Being the youngest of ten kids,  I spent many road trips from Ohio to Florida packed in the back of our station wagon in the late 60s and early 70’s.

After counting a dozen Stuckey’s signs for hours on end, my father would hear “Dad we have got to stop at Stuckey’s”.

Reluctantly pulling over, we all ran inside for all the many treats and the cheapest, cheesiest tourist trinkets imaginable.

We were fans of Stuckey’s growing up.

Whether you’re trucking down Route 1 or Route 66, stopping at roadside stands is part of the trip.

William Sylvester Stuckey Sr. got his start in the 1930s selling freshly harvested pecans from the orchard of his family’s farm outside of a roadside shack in Eastman, Georgia.

The business would eventually grow and evolve into gas station – novelty shops housed in a tall teal blue roof.

Stuckey’s peaked in the 1960s posting 368 stores and in more than 30 States,  offering kitschy souvenirs, clean restrooms, Texaco gas and it’s famous candies.

Famous for pecan logs, divinity, fudge, peanut brittle, chocolate covered nuts, pralines, flavored pecans and delicious chocolate gophers

The company also owned a candy plant in Eastman to allow for larger production of it’s sweet treats, a trucking company and a sign company that produced the 4,000 Stuckey’s Billboards that dotted America’s highways.

Today Stuckey’s iconic blue rooftops currently have 65 locations.