The History Behind Cracker Barrel's Iconic Gift Shop

If you need some respite from road travel, a hearty meal, and a few souvenirs, everyone knows the one place that'll provide all that and more: Cracker Barrel. With its long front porch lined with rockers perfect for lounging in, the restaurant and gift shop chain is like a beacon along the United States' highways. All of the more than 600 national Cracker Barrel locations signal a rest stop for weary road trippers.

While the flapjacks and fried chicken are undeniably delicious and are sure to scratch that comfort food itch, let's be honest. Browsing the Old Country Store is the best part of any trip to Cracker Barrel. You have to take a quick jog through it to get to the dining room, but passing by the jam-packed displays will provide you with plenty of ideas for goodies to snag after your meal on your way out. Whether you're grabbing a couple hard candy sticks to snack on or a rocking chair for your own front porch, there's plenty to buy in the iconic gift shop, and it's got an interesting backstory too.

Nowadays, whenever you hear the words "cracker" and "barrel" alongside one another, an image of a restaurant resembling an old general store with a long front porch comes to mind. But the name of the iconic chain dotting America's interstates actually comes from a feature of small-town shops of yore. Throughout the early 1900s, country stores would have soda crackers shipped to them in large wooden barrels. These vessels helped prevent the crackers from getting crushed in transit, but they also served as a gathering place as customers would hang around them to chat with one another.

Mosey on up to any Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and you're sure to spot those barrels. Though you won't be finding any soda crackers inside to munch on, the barrels still serve as a gathering spot for customers. Cracker Barrel uses them as checkerboard tables for patrons to play a friendly game while they wait for a table.

Though today there are plenty of gas stations, shops, restaurants, and even roadside attractions along the nation's major highways, that wasn't always the case. The Interstate Highway System was still in its adolescence when Dan Evins had an idea to accommodate exhausted road trippers. More than 50 years ago, Evins founded the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in Lebanon, Tenn. — a suburb about 30 miles east of Nashville.

Both a comforting slice of home and a one-stop-shop for travelers, Evins opened the very first Cracker Barrel on September 19, 1969 along Highway 109. Customers could drop in for some wholesome, home-style Southern food like turnip greens and biscuits and gravy (though now there are a variety of other tasty hidden gems at Cracker Barrel). Before or after eating, guests could browse the gift shop for road trip supplies and souvenirs. And after your belly was full, you could make sure your gas tank was, too.

Yep, that's right. While patrons today know and love them as quintessential roadside restaurants and gift shops, the first Cracker Barrels used to sell gas as well. Before striking out on his own, Evins was a Shell Oil salesman and he transferred those skills to his shiny new business venture, but just a few short years later, the Oil Shock of the mid-1970s rocked the United States. With the price of oil nearly quadrupling and consumers feeling the impacts, Evins and his investors (who, by that time, had opened more than a dozen locations throughout the American South) decided to close their gas pumps.

Though eliminating gasoline meant Cracker Barrel was losing one of the three key components that made it the one-stop-shop Evins envisioned when he founded the company in 1969, the move worked out in his favor. The company shifted its focus toward the business model's two remaining elements: the restaurant and the gift shop.

Though after the oil crisis tourists would have to look elsewhere to fill up their gas tanks, Cracker Barrel still remained a road tripping mainstay as Evins pivoted toward enhancing the restaurant menu and growing the gift shop. Even without gasoline, Cracker Barrel's business still skyrocketed. In 1977 it had 13 locations, but by 1997 it had over 300.

To this day, the two major components of every Cracker Barrel location are inextricably linked. They've become a package deal — you'll always see the gift shop and restaurant together, and you have to pass through one to get to the other. Patrons have come to know and love this setup. And as for those weary road trippers needing a place to relax for a bit? The chain is staying true to its roots, with Cracker Barrel serving a huge number of travelers. Of its 230 million annual customers, about 40% of them are travelers.

Stepping into a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store can feel like stepping back in time, and that's exactly the intention. Throughout the gift shop and restaurant, you're sure to spot decor that looks straight out of your grandmother's (or maybe even your great-grandmother's) house. Ranging from old photographs and posters to vintage cast iron skillets and everything in between, each Cracker Barrel location averages between 950 and 1,000 antiques, and every item is authentic.

In 1969, when Cracker Barrel was founded, Evins turned to local Lebanon, Tenn. antique dealers Don and Kathleen Singleton to help bring his vision to life. The Singletons sourced bonafide antiques for Evins in order to give the very first location the right atmosphere. Eventually, the Singletons were brought on as full-time designers and Cracker Barrel established its own 26,000 square-foot decor warehouse. Decorating responsibilities moved to Don and Kathleen's son Larry Singleton in 1979, who served as chief picker until retiring in 2019.

