9 Things the Rest of the World Needs to Thank Memphis For

Elvis , Beale St , barbecue … these are all amazing things that the cosmos should be thank us for . But Memphis has offered up a mass more to our planet , and it ’s about time our planet takes observation – and no , it’snotjust our musical achievement ( although there are many ) . So , for this listing , we decide to use some broad stroke to detail the truly fantastic contribution Memphis has made . To wit :

1. Color photography as an art form

William Eggleston did n’t make up color picture taking ; he just turned it into a formally recognize art form . How many people walked past that tricycle and saw nothing but a velocipede ? wad , credibly .

2. Overnight delivery

Everybody loves proprietary eponyms like " Xerox " and " Band - financial aid " and " Kleenex " , good ? Well , you could give thanks Memphis for impart to that list and thereby induce it possible to say , " Just FedEx the damn matter , " instead of , " Please be so tolerant as to have the item sent via overnight courier " . FedEx is one of many major corporations headquarter in Memphis and continues to save people ’s butts for miss - deadline and draw a blank birthdays .

3. St. Jude Hospital

Founded in 1962 by comedian Danny Thomas , St. Jude Children ’s Research Hospital is a humanity - renowned adeptness for the discourse and precaution of kid ’s fatal disease . Discoveries made at St. Jude ’s research shopping mall have completely changed how doctors cover children with malignant neoplastic disease and other ruinous unwellness . Since St. Jude was demonstrate , the survival charge per unit for puerility cancers has risen from 20 percent to 80 percent , while the survival of the fittest rate for acute lymphoblastic cancer of the blood , the most common eccentric of childhood cancer , has increase from 4 percent to 94 percent . Major win .

4. Rock ‘n’ Roll

Sam Phillips + Howlin ' Wolf + Carl Perkins + Jerry Lee Lewis + Johnny Cash + Elvis Presley = that powerful little affair the whole world require to give thanks Memphis for over and over and over again . You ’re all very welcome .

5. Court rulings that saved communities

It was cry Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe , 401 U.S. 402 ( 1971 ) . And it was where three little old lady in tennis shoes blocked the US Department of Transportation from ramp up an expressway through the midsection of a beautiful city Mungo Park . Did the workplace of those same ladies help establish a US Supreme Court precedent enable future grassroots activist all over the country to bar regretful government mind from bankrupt local community ? You betcha .

6. More bibs and moist towelettes

Originally design and grow solely for small children , bib and Wet - Naps are now THE requisite accessories for rib lovers everywhere , thanks to reality - celebrated – and earnestly messy – Memphis BBQ .

7. The Holiday Inn

Affordable and fair to middling roadside accommodations were concentrated to find in the pre - Yelp days of 1952 . Jokingly named for a Christmas cinema classic star Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby , Holiday Inn was founded by esteemed Memphian and hard - meat travel freak Kemmons Wilson . As Holiday Inns pop up across the country , frugal families could relax a flake , knowing that long road trip no longer had to admit sleeping in a ditch en route . Interesting side notation : one of Holiday Inn ’s early investor was another esteemed Memphian – one Sam Phillips .

8. Unisex salons

Barber / enterpriser Sam Ross created the world ’s first unisex hair beauty parlor in Memphis in 1974 . Sam came up with the idea for " Fantastic Sams , " a Samuel Barber workshop / hair’s-breadth salon where the whole family could get their ‘ do on , and then go along to franchise the living hell out of it . Suburban blow dryer and crimping atomic number 26 gross revenue volumes have been on the rise ever since ( not really ) .

9. The comedy classicI’m From Hollywood

Memphis in general , and local entertainer Jerry Lawler in particular , were the perfect foil Andy Kaufman require to take on off of in order of magnitude to create his comic masterpieceI’m from Hollywood . The film is a must - see for all fans of Andy ’s peculiar take on performance artwork , but perhaps a bit too upsetting for those who actually experience some variety of emotional connexion to that heroic giddiness curiously refer to as " professional hand-to-hand struggle . "

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Stacey Greenbergkeeps a generous supplying of Wet - Naps in her purse . She ’s the author of the award bring home the bacon blog , Dining with Monkeys .

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