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(Right) Both 7-Eleven
and Austin, Texas have
changed significantly
since this image was shot
by photographer Neal
Douglass in July of 1953.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE
AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER
(Bottom) Though the
phrase has become a
mantra for many Texans,
“Don’t Mess With Texas”
was coined to combat
litering.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TxDOT
felt the name was due for an update. enjoying a frozen margarita, thank Texas Declaration of Independence
The extended hours were a gamble in Slurpees! The frozen beverage was and member of the Texas Legislature,
1946, but consumer demand soon proved the inspiration for Mariano Martinez’s Maverick’s name was entered into
to be more than a mere 16 hours could slushy concoction, invented at his Dallas the vernacular after he opted not to
accommodate. Selling gasoline and a restaurant in 1971. brand 400 cattle as payment for a debt.
range of easy, portable foods, 7-Eleven MAVERICKS Area ranchers began referring to any
stores greatly benefited from the unbranded cow as a “maverick,” and the
development of the Interstate Highway There was the Ford vehicle, whose 1969 name simply stuck.
System, which brought customers to their ad campaign appealed to the gearhead
doors at all hours. In 1963, attendees at who liked to do it himself. There is the The term, however, extends beyond
a University of Texas football game kept Dallas basketball team, named for the ranching, applying also to any person who
an Austin 7-Eleven so busy, the shop was late 1950s television show and partly refuses to conform to party norms – an
unable to close for the night, becoming owned by the actor who portrayed the
7-Eleven’s first 24-hour shop. The rest, eponymous character. There was the Continued on the next page
as they say, is history. custom-made Fender, the unallied
character from the X-Men comics and at M A R C H 2 0 1 6 SUNRAYS | 79
Twenty-four hour convenience isn’t the least four different computing systems.
only gift this Texas-based chain has And, of course, there are the politicians,
bestowed upon our nation. The notion who seem curiously compelled to remind
of coffee-to-go was born here, as was the others of their designation. Yet in a
self-serve soda fountain, a development world where so many have adopted the
that later gave us the Big Gulp – a sobriquet, the question remains: who, or
controversial creation, depending on what, is a maverick?
which part of the nation you’re from.
The Slurpee was introduced here in The answer can be found in Texas,
1965, providing both refreshment and where Yale graduate and Texas rebel
brain freeze to Americans everywhere. Samuel Augustus Maverick became
Fun Fact: Next time you find yourself the patriarch of a fiercely independent
political dynasty. A signatory of the
ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
