Piggly Wiggly's sign is an iconic symbol of the South.

Throughout my teens and 20s, I lived in Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky, North Carolina and Arkansas (with in-laws in South Carolina and Louisiana), and besides the beloved "y'all," I could almost always depend on the convenience of a Piggly Wiggly nearby. But little did I know the innovative origins of this easily identifiable grocery store chain.

Despite the shade that sometimes gets thrown the South's way, trailblazing "firsts" are actually quite common in its history. Case in point: Piggly Wiggly, more commonly referred to as “The Pig.” In spite of such a comical (yet endearing) store name, this Southern supermarket staple, started in Memphis by Clarence Saunders, was actually the first self-service grocery store in America. Today, it has more than 600 locations in the U.S.

Yeah, Piggly Wiggly seems like a simple concept, but it's actually a modern marvel.(Joe Songer)

Back in the early 20th century, shoppers would hand over their grocery lists to clerks who then gathered goods from the store shelves. (Think general store in Little House on the Prairie.) But Saunders was known as a charismatic man with an inventive mind and resolved to update what he considered a method that wasted time and expense. In consequence, he revolutionized the entire grocery trade and developed a way for shoppers to serve themselves.

Despite low confidence in the industry, Saunders’ first store opened in 1916 on Jefferson Street in Memphis, Tennessee, and was unlike any other grocery store of the time. With this new concept, customers were given shopping baskets and open shelves and no longer needed clerks to shop for them. It was a tremendous success!

Read more: 30 Southern exports worthy of a thank-you card

A historical marker describing the beginning of Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, Tennessee.Chad Robertson Media / Shutterstock.com

After securing this self-service format, Saunders issued franchises to hundreds of grocery retailers for the operation of Piggly Wiggly stores.

But the authentic firsts don’t stop there. Check out this list of revolutionary methods first introduced by “The Pig,” according to idigthepig.com:

This 1955 photo shows a new Piggly Wiggly store in Colorado. (Denver Post via Getty Images)

As shoppers in the 21st century, it’s hard to imagine a time when this format didn’t exist. Unfortunately, through a series of stock transactions in the early 1920s, Saunders lost control of Piggly Wiggly and had no further association with the company. And while the relentless behemoth of corporate America cast him aside, his legendary creation of the Piggly Wiggly Corporation has continued to prosper as franchiser for hundreds of independent and locally-owned grocery stores (all in the face of a saturated market of big-box stores, no less).

The Piggly Wiggly in Mountain Brook, Alabama, has a pretty extensive wine selection.(Joe Songer)

Read more:10 inventions you can thank Southerners for

In fact, Piggly Wiggly’s origins and innovations are undoubtedly part of the Southern psyche today, many with an individual flare of their own. While some, like the one in Slapout, Alabama, are known for a grand selection of locally-made goods, others have affiliated seed and feed stores next door, or surprising selections of freshly harvested meats, or even marvelous craft beer and boujee wine selections.

Regardless of the store number and location, Piggly Wiggly will always stand as tribute to the modernization and dedication of one man’s dream to revolutionize an industry. Plus, it’s just fun to say Piggly Wiggly.

Everyone knows the South takes manners and treating others with politeness very seriously.

That's why over the years, generations of families have handed down dozens of guidelines on how to act and behave. That's why we decided to ask our followers on the It's a Southern Thing Facebook to tell us about what unspoken rules of the South they think it's important to follow.

We got more than 9,000 responses, and let's just say that if you aren't pulling over for a funeral procession, calling folks "sir" and "ma'am" and giving the courtesy wave to pretty much everyone, you aren't doing this whole "Southern" thing right.

You can see 22 of the unspoken rules below, and you can read all of the responses on our Facebook page.

"At the grocery store, if you’ve got a buggy full, and the person behind you has just a few things in their hands, you let them go in front of you. People are so appreciative. I always reply, 'I know you’d do the same for me.'" -- Laura Hibbs

"Show respect for everyone, whether or not they 'deserve' it. How you treat others is a reflection of your character; not theirs." -- Peg Simpson

​"If someone extends you a courtesy while driving, wave and acknowledge their kindness. On the flip side, if someone waves at you, you acknowledge them back. Always be courteous while driving. Letting someone pull into your lane in front of you or turn first will not harm you in any way." -- Stefanie Demory

"Respect your elders. I grew up in a small town. My mother always told me my grandparents would know what we had done wrong before she did, and that was true." -- Sharon Hall

"Pull over on the side of the road and stop your car when you see a funeral procession." -- Becky Stevens Lauderdale

"Do not make yourself the topic and center of the conversation. Too many have forgotten (or never learned) the art of small talk and making those around you feel welcome and appreciated." -- Erin O'Regan

If you love It's a Southern Thing and want to help support us, join The Potluck – an exclusive membership program for fans.

