Chuck Middlekauff

Who Let The Dog Out?, 2021
Acrylic on Canvas
30 x 40 x 1.50 in
$3,500
Inquire
This great sign, misspelled words and all, decorates the front of a classic, famous little diner in downtown Macon, Georgia that's been around since the early 1900's. The colors were fun, the misspellings were fun, and the images were fun. I added the hotdog for fun. If someone wonders when they'll let us all out, this is a reminder that some dogs are already out, and fun is fun! - Inside, too.

Here's the story of the little diner:

In 1914, James Mallis immigrated to Macon from Greece and bought the original storefront on Cotton Avenue. At the time, it was just a fruit stand, sort of like a sandwich shop. But when he saw that hot dogs were the rage in New York, Chicago and other northern cities, he converted it to a hot dog stand in 1916. Established the same year as Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand in New York City, Nu-Way is the second oldest hot dog restaurant in the United States.

Thanks to the misplacing of a few vowels by a local sign-maker, Nu-Way has intentionally misspelled W-E-I-N-E-R on its marquee since 1937.