https://hardtimeschili.com/blog daily 0.75 2025-06-02 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/chuckwagon monthly 0.5 2023-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/a882df9f-38ac-42be-b6ee-f561dcbb43e5/chuck+wagon.jpg Blog - History of the Chuck Wagon - Make it stand out Photo of a chuck wagon on an unknown ranch taken by the Parker family in early 1900s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/af600121-41ae-49d5-9632-81a43fbb2608/Charles-goodnight.jpeg Blog - History of the Chuck Wagon - Make it stand out Charles Goodnight, inventor of the chuck wagon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/d3904a3d-71bb-4289-bc40-4b91e8e51465/Chuck+Wagon+Diagram.png Blog - History of the Chuck Wagon - Make it stand out Side view of a typical chuck wagon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1677111118690-73E6KNZN4XWHK0QSW6CY/chuckwagon+2.jpg Blog - History of the Chuck Wagon - Chuck Wagon Photo of a chuck wagon on an unknown ranch taken by the Parker family in early 1900s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1677111118769-4J7EL1O13UMOWRJVDZCH/run+horses+2.jpg Blog - History of the Chuck Wagon - On the Ranch Photo of cowhands at work on unknown ranch taken by Parker family in early 1900s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1677111120332-TXJS6B1V8Q776C99UIFL/running+horses.jpg Blog - History of the Chuck Wagon - Herding Cattle Photo of cowhands herding cattle on unknown ranch in early 1900s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/d1bfa9bb-dc6a-4149-bc38-e73834f7d959/1873_Map_of_Chisholm_Trail_with_subsidiary_trails_in_Texas.jpeg Blog - History of the Chuck Wagon - Make it stand out 1873 Map of Chisholm Trail with Subsidiary Trails in Texas https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/what-is-the-hard-times-chili-blog monthly 0.5 2023-01-15 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/health-benefits-of-chili monthly 0.5 2023-01-15 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/category/history monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/southwest monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/chili monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/cowboy monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/chili+history monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/Health monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/chuck+wagon monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/history monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/texas monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/american+history monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/cattle+drives monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/blog/tag/chili+recipe monthly 0.5 https://hardtimeschili.com/press daily 0.75 2021-05-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1616964189758-546S21H3I2MHH6CX4N5H/jbf_logo.jpeg Press https://hardtimeschili.com/our-story daily 0.75 2023-02-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1616956317343-S6P5TPA1QE0XLNWYSZLE/irmas+chilijoint.jpg About Us - Irma, his oldest daughter, eventually took over the kitchen chores and it was grandpa Ira’s chili recipe she used when she opened a small roadhouse in Gracemont, Oklahoma in the late 1940s. Irma became famous for her Texas chili; customers drove the 50 miles from Oklahoma City just for a taste. Her place finally succumbed to the new interstate highway system, a fate shared by many independent eateries on the secondary roads of the country. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1616956800571-0KTXJ96SNQNF36PQMC6O/2280242407_29f80fc2aa_o.jpg About Us - In 1980 Fred and Jim, along with founding partner Barry Thompson, decided to turn what had been a hobby into a real business and opened the first Hard Times Cafe on King Street in Old Town Alexandria, where it still operates today. Since then, hundreds of Hazel’s old customers have found us, along with a throng of new fans each year. In 2005, USA Today named Hard Times Cafe as one of the 10 best places in the country for a bowl of chili. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1616957313297-HMLB0OGJY9EW8KXM8KG1/unnamed.jpg About Us - Our Logo Our “Kid in the Tub” logo has become famous. Many people ask where it originated. The design itself was taken from a photo that Fred and Jim’s father took of a quiet tow-headed kid sitting in a tub back on the ranch (all photo’s on this website were taken by Fred’s father). The significance of this image is that the steel wash tub represents the hard times of the past while the boy represents the hope for a better tomorrow. https://hardtimeschili.com/home daily 1.0 2024-04-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1626033227076-0CSNHLB4WQO8HTEMLPOH/Untitled+design+%2823%29.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1626033084626-NG7MLZ1ARJXEWXNTTPPX/Untitled+design+%2821%29.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1626033396969-9UYCNWDKO3JH2XXUKHM7/Untitled+design+%2822%29.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/b622ec2c-f302-4071-8bd0-d15fffcacaa2/Drawing.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/04230dde-a4bc-4621-af79-2e8471129a86/9D229A79-DB20-43D0-B09D-E8FC7C3A6BFC.jpg Home - Make it stand out Apparel and Gear Our classic ‘boy-in-the-tub’ T-shirts, Aprons, and bandanas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/d3db8fea-0434-4103-99a6-b28cc9372ef8/Drawing-2.sketchpad.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1617592244584-DUTCRD7FRDYJBKYUAUZL/hardtimes-44.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1616876180857-VTEMIVL02O31D06DVAW6/IMG_2546.jpg Home - Preserving an American Culinary Tradition Chili was invented during the great cattle drives of the 1800s where the American cowboy was born. My great grandfather, Ira Goodfellow, was one of these cowboys. He learned the family recipe from a chuck-wagon cook on the trail before marrying and settling in Oklahoma Territory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1616879619352-KKYWYB9WHSBSEDGJ16E9/Screen+Shot+2021-03-27+at+5.12.25+PM.png Home - The People’s Food When the cattle herds were replaced by railroads, the out-of-work chuck wagon cooks moved into towns and the American "chili joint" was born. When the great depression struck, it was these chili joints that made the difference between eating and starving. Ira’s daughter, Irma, set up one of these chili joints in Gracemont, Oklahoma. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1616880282649-POPE0BM1MMNQ1CXOE7NW/Hard-Time-Cafe-Outside-768x584.jpg Home - Hard Times Cafe Before Irma died she wrote the recipe down on paper and gave it to us. Using this recipe, my father, Fred Parker, his brother, Jim Parker, and partner Barry Thompson started the Hard Times Cafe in Alexandria, Virginia in 1980, which seeks to maintain this unique American culinary institution. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/605f80db99110b7db0139ee5/1621120245967-ILWA379WYDZVQQ0YPGLL/Gifts.jpg Home - Share the gift of chili From the birth of the American cowboy, through the Great Depression, to the Chili Cook-off renaissance of the 1980’s, chili’s humble yet delicious appeal has always brought people together. 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