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A Lowcountry Life
Working for Peanuts
Written by Devin Grant
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Photo by Charleston Picture Company
Anthony Wright has become the stuff of Lowcountry Legend peddling a southern favorite.
Anthony Wright, the man known throughout the Lowcountry and across the nation as Tony the Peanut Man, never intended to make his living selling boiled goobers. After being laid off from Lockheed Aerospace when that company downsized, a chance meeting with Marion Hayward (who had trained legendary peanut vendor Ben Campbell in the art of pushing peanuts) in the unemployment line set the wheels in motion that eventually led Wright to start selling peanuts. Soon after, Tony the Peanut Man was born.
Wright has gone on to transcend his chosen vocation, becoming a motivational speaker, festival organizer, and an ambassador for the Lowcountry. His rhyme of “Got some boiled, got some roasted, got some stewed, got some toasted!” is familiar to anyone who has spent time in the Charleston City Market. In addition to appearing on Good Morning America and Bill Cosby’s You Bet Your Life, Wright is getting ready to release a comic book that crosses his persona with that of a superhero. These days Wright makes his home in the Maryville neighborhood in West Ashley mere blocks from where he grew up.
Q: Tell me about your parents.
Wright: My father, William Farison, he was a brick mason. He was one of the best brick masons in Summerville, and they talk so much about him now. He used to go to work and he used to wear a three-piece suit. That’s what they tell me; that he used to wear a three-piece suit, and he used to bet [his co-workers] that not one drop of cement would get on his suit. That’s how good he was. I never knew him. My mother and father got divorced, and he died between 46 and 47 years old. My mother got married again to Alonzo Rouse. He was the one who put structure in me. My mother, Virginia Rouse, worked at the Dairy Royal, this ice cream parlor in Avondale run by Roy Hart. Roy Hart was a magnificent man. One time this man came up, and he didn’t want [my mother] to serve him because she was black. Mr. Hart told him, “Hey, if she can’t serve you, then you got to leave.” To me [Hart] broke the [racial] barrier here in Charleston. He hired a lot of blacks, and paid them [fairly]. My mother worked for him for $25 a week during that period of time [the early ’60s] and bought her own house here in Maryville. Paid cash for it. She died two years ago.
Q: What memories do you have from growing up in the Lowcountry?
Wright: My nickname was “Mutt,” because I had big ears. I was always doing crazy things. I guess you could say I was dysfunctional or hyperactive. They tell me I was the baddest kid in the area. We used to hunt in this area all the time. It wasn’t like the area is now. Coming off of Playground Road, all of that used to be fields. We used to have bb guns and pea-shooters that we’d make. Those were magnificent times. The time that I’ll never forget: my mother was in the backyard, and she had a .38. She was shooting in the backyard, and I said “Mama, why are you shooting in the backyard?” She said, “I’m a single woman living in this house, and I want anyone coming in to know what they’re going to get.”
Q: If someone was considering a visit to the Lowcountry, why would you tell them to come?
Wright: Because of the people, and how [they] get along together now. When you mention the Lowcountry, you talk about the Southern hospitality, a smile – everybody’s giving you a smile. There’s just something about Charleston, it has that little niche, and everybody wants to come [here]. When I go out there, I like to give [tourists] that Southern hospitality, make them feel at home, make them feel comfortable.
Q: When they open the Peanut Hall of Fame someday, who would you nominate for induction?
Wright: If I had to nominate somebody, I would nominate Mr. Marion Hayward. The next person I would nominate would be Mr. Ben Campbell. But the main person I’d put in the Peanut Hall of Fame would be George Washington Carver, because of all the things that he has done. I don’t think that he is getting the recognition that should be given him. Last, I think I would put my mother in there.
Q: You’ve had your share of the spotlight, appearing on Good Morning America and with Bill Cosby on You Bet Your Life. When Hollywood finally makes Peanut Man: The Movie, who would you like to see play you?
Wright: I don’t know. My favorite actor is Denzel Washington. As a younger version [of me], I’d get Will Smith.
Lowcountry Living is a bi-monthly magazine of The Post and Courier, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, S.C. 29403-4800. Copyright 2007 by The Post and Courier.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without express written permission from The Post and Courier. Printed by R.L. Bryan, Columbia, S.C. Click here to email the editor
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