Record #:

20984

Author(s):

Burns, Bobby

Abstract:

Jack Cobb began selling barbecue out of his car in Farmville in Pitt County because he knew that in the 1940s, a black-owned business would have a hard time becoming successful. So, he and his son Rudy filled his car with barbecue plates and drove all over town selling them for 65 cents. In 1971, Cobb and his son built a cinder-block storefront in Farmville, but because of racial turmoil during the 1960s, it did not have a dining room. Still, people came to buy. Jack Cobb died in 1989, and Rudy, now 72, continues his father's traditional pit-cooked barbecue over charcoal, oak, and pecan wood.

Source:

Our State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 81 Issue 6, Nov 2013, p61-62, 64, il Periodical Website

Subject(s):

Barbecue cookery--Farmville; Family-owned business enterprises--Farmville; Cobb, Jack, d. 1989