Swamp Guinea Fever Part 3

Back in November, Ichiban hostess Debbie D posted both sides of an oddball local Georgia 45 by the daughters of the owner of a local fish camp type restaurant. The songs detailed the menu and locale of a long-gone eatery outside of Athens called the Swamp Guinea, which opened its doors in 1961 and went out of business in the early 80s. Then Devlin posted a 1973 Daily News article about a tornado that pummeled the vicinity of the restaurant and a reader followed up with an extensive comment about actually being at the Swamp Guinea when the tornado struck.

So to keep the mania in motion, I dug through the archives of the University of Georgia student newspaper (The Red & Black) to unearth a 1966 Swamp Guinea restaurant review and a few old ads that do a good job conveying what kind of joint it was. The Swamp Guinea's ads can't always be trusted, though. For example, a 1967 ad (above right) that mentions the location as being 10 miles west of Athens, though it was really east of town. Hey, they were too busy fryin' fish to mess with proofreading!

The restaurant featured down home favorites like fried fish (catfish, perch AND flounder!) as well as fried chicken, barbecued pork, ham and steaks, among other crowd-pleasers. But the food was not the only attraction. As we learn from the ads, the Swamp Guinea also offered patrons the opportunity to browse antiques, as well as enjoy miniature golf and a full-blown driving range!

1972


1981


Lonzo & Oscar - Catfish Dinner (MP3, other than the topic this record has no connection to the restaurant)

Pig Out

Pig out on great music and adult beverages at the Lakeside Lounge this Saturday, at the official Ichiban launch party. More details here.

Thanksgiving @ Last Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas, 1951

"Last Frontier Hotel. Las Vegas, Nevada. Thanksgiving. Las Vegas, Nev. -- Pretty Joan Manning didn't have the heart to kill this turkey at the Last Frontier Village so she decided to make a pet of it and eat hamburger for Thanksgiving." Via the USC archives.

Goin' Back to Swamp Guinea

I was all prepared to post "Been to Swamp Guinea" a week or so ago, but my current sporadic access to my computer (which should be resolved in about a month, I hope) allowed our Glorious and Benevolent Ringleader to scoop me. That said, I don't believe she has this. In the interest of strict accuracy, what is advertised here is not the original, long-defunct Athens location of the song, but their other, still-extant location a bit further north. I've only eaten there once, but I would recommend it. This particular ad is from a 1972 edition of the Anderson (SC) Daily Mail. Fun fact: the Daily Mail not only ran Criswell's column, their subsidiary, Droke House Press, was his hardcover publisher. I don't know how that occurred... Anderson is a long way from Hollywood!