She has been
dead a good while; I remember going to her funeral. They were just wonderful,
you know, hospitable people.
Of course, they never had--never had a bar and back then it was always
cash. They’ve gone to credit cards since then of course, but people--seems
like I've had a charge account since I remember there. [Laughs] If we
just you know--just sign the check and pay the bill. What else to tell
you--and then Jughead see--now Jug was Florence's husband and he was--he--Jughead;
he looked like a Jughead, great guy, and he's of course Doe’s brother-in-law—or
Doe’s brother, and he had a scar down his head from a electrical
accident and he wore a little hat all the time…and had a short cigar
in his mouth all the time [Laughs] but he--he opened oysters. As you came
in the front door, if you came in that way, which people started doing
later, he'd be in there opening oysters, which was great you know on the
half shell. And of course after--when Jug died that was the end of the
oysters[.]
Well, had you heard anything about Doe’s before you got to Greenville?
Yeah; I mean some of my family had been there and knew about it before. And it's pretty famous. And in my--in the political world, you know when--during those--those days in the '60s, '70s we were the crossroads for some of the right reasons--a lot of the wrong ones, you know because of the civil rights problem back then and--and the growing Republican Party, so we were--so major journalists were through here all the time. Tom Brokaw came just before he went--well he's been a friend of mine and still is--came right before he took over the Today Show and the only night I remember Doe’s ever being closed was that night. We walked--we walked---Tom and I walked up and there was a black plastic wreath on the front door and as I remember, Doe's brother-in-law had died, I think is the occasion. And I never see Tom Brokaw--the last time was last November--and he said I'm still coming to Doe’s. He's still talking about coming back see [Laughs] because he never--he never even got there because he's heard about it from all the other people, see.
-----
And in the beginning the menu was the same; it had spaghetti. I don't see that much anymore; I'm sure they still have it. And the shrimp--fried shrimp. And the steaks are still like they are now, you know. I think they've added a fillet. That’s kind of—well, I've never had one of those, but they usually--like the other night--you just cut it up--like everybody takes a piece of it and get this--take it to the table normally--and Porterhouse is the kind of one everybody usually gets now or--and t-bones back then, of course. Once in a while I--I don’t know what reason, I stopped in there and didn’t have lunch but [Aunt] Jay, you know, would cook lunch for--for Doe and so there's always a great lunch there in the back, if you happen--happened to be there and stop and get some of it, see. Aunt Jay died with a really great cornbread recipe that I wish I had.
Well how often would you say--do--have you--how often do you visit Doe’s?
Well, you know, you get older, you don't go out as much,
and you just don't want to, you know--but it's kind of--always when somebody
comes to town; that's when you normally go, 
you
see. But--which is--can be maybe not for a month, may be two times in
a week. And it--so visitors like it and they know about it and they want
to eat there and they write it up, you know. It gets a lot of national
press, just because of that--the people being here and going here or whatever.
Right. And [your daughter] Julia was saying just that--that whenever people come in town and you're entertaining them and taking them out there that Doe’s reputation is word of mouth and then having all these journalists come through and then write about it.
That's right--that’s right, yeah. See, as I was saying, that was--it was a big--and Hodding Carter we—we were regular friends…He--he had all kind of--the liberal crowd visit him, and I had the conservatives visit me; we'd trade--we'd be each other's guests at all these events you see. So we worked--he was trying to build a Democratic Party that was a real Democratic Party, and I was trying to do the same with the Republican Party, so we worked those two sides of the street together, so to speak. And it whirled people in here all the time, you know.
Can you talk a little bit about when you first started visiting and--and what it was like then and what Doe, Sr.--?
Yeah; it was--well see all--all it was then, see was--was the--you walk in the kitchen that's it, you know and so there was nowhere else place to eat but the kitchen. And that--that was everybody's--then the so-called side room was there and they used to have a--as I remember they had a baby bed and stuff that you could put the family in there, just kind of a place to--holding room for them, see [Laughs]. And then--and then they--then they decided to make that a room to serve in and at that time the City Code said you've got to use masonry. So they put a concrete block structure up there…And then--and then after that they had added the back room, see, but that's all been in the last--well the side room was done I don't know 30 some years [ago]. But they can maybe tell you the dates. The back room may have been like in the last 20. So it's expanded, but it's still--you know works out and it's not--you never feel like you're in a big place. They never served--served liquor, and it was always bring your own. And that--of course, this was brow-back country then and nobody served liquor--you know no restaurant or bar at that—well, you know prohibition went on until what—[nineteen] '72, I guess. We're the last state to go wet and--but even--but then a lot of people started adding bars [to their restaurants] but they never--never thought about it.
So people think it's maybe a little high [expensive]; it's--it's--I don't think it's that much high but it's--you can take--if the average person who drinks he'll spend a whole lot more money in a drinking establishment than he does by bringing his own to Doe’s.
I wonder--for one, if you remember there being a distinct transition from--or had that already happened--from the sit-down dining to the take-out for the African American community and on Nelson [Street]?
