Volunteer Traditions

You may remember my post back in December about the Southern state flag belts being sold Traditional State/Volunteer Traditions. While I recommended the products back then, I hadn't actually put my hands on any of them. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Mason, the founder of the company, offered to send me a few of their products to check out for myself. While they had previously been selling their products under both the names "Volunteer Traditions" and "Traditional State," they recently decided to consolidate things and sell them all under the (original) name "Volunteer Traditions." While there is always the threat of isolating potential non-Tennessee SEC, as I told Mason, I think that it was wise move and that "Volunteer Traditions" is a solid name. The products for states other than Tennessee are sold under their new "Heritage Line."

Mason sent me one of their new Georgia flag hats, an Alabama belt (I went to school in Alabama), as well as a pair of Croakies and a koozie (that's a whole nother post, though). I know that Daryl from Southern Gent and Jay from Red Clay Soul recently talked about how good their products are, but really, once I got my hands on them, I was impressed.

The belts are made by Leather Man Ltd., who, in my opinion, make the best emblematic belts on the market, and these are certainly no exception. The backing is khaki-colored, and looks really good with khakis. Also, the flags are slightly bigger than the flags on another flag belt I have, and I think this makes them look even better. The hat is probably where I was most impressed. While I am not a big "hat guy," I do own my fair share and wear them from time to time. While Jay noted on his post that the hats are not too shallow, I would like to point out, that the hat is not too deep either (that being my number one complaint about a lot of hats). In fact, I would say that the hat is the Goldilocks of hats, and is basically just right. The koozie and Croakies are both solid as well, and I've got to say that I really like the dog logo on the koozie.

If you haven't looked at the Volunteer Tradition website in a while, be sure to pay it a visit. They have expanded their offerings, and from what I have tried out, they are solid. Also, their prices are still very good. While Mason didn't indicate whether they have any other states in the works, here's to hoping.

Wickles: The most delicious pickles. Ever.

I am not a big pickle fan. For the first 20 or so years of my life I would make every effort to remove any pickles that happened to sneak their way onto my sandwiches, or would specifically ask for them to be left off. For the last five or six years, though, I have begun to embrace pickles, even going so far as to add them to my food sometime. Still, I'm not a huge fan.

That is, until my friends in Birmingham, Abby and Jane, introduced me to Wickles pickles. Like so many other good things, Wickles are made in Alabama (Dadeville, to be specific) and while they seem innocuous at first, a closer inspection will reveal chopped garlic and two chili peppers floating in the brine. It is those chili peppers that give Wickles their kick--a nice touch of heat that comes after the initial sweetness. While they certainly add a lot to sandwiches, hamburgers, and likely to tuna salad, Wickles are good enough to eat on their own (even for non-pickle lovers like me).

While the Wickles company has a whole line of products, including pickle relish, red pepper relish, pepper strips, banana pepper strips, and pickled okra, I have only tried the pickles at this point, though I would certainly like to try the others. In fact, if the good people at Wickles would like to ship me a gift pack, or a 64 oz. jar of regular Wickles, I would certainly be obliged to give them a taste.

Although I have no looked extensively, I have so far only been able to find Wickles pickles in Birmingham. I've been to two Publixes (Publices?) in Atlanta that had some of their other products, but not the pickles. Fortunately, all of their products are available on their website, and the pickles are just $4.95 a jar. If you remotely like sweet pickles, I highly suggest giving these a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Blog of Note: Miss Magnolia

I will admit that I was not familiar with Miss Stallings' blog, Miss Magnolia, until she started commenting on some of my posts, but I am quite happy to have found it.

Hailing from Montgomery, Alabama, and currently a student at my alma mater, Samford University in Birmingham, Miss Stallings' blog has the Southern prep thing down to a tee, but not in an obnoxious way. I think that I'm mostly just jealous of her blog's excellent layout (and with Blogger, nonetheless), so hopefully some of her design and formatting skills will rub off on me. I am adding her to my blog roll and think that her blog will add a good, but feminine, perspective. I hope you'll agree.

Game Time

The real national championship game.

Southern States Flag Belts

Are you a Southern who's jealous of your South Carolina friends always sporting their South Carolina flag belts? Well, it's finally your turn.

A hat tip to Greg at Manifold Destiny for this one, Tennesee-based company Traditional State makes belts, dog collars, and other products featuring the state flags of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. These are definitely going on my Christmas list. Check them out below.

Alabama

Georgia

Mississippi

Tennessee

Texas