Garden + Gun

[false_aesthetic]

About 6 months ago Garden and Gun started arriving in my mailbox (along with muscle and fitness--I did not order either).

I generally don't like the magazine (I think its tagline should read, "A magazine that celebrates the rich, white family for the rich, white family by rich, white families." I think I've only seen 6 people of color in all the issues I've received. I'm also a half hispanic art teacher working in the CalState higher-ed system so I recognize a lot of the stuff the magazine celebrates just goes over my head by a lot) HOWEVER, the current issue kind've rocks.

"The Ultimate Biscuit Stop"
"The Secret to Perfect Pickles"
"The South's Finest Gun Engraver"
"The Creative Class: Introducing the South's new tastemakers"
"The Arbiter of Taste" (about Van Winkle bourbon)

AND

4 black people made it into the magazine!


I just finished reading the magazine and realized that I want a biscuit, an engraved gun, a $500 bottle of bourbon and a hunting dog. I think I could get all of that stuff here at Rosco's Chicken and Waffels (though the quality won't be the same).


Cheers!

[Ben]

G&G is my favorite magazine not named The Atlantic.

Don't take this the wrong way, but you're not their target demographic. Not because you're half hispanic, but because you don't live in, or pine for, the American South. The entire magazine rests on the assumption that its reader does.

Having been a subscriber for a couple of years now, I'm a little perplexed by your comments about the "whiteness" of the magazine. Off the top of my head, I recall articles about food, music, business, art and a couple of other topics that featured black folks. I like G&G expressly because it's not some lily-white garden party, but fully inhabits the South I know.

If you've been getting the mag for six months, that's what? Three issues? Give it another chance. I think it's magnificent but then again, I'm its target demo. Rouleur is great, too, but I wouldn't expect a non-cyclist to share my enthusiasm for it.

(Oh, and I have a bottle of 20-year-old Pappy and have drunk the 23. It's every bit as good as advertised. You can routinely buy a 750 of the 20 for about a hundred bucks. It is rare as hen's teeth but can be had if you know who to ask. I've never seen the 23 for less than $275, which I think is preposterous.)

[false_aesthetic]

Ben,

I totally own up for not being G+G's target audience (I included the half-hispanic part more for humor than for serious) and to only reading it for a short while. I didn't intend my post to be a knock against the culture/history behind the magazine so if I offended, I apologize. I do, however, think that minorities *seemed* to be underrepresented in my handful of copies (yes, its only a handful and I admit to the flaw in this).

Regardless, I am quite impressed with this issue. And, if the following issues are this good, I'll probably continue to subscribe.

Cheers brah

[DG62]

I'm kinda of a fan of G&G myself. The target demographic is definitely affluent and southern. I don't subscribe, but occassionally, they have great covers and articles of hunting dogs which I can't resist.

Dave

[Ben]

F_A,
I apologize if what I write came across as abrasive or butt hurt - I certainly didn't mean for it to, but upon re-reading it, I sure see how it would have. Mea Culpa. And I certainly didn't take what you write as a knock on the south itself.
Cheers,
B

[robin3mj]

I subscribe, and am on my 2nd issue after discovering the G&G website. (I travel a lot for work, so I subscribe to a fair number of magazines, using air miles of the airlines I don't accumulate many points with.)

As a kid from Jersey, I'm not their target demo either but I like the food articles and dog photos, mainly.
When my family sees it on my coffee table, I tell them it's basically Coastal Living with recipes for fried green tomatoes, but really it's less about "This is how I want my house to appearto the rest of the world" than "This is the lifestyle I would live if I had it all dialed."

[Brandon White]

(Oh, and I have a bottle of 20-year-old Pappy and have drunk the 23. It's every bit as good as advertised. You can routinely buy a 750 of the 20 for about a hundred bucks. It is rare as hen's teeth but can be had if you know who to ask. I've never seen the 23 for less than $275, which I think is preposterous.)

A restaurant in Miami has 15, 20, and 23. I ordered a 15 - but they claimed they were fresh out (hard to believe - I'm sure they either don't buy it any longer or never restocked it given the crowd there). I wasn't going to pay $25 for a serving of 20 year or $45 for a serving of 23. I ended up drinking something else that gave me a horrible hangover.

