Argia B.'s Mumbo Bar-B-Que Sauce

Looking for something else, I came across this obituary of Argia B. Collins Sr. (1926-2003):

Argia B.’s entrepreneurial journey began in the early fifties, when he opened his first barbecue restaurant at 47th and Forrestville. He eventually relocated this flagship restaurant to 78th and Halsted, which he managed until his retirement in 1992. In 1957, he developed his signature and world famous Argia B.'s Mumbo Bar-B-Que Sauce, which is still made in Chicago. His daughter, Misty, remembers, "People kept asking for it in the barbecue house, so he decided he would start bottling it."

As the popularity and demand for his product grew, he then ventured into manufacturing (1968) where he began mass production of Mumbo Sauce for distribution through independent and major grocery chains including The Food Basket, Jewel Food Stores, A&P and Dominick Finer Foods, to name a few. In the 70s, he opened a second barbecue joint, in partnership with longtime friend, Tom P. Lewis, at 71st and Yates, and then a third on 11th Avenue in Gary, Indiana.

Does anyone know this if this sauce, which was still being made in 2003, is still around?

The Collins family was pretty significant in Chicago barbecue history. There were six brothers, and all but one had a barbecue joint. One of the Collins brothers -- I'm not sure if it was Harvey or Caesar -- reportedly opened the first South Side barbecue storefront, around 1950.

I'm sure I've seen Mumbo sauce at my local Jewel within the last couple years. Roosevelt and Ashland.

And apparently you can buy it online from their website

I attended a BBQ related event a few months ago where the grand daughter of Mr. Collins was in attendance. Judging by her enthusiasm, I think the brand will continue despite the unfortunate death of the family Patriarch.

stevez wrote:I attended a BBQ related event a few months ago where the grand daughter of Mr. Collins was in attendance.

Steve,

Allison E. Collins, I happen to have her card, a very nice woman who, as you say, remains enthused about the product.

Leah,

Allison's contact info is the same on the web site to which Ed linked. Her email is allisoncollins@selectbrandsllc.com

Are you thinking of doing a story on Mumbo sauce? I'd guess Allison would be quite interested.

Regards,
Gary

this is the sauce I grew up on..i didnt even know it was around still until i saw it at a smaller grocer in town

im pretty sure mumbo is the oldest retail bbq sauce from chicago sold in the retail grocery stores
nice folks good sauce
very impressive they have been around so long

Thanks for the link, Ed. I had searched, but only found references to a D.C. Mumbo Sauce. It seems to be something of a cultural icon there, although it doesn't seem to be the same thing.

Now that I see the photo, I realize I've seen it in stores. (Just not those I checked before posting.)

Head's Red, baby ray, how many local barbecue sauces would you estimate there are? (I realize that "local" is a tricky question -- Sweet Baby Ray's, for example, is certainly a Chicago-born local favorite, though it's hard to say whether it still qualifies as a Chicago brand -- but give it a shot. I do not mean that the tomatoes have to be grown within 100 miles of the Loop.)

local to Chicago area I assume? ..i dont think there is many
just off the top of my head
1) Head's Red
2) Sweet Baby Ray's
3) Roadhouse
4) Uncle Mels
5) Joey Mac's Mustard sauce (coming soon)
6) Pigchasers
7) Lennys BBQ Sauce
Kraft

Im sure there are a few more and this doesnt count the local grocers/meat markets who have there own private label stuff on their own shelves
Im sure Dave would know of more out there

captain kens
high 5
mumbo
heads red
road house
russells
patio
come to mind
kraft has their world head quarters in glenview im sure you are not talking about that
my understanding is that open pit is orginally from indiana
i used to say i thought their were over 5000 different sizes and flavors of sauce in the us i am sure that is a high number for bbq sauce only but there are a heck of a lot of regional sauces as you get more south
the cost shelf space with the major retailers severely limit the smaller guys getting shelf space at the major retailers and even speciality stores
which leaves the smaller guys with their stores, some speciality, online and at craft shows as limited opportunites for distribution

the only packers i can think of besides kraft
are
dorina so good
and tone products
mullins foods (gallons and portion pack only)


i would think that any chicago sauces would be made by either of those two guys

i think i have seen lems and leons now that bill has inspired me

Cap't Curtis

baby ray wrote:i think i have seen lems and leons now that bill has inspired me

Memphis Jack's

guess there are more than I thought..and yes i thought kraft was bottled locally here..i guess not..

