August 1st, 2009

Established in 2004, the Annual Tom Watson Watermelon Festival celebrates the history of Georgia agriculture.

The festival is held around the first or second Saturday in August at Hickory Hill – follow the signs written in red.

Events include:

• 2-mile Watermelon Waddle
• Watermelon Recipe Contest
• Watermelon Growing Contest (must be a Tom Watson variety melon)
• Watermelon carving contest
• Seed spitting
• Shot-put
• Greased watermelon 3-legged relay
• Watermelon Roll
• Watermelon sling-shot

Food, crafts, mansion tours, and educational displays round out the festival experience. Oh, and there’s always plenty of watermelon!

Click images to enlarge

Seeds of History

In April, 1907, a nondescript ad appeared in Watson’s Weekly Jeffersonian promoting seeds for a melon named after the proprietor of the newspaper. The Tom Watson Watermelon seed ad was placed by Watson’s brother, William A. (Top) Watson.

For a man of Tom Watson’s public stature and fiercely loyal constituency, it was not unusual for friends and old time “Pops” to name their children after him. In fact, early editions of Watson’s weekly paper ran a regular promotional feature publishing the names and baby pictures of the countless “Tom Watson Smiths” or “Tom Watson Joneses.” It was simply a matter of time before a crop was named for the fiery Populist leader.

The Watson watermelon seems to have originated around 1900, when a Florida farmer forwarded to Tom Watson an envelope of melon seeds he had named in Watson’s honor. Watson summarily passed the seeds along to his brother, Top, a local merchant and struggling farmer who had experience growing produce.

After a few growing seasons, Top Watson discovered the unusually large melons grew a very thick rind, making them ideal for shipping long distances. The melons averaged 25 pounds and sometimes exceeded 70 pounds. They were very sweet and would keep longer than other melons. They were branded “Tom Watsons” and quickly became a commercial success. Soon brother Top was cultivating more than 50 acres of melons exclusively for their seeds.

The growing industry attracted attention of at least two competing seed sellers, L.I. Bozeman of Quitman, and Tom Watson’s own son, J.D. Watson. By 1911, both Bozeman and J.D. Watson were placing regular seed ads in the Jeffersonian. The paper’s proprietor must have been amused by the competition, because he allowed the melon ads to be stacked over one another on the same page. On ad promoted “Pure” Tom Watson Melon seed while another chimed “Genuine” in response. As the three melon growers grappled for a marketing advantage, Tom Watson was presumably chuckling at the paid publicity. The promotional one-upmanship hit full stride in 1912, when J.D. Watson ran an ad for the seeds “Grown on Tom Watson’s Home Farm” featuring his father’s face superimposed on a melon. Apparently, the term “genuine” was ultimately qualified by implicit endorsement.

If J.D. Watson had an edge on marketing, his uncle was the runaway winner in seed production. J.D. Watson’s rudimentary seed shop was set up directly behind Hickory Hill, where ripe melons were dumped in vats and mashed by stomping children. The seeds were separated from the pulp, then dried, processed and packaged.

Top Watson was more of a seedsmith and his production was of a grander scale and refinement. His labor force -- mature -- worked his land by splitting the melons in half, then scooping the contents into nearby wooden casks that were scattered throughout the fields. The seeds would separate from the pulp and juice and then be cleaned, dried and treated prior to packaging. A pound sold for as much as $1.25.

I was driving thru Georgia in late July
on a day hot enough to make the Devil sigh.
I saw a homemade sign written in red
“Rind County Watermelon Festival Ahead.”
Well, I wasn't in a hurry so I slowed down;
took a two lane road to a one horse town.
There was a party going on when I got there.
I heard a welcome speech from a small town mayor.

~ From Watermelon Crawl, by Tracy Byrd