At first I was skeptical. When I read about a pecan pie dispensing machine in Cedar Creek, Texas, on Atlas Obscura, I didn’t quite believe it was real or expected to find it a thing of the past and no longer there. Ruth & I were going to be in Austin, and I realized that Cedar Creek was between it and Bastrop. We were going in that direction! Cedar Creek turned out to be little more than a crossroads, and we could not find a pecan pie vending machine. I went into a gas station and a stranger told me with great assurance that I could get one down the road at a largely Hispanic supermarket. We went there. No pies.
But then the next morning we went 10 miles back toward Austin on Highway 71 and found Ms. Pearl. A 14 foot rodent, she is reportedly the tallest squirrel statue in the world. Ms. Pearl was about 20 feet from the pecan pie dispensing vending machine. It really existed!
The Berdoll Pecan Farm has a retail outlet for their pies, pecans, gift packages, and candy. It was opened. Pecan pies that were identical to the pies in the dispenser were available inside. Berdoll’s is open every day except for Christmas and Easter. Customers can buy a whole pecan pie for $24.99 or four miniatures for the same price. We bought the minis. They were delicious!
A sign outside said that Berdoll makes more than 11,000 pecan pies every year and they are in the vending machine 24 hours a day, 365 days each year. If the sign is accurate, Berdoll makes more than $279,138 every year from pecan pies alone. They also sell several varieties of pecans and other treats. Ruth found out that the Pawnee pecans is their best seller as she paid and acquired a catalog.
In that catalog is a profile of the Wammack family, Berdoll’s owners. They will celebrate their 40th anniversary in business next year. They are very proud of their new product, Sweet Habanero Pecans, and their pie vending machine is so successful that they have installed a 2nd one in Austin on Bee Cave Road.
Hank