[Ben]

A restaurant in Miami has 15, 20, and 23. I ordered a 15 - but they claimed they were fresh out (hard to believe - I'm sure they either don't buy it any longer or never restocked it given the crowd there). I wasn't going to pay $25 for a serving of 20 year or $45 for a serving of 23. I ended up drinking something else that gave me a horrible hangover.

I dunno. I can absolutely see a bar being really thrilled to get 3-4 fifths a year. Availability seems to be inversely proportional to your distance from Kentucky. In a place with as much money and ego as Miami (and I say that as someone who really likes Miami) it's not hard to imagine those few bottles getting snapped up in a hurry. And once it's gone, it's really, truly gone until the next shipment comes in six months.

[Matthew Strongin]

I dunno. I can absolutely see a bar being really thrilled to get 3-4 fifths a year. Availability seems to be inversely proportional to your distance from Kentucky. In a place with as much money and ego as Miami (and I say that as someone who really likes Miami) it's not hard to imagine those few bottles getting snapped up in a hurry. And once it's gone, it's really, truly gone until the next shipment comes in six months.

In my experience, Miami's not really a bourbon town. You're right about the money and ego (no need to qualify the comment either, that would make many in Miami proud), but I don't know if great, obscure bourbon is what people here go for...at least in my experience. I've been here most of my life, but I don't hit the bars like I used to, so maybe things have changed.

[Brandon White]

In my experience, Miami's not really a bourbon town. You're right about the money and ego (no need to qualify the comment either, that would make many in Miami proud), but I don't know if great, obscure bourbon is what people here go for...at least in my experience. I've been here most of my life, but I don't hit the bars like I used to, so maybe things have changed.

I think this is accurate. I personally don't know anyone that drinks bourbon here. There are a few places that claim to have a great selection - but they also have a healthy selection of beers which most people will choose. Where the money flows liberally in Miami - they still lean towards vodka or scotch or champagne. Hell - the people we were out with ordered champagne. I may never go back to place I went to last weekend - but if I do - I'm asking for the Pappy again.


Now anyway - I'll have to check out this G&G rag.

[beeatnik]

Wait, so does this publication feature firearms? Or is "Gun" southern slang for home? Fascinated...

[BCS]

Wait, so does this publication feature firearms? Or is "Gun" southern slang for home? Fascinated...

It is an inside reference to a 1970's disco in Charleston, SC--the Garden and Gun Club.

[rowdyhillrambler]

I really love the magazine, we were actually at one of the photo shoots a couple of years ago for an article on a kennel a friend of ours owns. The latest issue has an article on Knoxville, and there is an insert for an Bakery that my wife helped start 12 years ago. The article is about Magpies in Knoxville, the owner Peg used to be in a band called the Judybats. About every issue has somewhere or something that is closed to my heart..

This being said, i recall several articles and quite a few photos of people of color, (other than whitish-pink). You ever read a bicycle magazine, i would dare say there are more photos of different backgrounded people in G@G.

Also, it is a magazine that would probably appeal to alot of folks on here.. Seems crazy to spend $2k on a handmade knife or $8k on a shotgun, however, tell someone you spent $8000 on your last bike.. Its all relative, and G@G is pretty relative to my life.. I like Sweet Tea, bourbon, i raise beagles to rabbit hunt with, and i enjoy my home.

[justinf]

I actually really like the magazine too. Decent enough musical taste, excellent sourcing of foodie info, presentation is interesting. They get certain elements of southern culture that were entirely absent in a cultured media sense. I subscribe and have enjoyed most every issue this year. It's not punk rock, but any particular genre is annoying in a vacuum.

[ned]

We gave my wife's parents a subscription. Her dad is an avid duck hunter, cooks a wicked jambalaya, and drinks really expensive scotch. Her mom is a southern lady happiest at the beach club. They are rich. They are white. They were really psyched to get the subscription.

[mumbleypeg]

The Oxford American has some criticism G&G Me With a Buccellati Silver Spoon! The OA Editor Objects to Media-Falsifications of the South :: Oxford American - The Southern Magazine of Good Writing

[Scott G.]

Seems crazy to spend $2k on a handmade knife or $8k on a shotgun,

Sounds like G&G is like the budget version of "Double Gun Journal".