LAZ wrote:Looking for something else, I came across this obituary of Argia B. Collins Sr. (1926-2003):

Argia B.’s entrepreneurial journey began in the early fifties, when he opened his first barbecue restaurant at 47th and Forrestville. He eventually relocated this flagship restaurant to 78th and Halsted, which he managed until his retirement in 1992. In 1957, he developed his signature and world famous Argia B.'s Mumbo Bar-B-Que Sauce, which is still made in Chicago. His daughter, Misty, remembers, "People kept asking for it in the barbecue house, so he decided he would start bottling it."

As the popularity and demand for his product grew, he then ventured into manufacturing (1968) where he began mass production of Mumbo Sauce for distribution through independent and major grocery chains including The Food Basket, Jewel Food Stores, A&P and Dominick Finer Foods, to name a few. In the 70s, he opened a second barbecue joint, in partnership with longtime friend, Tom P. Lewis, at 71st and Yates, and then a third on 11th Avenue in Gary, Indiana.

Does anyone know this if this sauce, which was still being made in 2003, is still around?

As others have mentioned, Mumbo Sauce is still around and shouldn't be too hard to find. Back in Jan '08 I posted a bit on the sauce here, including a picture of the original bottle.

The Collins family's Mumbo Sauce almost certainly was around long before 1957; I believe bottling started then. I guess what the Sun-Times obit is hinting at is Argia B Collins patented his own version of the family sauce in the late 1950s. Incidentally, it was spelled "barbeque" sauce on the earliest labels (it was changed to "bar-b-que" by 1970, then to "bar-b-q" sometime after that).

LAZ wrote:The Collins family was pretty significant in Chicago barbecue history. There were six brothers, and all but one had a barbecue joint. One of the Collins brothers -- I'm not sure if it was Harvey or Caesar -- reportedly opened the first South Side barbecue storefront, around 1950.

The Collins family was indeed important in Chicago barbecue history, operating what might be considered the city's first chain of barbecue houses. They were quite media savvy and friendly with the press. But they weren't the first in this regard; in the 1930s Miles Dotson hosted annual parties at his barbecue restaurant for reporters representing the "Race press."

I'm not sure if I'm reading you correctly but the Collins family can't be credited with opening the first South Side barbecue storefront, around 1950 or otherwise. I don't know when their first shop opened but they already owned five by 1952. Even so, they were only following in the footsteps of other Chicago pitmasters (e.g., Mr Dotson) who preceded them by decades. I wish I had all the details, but I'm working on it.

stevez wrote:Cap't Curtis

Captain Curt's Famous Boss Sauce. Curt's is at 82nd & Cottage.

Rene G wrote:

stevez wrote:Cap't Curtis

Captain Curt's Famous Boss Sauce. Curt's is at 82nd & Cottage.

Whoops. Sorry about the typo. Thanks for correcting. Cap't Curt's "The Sauce is the Boss"

baby ray wrote:captain kens
high 5
mumbo
heads red
road house
russells
patio
come to mind

saw a Patio in Lombard when I was out and about yesterday..never heard of the place before that

also
robinsons's no 1 bbq sauce charlie robinson oak park
to this day still the single nicest man i have met in the food business
and
uncle dougie's barbecue sauce jeff saunders of des plaines
uncle dougie's and sbr started out the same year in retail 1986 first in jewel and dominicks in 1989

patio
fixture on the south side at least 3 if not more locations
bigger stores 150 -200 seats maybe more
pretty good ribs and pork from what i recall
i know they have a lot of fans and the locations seem busy when i pass them
they used to have frozen ribs that they sold thru dominicks havent seen that in a few years though

Rene G wrote:I'm not sure if I'm reading you correctly but the Collins family can't be credited with opening the first South Side barbecue storefront, around 1950 or otherwise. I don't know when their first shop opened but they already owned five by 1952. Even so, they were only following in the footsteps of other Chicago pitmasters (e.g., Mr Dotson) who preceded them by decades. I wish I had all the details, but I'm working on it.

