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HO 1/87 scale Walthers Built-Ups Stuckey’s Pecan Shoppe for model
train set-up selling for $234.95 at modeltrainmarket.com

Left: Vintage Stuckey’s Coffee Club Mug, Anchor Hocking Fire King
Milk Glass with Aqua Stripes Red Logo, USA
Right: Pair of vintage Stuckeys matchbooks selling online for $23 Billy’s guidance, the Stuckey's Express concept—or a Stuckey's within
a store—was launched, offering Stuckey’s pecan confections through
coast—to matchbook covers, candy tins, ashtrays, candy displays, such companies as 7-11 and Dairy Queen, and even at truck stops and
coloring books, etc. have since found their way into the collections of hardware stores. The goal was to keep the Stuckey's brand and core
Stuckey’s fans everywhere. However, there is one Stuckey’s souvenir product line of pecan candies alive and visible on store shelves once
that seems to be loved and wanted by everyone from hardcore Stuckey’s again. Today, Stuckey’s pecan candies and rolls are available at over 165
fans to vintage roadside enthusiasts and collectors of mid-century licensed stores in 17 states, thanks to Billy Stuckey’s efforts.
modern kitsch – the Anchor Hocking Fire-King Stuckey’s Coffee Club In November 2019, Ethel “Stephanie” Stuckey, Billy’s daughter,
mug. The Holy Grail, if you will, of Stuckey’s collectibles, it can fetch took over as CEO of Stuckey’s with a mission to bring Stuckey’s
up to $200 on eBay. into the 21st century based on its origins and
With the exception of the Anchor Hocking brand nostalgia.
Fire-King Stuckey’s Coffee Club mug, which Since taking the helm, Stephanie has acquired
has a back story all its own, most of the Stuckey's several pecan-related companies including Atwell
memorabilia you find online holds more senti- Pecan Company, Thames Pecan Company, and
mental than monetary value. Vintage location The Orchards Gourmet, which allows the
postcards, fun to look at and collect, can be Stucky’s brand to own and operate its pecan/
purchased online for the most part for between candy plant for the first time since its founder,
$15 and $50. Most other Stuckey’s branded W.S. Stuckey, Sr, sold Stuckey's to Pet Dairy
vintage items from the company’s history are Corporation in 1964. Stephanie also bought
pretty much in this same price range. other businesses to diversify Stuckey’s pecan

The Downside of Growth product line, broaden consumer appeal for
pecan candies, and add candy-making, pecan
Stuckey’s was growing under Stuckey’s vision processing, and fundraising businesses back into
and his understanding of the human behaviors Stephanie Stuckey in Hope Hull Alabama the company's portfolio. She is also focused on
that drove his success, but the company was developing a retro line of candy that will revive
growing too big for just one man. Stuckey could see that. In 1964, some of the company’s early products, along with vintage package designs.
Stuckey’s merged with Pet Milk Co., a St. Louis-based company best Stephanie is looking to return Stuckey’s to its roots as a roadside
known for its evaporated milk. Pet Milk brought much-needed capital oasis by expanding the number of Stuckey’s roadside stores. Today,
to continue Stuckey's growth and franchise expansion. W.S. Stuckey, Stuckey’s has 65 licensed locations, and its products can be found
Sr. remained in charge of the Stuckey’s Division as a Vice President of online and at some 200 retailers nationwide. You can also follow
Pet Milk until his retirement in 1970. the brand on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok, where the company
Stuckey died in 1977, the same year that Illinois Central Industries, has over 15,000 followers, most undoubtedly born well past the
a Chicago railroad conglomerate, bought the then-parent company Pet company’s heyday.
Milk Co. But any hope for the continued growth and expansion of the Now that’s a rise, fall, and a sweet recovery of a brand!
brand and adding new locations were undermined by the 1970s gas Stuckey’s on the
shortages during the OPEC crisis that curtailed America’s driving Big Screen in
habits. By the end of the decade, Stuckey’s was a brand and a business in Martin Scorsese’s
decline, and Stuckey’s stores across the country were being shuttered. The Irishman.
Production Designer

Taking Back the Family Brand Bob Shaw designed the set.
Stuckey’s disappeared as a landmark along interstate highways and
fell into a decline until 1984 when W.S. “Billy” Stuckey, Jr., son of the
founder and a five-term Congressman from the 8th District of Georgia,
acquired Stuckey’s and began to turn the company around. Under

28 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles