By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — It’s Saturday afternoon and I’m wandering the vendors at Spring in the Hollow when I decide to pop into one of my favorite Lynchburg Square shops, The Moon Pie General Store. My niece’s birthday is right around the corner, and I never fail to find something inside that she’ll love.

Not only is the charming storefront packed with Moon Pies of just about every flavor you can imagine, but it’s also filled with candy-by-the-piece, vintage toys, candles, and, of course, authentic Moon Pie merch. They also always carry the seasonal flavors like coconut, lemon, blueberry, and though it’s not my favorite, pumpkin spice, in the fall.

The Lynchburg location is one of just three brick-and-mortar storefronts in the state. The other two are in Chattanooga and Pigeon Forge.

{EDITOR’S NOTE: The Shop Local Spotlight Series seeks to highlight all the local, small businesses here in Lynchburg and the surrounding counties. It’s brought to you by our community partners at First Community Bank of Moore County. Please support the local small businesses that support your community newspaper.}

The RC Cola & Moon Pie Tradition

Out of curiosity, I decided to research the brand and discovered that on April 29, the made-in-America, Tennessee-founded brand will celebrate its 108 birthday, which is no small feat in today’s every-changing retail landscape. Today, they continue to be made by Chattanooga Bakery, Inc. – a privately-held, family-owned bakery.

The Moon Pie is a simple concept. Take two graham crackers, fill in with marshmallow, and dip it in chocolate or other flavors. It’s become a quintessential southern food with entire festivals built around it like the RC Moon Pie Festival in nearby Bell Buckle, which happens on the third Saturday of each June.

The festival celebrates the custom of eating Moon Pies with an RC Cola – another southern brand founded in Columbus, Georgia in 1905 – as a sort of working man’s lunch. In a scene in the 1999 film, The Green Mile, the character Toot-Toot drinks a glass bottle of RC Cola and opens his Moon Pie, when a death row inmate named Wild Bill offers him a nickel for it.

Interestingly, scenes at the warden’s house in The Green Mile were shot on location at the Dr. Ambrose Parks House located between Lynchburg in Shelbyville on U.S. Highway 82. The filmmakers added an extension to the right side of the house for the filming and later removed it, according to Experience Tennessee. Dr. Parks’ wife, Nancy Walker, was a native of Lynchburg.

The movie was also filmed at the Tennessee State Prison in Nashville, the Cone Manor in North Carolina, and other locations in Tennessee, including Columbia and Lancaster. 

Devoted to Quality Over Profits

According to company lore, they came up with the idea for Moon Pies when a traveling salesman for the company asked a Kentucky coal miner what kind of snack he would like to eat, and the miner requested something with graham crackers and marshmallows. Apparently, the miner asked that the snack be “as big as the moon” which inspired the name.

At the time, The Chattanooga Bakery produced over 100 different items, but at a nickel each, the Moon Pie soon earned a reputation as an affordable, filling snack. By the 1930s, local factory workers boxed up hundreds of Moon Pies a day. During World War II, the bakery sent thousands of Moon Pies to the front lines to bring a little comfort food during the fight.

Since then, they’ve innovated with flavors like strawberry, mint, salted caramel, vanilla, and banana as well as new sizes like mini Moon Pies and double-decker varieties. The Lynchburg location sell individual Moon Pies that you can mix and match into custom assortments of your favorites.

Not only are Moon Pies proudly made-in-Tennessee, the company seems devoted to quality over profits. In 2017, as part of its centennial celebration, they returned to their original recipe and replaced problematic high-fructose corn sugar with real cane sugar and removed all preservatives and artificial flavor.

Whether you are a local looking for a fun dessert idea – Moon Pies and Jack Daniel’s anyone – or a visitor searching for a made-in-Tennessee treat, don’t forget to shop local and visit The Moon Pie General Store located on the Lynchburg Square. You can learn more about them on their Facebook Page or website. •

{The Lynchburg Times is a non-partisan, locally owned and locally operated community newspaper in Lynchburg, Tennessee and one of the few women-owned newspapers in the state. It’s owned by a native and Tulane University-educated journalist with over 20 years of experience. It’s supported by both readers and community partners who believe in independent journalism for the common good. You can support us by clicking here. }