Growing
up, our house was essentially a B&M baked beans house.
There
shouldn’t be much of a surprise in that, if there actually should
there be any surprise in what brand of baked beans you use. (Look,
it’s baked beans, we’re not talking about Coca-Cola or Skippy.
I’m picking something lowkey for a reason.)
B&M
is essentially a New England mainstay. We lived in New England.
Done and done.
Baked
beans in general go back about two hundred years, depending on
the sources you use for your culinary history and the definitions
that would classify baked beans. The B&M company goes back
about one-hundred-fifty years, adding baked beans to their lineup
after several years in business. Today, it is a well-established,
Maine based, multi-generational, regional tradition.
That’s
enough basic history about B&M. There’s not much more you
need for the story to connect to where we intend to head. All
we need to do is add one product: brown bread. And just like that,
we move along…
Lots
of companies make baked beans. Because of exactly what we’re looking
for, only one company makes brown bread. As it turns out, that
one company also makes baked beans. You shouldn’t be surprised
to hear that it’s B&M.
When
we moved out of New England, the availability of B&M products
became quite limited. Even though we remain in the northeast,
when I say limited, I basically mean non-existent. Of the four
grocery store chains with locations within thirty-minutes of our
house, only one stocks B&M baked beans. And just the baked
beans options from the company. No brown bread. If you’re making
a hot dog and bean casserole, the whole thing is incomplete without
a can of brown bread to serve with it. With or without raisins,
your choice, a can of brown bread is pretty much a necessity.
(Yes, I’m trying to stress the can part of the brown bread idea
to make a point. A loaf of just any dark bread is not the same
thing. And with some folks rolling their eyes at the idea of a
can of bread, this journey involving hot dogs and beans might
need to be wrapped up and shifted into different examples.)
I’m
going to guess many of you have moved. I’m also going to guess
that if you moved a decent distance, the shopping has had some
nightmarish elements to it. You’re used to certain brand names.
From those names, you’ve come to expect certain packaging. You
didn’t have to demand variety and quality, since you understood
what you were getting when you looked at the shelf and found the
exact assortment anticipated will be there.
And
then you moved.
Nothing
like arriving in another state and suddenly being unable to find
what you want.
Not
sure exactly what I mean? Ok… let’s adjust to thoughts about a
couple of regional legends. Imagine you love In-And-Out Burger
or Del’s Lemonade… that you want to head to an Iceberg Drive Inn
or Skyline Chili… you can’t just hop in the car and arrive at
your craving in ten to twenty minutes in every city from coast
to coast. You’re going to need… and I’m sorry to say it… you’re
going to need to go without. Or, find an alternative. (I know…
as if.)
But
this isn’t about tasty burgers and shakes towering over the top
of the cup. It began looking at your own, personal, home pantry.
Technology
is an amazing thing. You can pretty much get just about any product
shipped to you. The problem is, there are three words missing
from that sentence, so let’s try it again. You can pretty much
get just about any product shipped to you, for a price.
Truly
incredible to see the costs of having cans of groceries delivered
to your door. If it has free shipping options, the cost is likely
so far above the norm that you’ll feel like you need to have your
credit checked in order to apply for a loan. If the product price
is decent, there’s usually no way to avoid high shipping costs.
Many
years ago, I was working on an employee-reward based effort that
involved getting some specially imprinted coffee mugs. The shipping
costs were twice what I paid for the mugs. Different example,
same idea, and all roads lead back to baked beans.
There’s
nothing wrong with regional favorites and specialties. There are
a lot of reasons they happen, and a lot of reasons that the differences
are actually fantastic. But it doesn’t change the feelings of
people that have moved, and the way that settling in can be a
hard adjustment to complete.
Terry
and I are hoping to head home for a visit sometime in the near
future. And you can be sure we’ll be looking for clam cakes and
chowder, hot wieners, and good Chinese food while we’re there.
We’ll also be packing bags of groceries to bring back home, with
a few cans of brown bread included.