A nostalgic weekend in Tupelo

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI)- From burgers to cars. It is a weekend for nostalgia in Tupelo.

During the 1920s Dudies Diner was a Memphis Street Car until Dudie Christian purchased it and opened Dudies Diner in 1946. It became an iconic gathering place for the Tupelo community.

“Dudies Diner was one of the hot spots for the teenage crowd. It was Donna’s Grill, the A&W, Little Joe’s, Cloverleaf, of course on Friday and Saturday night we just made the loop between ’em. Dudie opened about 5 O’Clock in the morning, and they stayed open until 12 o’clock at night. I met a couple today, their date on Saturday nights, they lived in Pontotoc, and they’d come to Tupelo. That was the highlight of the weekend, eating at Dudies Diner,” said Harry Collins.

And of course, the signature item of the menu was the Dudie Burger which is recreated every year here at the Dudie Burger Festival.

“The Dudie Burger is actually a hamburger made of a little bit of meat, a whole lot of flour, some water, salt, and pepper. And this was during the depression they made this to stretch the meal out because money was tight back then. Of course, they had a regular hamburger too, but he was known for his Dudie Burger,” said Collins.

If you lived here in Tupelo in the late 1950s or early 1960s and wanted to head over to Dudies Diner, you may done so in one of the vehicles behind me, an Edsel. And this weekend Edsel owners from all over the United States are here in Tupelo for a weekend of nostalgia.

The International Edsel Club started in 1969, and this year Tupelo is getting to host its annual convention.

Larry Stegall of Pontotoc owns two Edsels, which were made by Ford for three years 1958, 59, and 60, but proved to be bust at the time. He says people didn’t like the front grill, which looked like an old horse collar, and there were a lot of problems with the push-button electric power automatic transmissions.

“Back when the cars were relatively new, at one time dealers couldn’t rid of them, if you go to trade it in dealers wouldn’t give you anything for a trade value. And it just kind of became synonymous with the word failure. I’ve heard tales of people actually hide their cars because they didn’t want people to know they actually bought an Edsel. So it just kind of became a joke for years,” said Stegall.

But now owners gather to watch old commercials and videos featuring Edsels and eagerly bid on parts at an auction during the convention.