As a member, you'll get exclusive swag, special behind-the-scenes content and sneak peeks, discounts on merchandise, opportunities to interact with us and even influence the content we make. Basically, everything except Granny's famous casserole!

"Children are to address non-family members who are older than themselves as 'Mister John' or 'Miss Pat' -- and only did so when they weren't at risk of interrupting a grown-up." -- Ralph Strickland

​"When someone dies, you take their family food, and it is typically home-cooked. Usually, enough food is provided to feed the family anywhere from a few days to a week." -- Kara Cvechko

"An old almost forgotten rule is to never walk on the graves. My mother always said, 'you wouldn't want people walking on you, would you?'" -- Lydia K Trowbridge

"Don't return a dish empty." -- Annette Coker

"Say thank you! Food server, drive-thru, someone holding a door, grocery store. Thank everyone who has done something for you. Also, saying excuse me." -- Meagan Tempio

"If you must say something bad about someone, always follow it with 'Bless his or her heart'. For example, Jerry is the meanest man on the face of the earth, bless his heart." -- Marie Lewis

​"If there is an old man sitting outside a store on a bench, go talk to him. He will have great advice on how to live happily." -- Jennifer McDonald- Fagg

"When you open the door for company, say 'y'all come on in' with a big grin on your face. When company leaves, you say 'y'all come back now, and don't take too long' in the sincerest manner." -- Carolyn Wright

"Thank-you notes should be sent out three weeks after the event." -- Tricia Kaiser Hamlin

"Before you choose a child's name, stand on the back porch and holler the whole first and middle names really loud to make sure it works for those times when the child is in trouble or needs to come home for supper. Also, make sure their initials don't spell something embarrassing." -- Shelly Porsch Chetty

"Always pull over for emergency vehicles, even if they’re not behind you.It makes it easier for the response driver to figure out what they’re dealing with." -- Christian McMichael

"CLOSE THAT DOOR! you’re letting all the cool air out! We aren’t trying to cool the whole neighborhood." -- Jessica McKeown

"Food is an appropriate response for both good news and bad." -- Sue Chiles

"It used to be an unspoken rule that a Southern lady should know how to make a good pound cake and also good biscuits! Don’t know if this is still true nowadays..." -- Sharon Lyles Newman

"A man or boy should take their hat off at a table when eating or in a building." -- Melanie Cox

"Only shake hands with a woman if SHE extends her hand first." -- Jeff Roper

Sometimes the simplest thing turns out to be very complicated – something simple like ice. After all, it’s just frozen water, right?

That’s what I thought too when I set out to write about what I call “the good ice,” also known as pellet ice, nugget ice, hospital ice and, of course, Sonic ice. But nothing could prepare me for the science, the psychology and the raw emotion I’d come to encounter.

Let’s start with science.

When I think about ice, my mental process goes something like this: You pour the water. You freeze the water. You get some ice.

Turns out, it’s a little more complicated than that. According to Easy Ice, one of the companies that provides “good ice” machines to restaurants and bars, it all starts with an auger – yes, like the kind you’d drill a hole in something with. That auger spins to scrape off thin sheets of ice as they form on the freezing-temperature walls of a cylinder over which water is poured. These sheets are then extruded from this contraption to make the ice nuggets we know and love.

(Anyone else envisioning Play-Doh right now?)

Read more: We gotta talk about how amazing Zaxby's ice is

It is through the process of scraping and extruding that you get an “airy” pellet that’s easy to chew and, to the delight of dentists everywhere, easier on the teeth. This “airy-ness” is what some say is so appealing to ice-crunchers.

One of the best things about eating at Sonic is enjoying "the good ice."(Haley Laurence)

So appealing, in fact, that folks have even described themselves as being addicted to pellet ice, which brings us to the psychology and a bit more science.

Most folks chew ice because they just really, really like it. Simple as that. And when asked why they love it, I heard over and over again that “there’s just something about it” or “I can’t explain it.”

But a few people said they crunched to calm themselves when they felt anxious and overwhelmed. And according to Dr. Uma Naidoo, Harvard-trained psychiatrist, Professional Chef and Nutrition Specialist, it actually works by having a “calming or distracting effect.” Dare I say, it helps them chill out.

