An Extended Visitto a Third World Country

We consider our stay in Elgin, Texas an extended visit to a third world country.

French demographer Alfred Sauvy coined the term Third World In 1952. He divided the world into the Western Capitalist Camp, the Russian Commie Camp, and the other guys who played Russia against the USA for handouts. The Cold War is over, and definitions have changed. Steven Gillman, a collector and distributor of unique and interesting information, says Third World signifies poverty more than anything else.

But Elgin offers so much more than poverty. There are six hair salons in this town of 5,700 souls, and one of them, Lathers, offers manicures.

Mention Elgin to a Texan, and you will hear the words “Good Sausage!” Sausage, as we know, consists of pig intestines stuffed with ground animal parts masked by strong spices. Forget the facts. It tastes real good. Back in late 1800s, Herr Meyer left Germany and brought his recipe for smoked sausage to Texas. He passed the recipe to his son R.G.Meyer who opened the doors of Meyer’s Elgin Sausage Company in 1949.

World travelers know that Third World countries often have a unique and colorful culture. In Elgin, culture means two barbecue joints that vie with each other for the custom of the obese. (Hint: the link goes to the better.) It means tequila parties with open truck doors blaring an ersatz third world country’s music, rattling windows until three in the morning. It means that one can buy drugs in the middle of the street through the open windows of old 70s American cars.

The only thing that can compete with the monotonous mariachi baseline are the trains that rumble down the tracks, horns blaring at every crossing. They carry sausage, cotton seed oil, and bricks to Developed Nations

As one drives across the black dirt prairie towards Elgin, one sees cotton fields aplenty. Silas Chatfield built the first cotton gin here in 1878. A cottonseed oil plant opened 1906. It's still standing, and folks have said that it still operates.

The Southwestern Brick Institute crowned Elgin Brick Capital of the Southwest. The area boasts not one, not two, but three brick companies. We’ll let the Southwest Brick Institute, which is no longer in existence, tout the particulars:

1) Elgin Butler Company has been manufacturing and distributing quality architectural products since 1873, including Structural Glazed Brick and Tile, Architectural Trim Units, Ceramic Base Wall Units, Decorative Tile, Stone, and much more.

2) Acme Brick celebrated America’s birthday and Acme’s 116th year in a really big way – in fact over 9,000 pounds big. “Baby Clay” the World’s Biggest Brick” as confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records™ weighs in at over 6,000 pounds and is 116 inches long - that’s one inch each year Acme Brick has been in business.

3) Hanson Brick is North America's largest brick manufacturer with a total capacity of more than 1.7 billion bricks, although nobody is certain of how many of those bricks come from Elgin, as Hanson has facilities in six states and two Canadian provinces.

Dr. Phil came to Elgin in 2002. Andy says he called it the worst town in America. That is not true. He called it Anywhere USA. The idea was to portray small town America in decay. Dr. Phil interviewed people in town, then brought everybody together at the football stadium to let them know the score. He said they were failing their children. He trotted out his usual line of teen pregnancy, drug use, and bullying. He did not point to the decaying shacks, the barrios, and the ghetto that was a notch below the plight of sharecroppers who came to town after World War II. It's all still here. Mention Dr. Phil to anyone who has lived in Elgin for a while, and you will see a face contorted in anger; you’ll hear a string of epithets. Dr. Phil yanked the blanket, but he didn't fix anything.