In Memoriam. The King is Dead (as of 2001)

I have been reminded that Ollie's, formerly the omphalos of the barbecue world, its Delphi, its Jerusalem, its city on the hill, is no more. It closed ten years ago, shortly after fleeing to Pelham, Alabama (which is where Thornton's was located -- it too, I assume, has passed).  My sister gave me a bottle of what purports to be Ollie's Barbecue Sauce, a few years ago, so the name survives in some form.  But barbecue is not a sauce and it cannot be bottled.  My good friend John Tanner sent me a photo of the interior, circa 1965.  It was taken just after the 9-0 loss Ollie suffered in the landmark case of Katzenbach v McClung, in US Supreme Court.  That case is noted for its expansive interpretation of the Commerce Clause, and it (rather than section five of the XIVth amendment) was held to be a valid basis for the 1964 Civil Rights Act (the public accommodations part of which Ollie McClung flagrantly violated).  It is sobering and saddening to think that Katzenbach v McClung might soon go the way of Ollie's itself.