And then there’s “pagophagia.” That’s what you call an overwhelming, intense urge to chew ice. These cravings can actually signify things like anemia and other deficiencies. So if you find yourself wanting more than the occasional munch, you might want to think about getting a check-up.

This psychology leads us to raw emotion.

“I think the first time I really had it was my first bar job. And I remember being like, What the @{replace13}amp;% is this ice?” That’s Laura Newman, owner and beverage director of Queen’s Park and Neon Moon in Birmingham, Alabama. And if ever there was a person who loved pellet ice, it’s Newman. “I think it's superior. My dentist will murder me if I say this, but nothing beats that crunchy crunch.”

But pellet ice isn’t for everyone.

“My allegiance is to crushed [ice]!” says nutrition writer and editor Rachel Quinlivan West. Which is no surprise since her great grandfather James R. Quinlivan founded Mobile’s Crystal Ice Company in 1900. That company, which specialized in crushed ice, was operated by four generations of her family until 2017.

Let’s go back to science for a second. According to Rachel’s brother Stephen Quinlivan, who was one of the last generations of Quinlivan’s to run Crystal Ice, crushed ice requires an entirely different process to make than pellet ice. It starts with vertical refrigerated plates that have water running continuously over them in a loop. Somehow in that process, impurities drop out, and that’s how you get crystal clear ice.

The ice slowly builds up on the plates, and when it gets to be about 3/4 of an inch thick, the plates are heated with hot refrigerant until the sheets fall off. The sheets are then crushed with a big crusher bar into smaller pieces that are then bagged for distribution.

Read more: 25 things we always have in our pantry

Quinlivan said that in ideal conditions, Crystal Ice could produce 60 tons of ice each day. TONS! That’s a lot of bags of ice for fishing, going to the beach, and, yes, making drinks. “It’s a good cocktail ice,” says Quinlivan.

But for Newman, cocktails are nicer with nuggets. “Pellet ice is more consistent both in size and because of how it dilutes and melts,” she says. “When you're making cocktails, you can dial in a little bit more and standardize how you're going to utilize it.”

But Newman, who has a self-professed “lifelong obsession with ice,” says that while she does not care for crushed ice, she does respect people's opinions about ice in general. “It's something that takes a great deal of effort to create but disappears, kind of like a cocktail which is perhaps why I like it so much.”

So there you have it – the complicated tale of a simple thing that will be gone before you can read this story and say “I’d like a to-go cup of the good ice, please.”

A different location will stand in for one of filmdom’s most famous fictional towns, Haddonfield, Ill., in “Halloween Ends,” to be released in theaters Oct. 14, 2022.

“Halloween Ends,” the final film of a trilogy that rebooted the iconic series on a timeline starting with the 1978 original, “Halloween,” was filmed largely in Savannah, Ga., and Salt Lake City, Utah, although the second film, “Halloween Kills,” was filmed in North Carolina.

The first trailer for the film recently dropped. The first house visible in the darkened trailer shows a historic home located in Savannah, according to a video (below) on the YouTube channel Halloween Daily News. No address was given for the home.

Tour 'Halloween Ends' Filming Locations [Video]halloweendailynews.com

A story by WJCL.com in Savannah shows two neighboring homes where filming occurred at 107 Kinzie and 15 Kinzie Avenue. You can see the homes on Google Street View here.

Filming began in Georgia in January and wrapped in March. When her filming ended in February, star Jamie Lee Curtis, who portrays Laurie Strode, wrote a lengthy Instagram post thanking the people of Savannah.

“Thank you to the city of Savannah, Georgia for being such a lovely host city to the final Halloween movie, HALLOWEEN ENDS. Thank you to the staff at Mansion On Forsyth Park where I lived and all of the families playing and couples leaning in and children running free and volleyball players spiking and girls playing cards on a lovely day and dogs and dogs and dogs and more dogs playing in Forsyth park and the gorgeous trees and my favorite, the Japanese magnolia that bloomed during my stay. “It's a beautiful city with a challenging history that seems to have reconciled its past and has embraced a more inclusive future. My time in Georgia was welcoming and I will miss the many lovely people and beautiful places and the many dogs I met while walking my Runi.” In addition to the historic home shown on YouTube and two homes on Kinzie Avenue, film sites in Georgia included:

In the film, the action begins four years after the end of “Halloween Kills.” According to JoBlo.com, director David Gordon Green calls it a coming-of-age story.

“There’s not a lot of games in it, there’s not a lot of wittiness and retro joy,” he told JoBlo.com. “It’s kind of a coming-of-age film, and it’s a very different tone. And that’s what excited me about it, is to have the three chapters that I’ve been involved in be very different from each other.”