Well, yeah that had happened; I think it happened almost,
I gather, simultaneously. That was before my--that was back in the '40s
that this happened and I wasn't here; but I--I think it just--I think
it just evolved. People came in and sat down in the back. Of course, there
wasn't unusual in those days. I think this was--never this type of structure,
but I remember being in Louise, Mississippi, in a restaurant, where they
had black and white side to it, see--those days. So--and this town and
county has been probably far more tolerant on race relations at all times
than anywhere else in the state, I guess. So I don't know there was an
issue so to speak but it was just a black neighborhood and a black place,
you know. This was the black Main Street. Nelson Street was a thriving
place you know and it was just wonderful to be down there every. Hell,
I'd drive down the middle of it and take people down because there would
be at least three barber shops open late at night you know and two or
three fish markets. And people on the streets and it kept—the streets
were quite safe in those days, of course. And full—a main street
of activity--and they were kind of at one end of it, you see. So it wasn't--it
wasn't
unusual for a Chinese or Italian grocery store at that time to have an
all black clientele in the black areas, you see. So I think this evolved--people--somebody
older than I would have to tell you this--this evolved where you go in
the back and eat in the kitchen. In the front there was no place to eat
anyway--just like a counter to take out[.]
Are you a fan of hot tamales?
Yeah; I like them. I'll eat them, but oh yeah, every time I go to a funeral, especially my old--old Southern family and now a lot of them are in Baton Rouge and all, I take the--the--send them out in coffee cans. There were three dozen in there. So I'll take a case of those--four of those, you know and they'll eat them up. Of course it's a funeral see; so it's funeral take-out food. [Laughs]…And more people--just people really love them. And I mean--well for 30 years we flew everywhere in a private plane and had--flew myself most of the time and we'd always have to load those things in there and take them. They would hold the heat real well. So I'd--we flew them all over the country, yeah.
[A]nd what do you usually order when you go to Doe’s; do you get the Porterhouse?
Yeah. I get three hot tamales. I think the salad is really great; I've got to get that. So I'll eat a whole salad easily and sometimes a little--a little bit more and then a Porterhouse steak and of course fries and sometimes--they used to have real good fried onions. I haven't--that's something I haven't thought about. I don't think they have it anymore; they were excellent. And that's--and once in a while the fried shrimp, but usually I go with steak.
-----
And Doe, Sr. I understand used to farm some vegetables kind of on a smaller scale of--across the river--and would bring them to the restaurant and hand them out and stuff. Do you remember that?
That's right he did, yeah; yeah, and he's always--see, they didn't--he was always doing something like that. The only shrimp they had was fried; now they have it fried or broiled. He'd broil shrimp and just give them to you and sit them around the table. And like I said he was kind of a shy fellow but he was--he was always gracious and all and, you know[.]
-----
Can you talk about what it was like when Doe, Sr. passed?
Well, he was sick. So, you know it's kind of one of those things--you didn't see him much toward the end there. But it just--you know it worked--you know, went right along because the--what--Doe just cooked, you know and--and surely he bought meat. I don’t mean he--he did all that sort of thing, but the operation was so--so nice and so at ease, you know, with it and they just couldn't be more gracious. That made the thing work, you know. How well they served everybody. But like really, really nice people; but Rosalie was--was most gracious, and so--of course is Florence. She's the sister-in-law, but they--they’re really--they’re all right.
[L]ike I said, I guess because it's--there have been so few changes that's why it makes it unique. It's the same and there's nothing different I'm telling you about the kitchen and serving area. It's always been oilcloth tables and--oh let's see--okay, one--one change. It used to be--there were no wine glasses, see, which would be--then they had all just--just different kind of pieces and shapes here, and now they kind of have--kind of universal wine glasses, see, but that was--these people would drink out of anything, you know drink out of a glass after you use it. Over the last not too many years they added wine glasses.
Well you talked about how the restaurant hasn't changed over the years, but Greenville has certainly changed in that neighborhood over there. Can you speak to that a little bit?
Yeah, it has; yeah, it really has. The--like I said industry
was thriving. I used to love to take people down there, and then like--of
course you don't do that now. It's not safe and there's nothing anyway.
You see just boarded up old places, but it was a thriving Main Street
and 
you
know--most everything was open at night. It had a little panoply of everything,
you know grocery stores, several fish markets, and liked to see the white--you
know there were signs on the windows you know different kinds of fish
they had all the time and then you know--Chicago Polish--see there has
been enough interchange between Chicago and Greenville that--It's part
of their food--it's like rich Marines--Polish sausage that they got up
there, you see.
-----
Would you say that the--the food is the same as it's always been?
Yeah; it really is--it stayed pretty much the same. There's a change--I noticed--I've never thought--never been spoken before about it, but they used to use red potatoes and now they've gone to white potatoes. And I don't know why--why they did--why they--I feel I like them better [Laughs] but--
You like the white potatoes better?
Yeah, yeah, and I don't know when or why they changed.
Do you remember when they used to use corn shucks for their hot tamales?
Yeah, and I remember [Laughs]--that irritated me when they went to paper. And I remember little Doe or somebody told me, well there was an EPA you know--the environmental people stopped in, so I was complaining to people, and I said hell; I said--wasn’t that terrible about the--the absurdity of the environmentalists knocking out the corn shucks? And taking--lady that worked for us stopped by a stand and they had corn-shucks, and I said what's this? And so they finally admitted they just wanted to save the money, see. [Laughs] I was buying the argument that you--that they weren't--that you couldn't get them with--but most tamales around here still are in corn shucks.
-----
And I've heard about people taking their salad bowls in there to get seasoned and have them use them.
Yeah; that's right and then--and then the take out was always you'd bring your own pots and all. They only did this--this plastic stuff later, you know. I remember sometimes--we hardly--we didn’t much take out but I’d always go with my own pot or whatever you take to put stuff in. They'd usually get spaghetti--was a big take or salads, you know.
---
To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here.
home | events | about the SFA | join us | contact/member services
All information copyright Southern Foodways Alliance.