My source was Eric Lolis Elie's "Smokestack Lightning." Elie quotes Maceo, owner of the Other Place on 75th Street: "Collins was the first to put it in a storefront." Maceo doesn't give a first name, although the only Collins named anywhere in the book is Caesar, whom Elie credits as having originated Mumbo Sauce. No way to know how accurate any of it is.

If Dotson was hosting parties at his restaurant, doesn't that imply something more elaborate than a storefront?

As I said, I don't know which brother first went into barbecue, but Harvey Collins started his business in 1950. Looking at the picture of Argia B's place, I wouldn't think it would take much to open a shack like that in those days, so it seems entirely possible they could have had five places by 1952, even if they didn't start till 1950.

Head's Red BBQ wrote:4) Uncle Mels

I have such fond memories of Uncle Mel's restaurant in Evanston. He used to do barbecued lamb ribs. Mmm...I can still taste them!


I would have thought there were a lot more sauces from this area. Doesn't Carson's bottle their sauce? Are Bullfrog and C & M Phelps still around?

I got some here about 2 months ago or so. Sauce was good.

Eurofresh Market
16000 S. Harlem Ave.
Tinley Park, IL
708.336.7300
http://www.eurofreshmarket.com/

I bought some yesterday at Strack & Van Til on Elston.

LAZ wrote:

Rene G wrote:I'm not sure if I'm reading you correctly but the Collins family can't be credited with opening the first South Side barbecue storefront, around 1950 or otherwise. I don't know when their first shop opened but they already owned five by 1952. Even so, they were only following in the footsteps of other Chicago pitmasters (e.g., Mr Dotson) who preceded them by decades. I wish I had all the details, but I'm working on it.

My source was Eric Lolis Elie's "Smokestack Lightning." Elie quotes Maceo, owner of the Other Place on 75th Street: "Collins was the first to put it in a storefront." Maceo doesn't give a first name, although the only Collins named anywhere in the book is Caesar, whom Elie credits as having originated Mumbo Sauce. No way to know how accurate any of it is.

It's pretty straightforward to show the statement from Smokestack Lightning about Chicago's first barbecue restaurants is inaccurate. Newspaper articles from the 1920s, '30s and '40s contain numerous mentions of barbecue restaurants (distinct from "open air kitchens" which were probably common before the '20s). The earliest I've found so far is a 1922 reference to "a barbecue lunchroom at 46th and State streets." As I said earlier, the Collins family may well have been the first to operate a chain of barbecue houses in Chicago but that was decades after the first barbecue restaurants appeared.

Mike G wrote:I bought some yesterday at Strack & Van Til on Elston.

All three flavors of Mumbo Sauce are available at Fairplay on Halsted at 47th.

Rene G wrote:It's pretty straightforward to show the statement from Smokestack Lightning about Chicago's first barbecue restaurants is inaccurate. Newspaper articles from the 1920s, '30s and '40s contain numerous mentions of barbecue restaurants (distinct from "open air kitchens" which were probably common before the '20s). The earliest I've found so far is a 1922 reference to "a barbecue lunchroom at 46th and State streets." As I said earlier, the Collins family may well have been the first to operate a chain of barbecue houses in Chicago but that was decades after the first barbecue restaurants appeared.

No disagreement here.

We may be looking at semantic differences among sources: Storefront vs. restaurant may be referring to different kinds of establishments. Uncle John's, for example, is a storefront, but if you consider a restaurant or a lunchroom somewhere you can sit down to eat, it doesn't qualify. Could the Collinses have started the first take-out-only barbecue storefronts? I don't know.

Then again, we can't be sure what barbecue meant in Chicago then, either. I've seen references to Al's Italian Beef as a place that served "barbecue" in the '30s, but that clearly means charcoal-grilled sausage.