Each Cracker Barrel location is also uniquely decorated in a way that relates to the community it's situated in. These regional antiques reflect the area's key characteristics — like the sock-themed pieces in Fort Payne, Ala., the city known as the Sock Capital of the World. But regardless of the specific pieces, every Old Country Store is accessorized in just the right nostalgia-inducing manner.

Though the antiques may differ from location to location, there are five items you're sure to find in every single Cracker Barrel. One of those signature items is a cookstove, and many stores use it as a gift shop display. The cookstove helps evoke that old-timey feel so many Cracker Barrel fans have some to expect and appreciate.

That cozy, throwback atmosphere is enhanced by the other four key pieces. When you walk in the front door, look up. There you'll see an ox yoke (a special piece of equipment designed to allow a pair of oxen to pull farming equipment), which is commonly nailed above Southern barn doors. And above every front door exterior, you'll find a horseshoe — a symbol of good luck. When you enter the dining room, keep an eye out for a deer head. It'll be hanging above the fireplace. And lastly, the glowing traffic light will be pointing you to the restrooms.

Cracker Barrel's undeniably homey feeling extends beyond the decor to many of the iconic gift shop's offerings. Walk into any Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and you'll find a huge display of sweet snacks with classics like crispy, crunchy peanut brittle and soft, chewy pecan logs. But at $0.35 cents each, the hard candy sticks are a beloved treat of Cracker Barrel patrons nationwide. With flavors ranging from root beer to lemon to peppermint, there's a variety that'll suit just about anyone's palate, and that affordable price tag encourages customers to stock up to try a few different kinds.

The restaurant chain lovingly calls these oh-so-nostalgic sweets "thin sticks," and they're a gift shop staple. The Old Country Store sells more than 13 million of those five-inch wands of sugar annually. This makes the hard candy one of the chain's best-selling retail items, along with rocking chairs and apparel for women.

Beyond classic candy and other consumables like the iconic pancake syrup and biscuit mix, the Cracker Barrel gift shop also offers everything from souvenirs and knickknacks to clothes and accessories to furniture. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has roughly 6,000 retail SKUs, and that merchandise is always evolving. It updates its gift shops' seasonal displays about 40 times annually to ensure customers are seeing new products.

Nevertheless, there are a few quintessential Cracker Barrel items that will always remain on store shelves regardless of season, like the classic (but sometimes infuriating) peg game — the little wooden triangle where you try to jump one peg over the other until only one remains. The Old Country Store sells more than 300,000 of them each year.

The front porch rocking chairs aren't just for lounging on while you wait for your table — you can buy one for yourself. Cracker Barrel sells roughly 70,000 of them each year. The Hinkle Chair Company, which has been making rocking chairs for almost two centuries, made the restaurant chain's first rockers and still provides them for the Old Country Store today.

With Cracker Barrels being fixtures along the interstate, it's not surprising that you can't find the restaurant chain in a crowded, bustling city like the Big Apple. Nonetheless, New Yorkers still had a hankering for its undeniable Southern charm, so in honor of its 50th anniversary, Cracker Barrel debuted a 269 square-foot replica at the 2019 Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade. Included in the reproduction were the iconic front porch rocking chairs, cozy dining room fireplace, and, of course, the gift shop.

While spectators near and far got to see the replica in the televised parade, New Yorkers actually had the opportunity to step inside the tiny Cracker Barrel when it was parked in Foley Square the day prior. Though New Yorkers itching for some cornbread or catfish might have been disappointed to see that the 269 square-foot Cracker Barrel wasn't slinging any of its home-style cooking, the small yet operational gift shop undoubtedly made up for it. There, customers could browse and purchase nostalgia-laden knickknacks, treats, gifts, and more.

Unfortunately, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store hasn't made a permanent home in New York City. There are, however, well over 600 locations in operation, including a handful in New York State. But there are a few states in the U.S. without a Cracker Barrel.

If you're in the mood for some of that Cracker Barrel goodness but can't make it out to an Old Country Store, fret not. Since 2013 it has been selling licensed products at grocery stores. Just know that if you're browsing the dairy aisle, you're in the wrong place. The Cracker Barrel restaurant doesn't have any relation to the cheese brand. In fact, products from the beloved chain will actually be found under the name "CB Old Country Store" rather than the moniker it's commonly known by because Kraft Foods, who owns the Cracker Barrel cheese brand (which dates back to 1954), sued the restaurant chain citing trademark infringement.

Nonetheless, it might be easier to head to the Cracker Barrel website to have those gift shop goodies shipped directly to you. The online Old Country Store features a solid grocery section with highlights like Cracker Barrel's distinctive spiced apple butter, and it's also got collections full of the same candy, home decor, and apparel you'll see in person.