When looking at a rattlesnake, “Delicious” isn’t usually the first word that comes to mind. But that wasn’t always the case.
In the 1930s, one Florida businessman made it his mission to kick off a consumer phenomenon centered around the slithery critters.
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According to state archives, that businessman — George K. End, of Arcadia — was helping his two sons skin a Diamondback rattlesnake they’d just killed when an idea struck him: What do rattlesnakes taste like?
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After cooking it, he discovered that the meat was “tender” and that it tasted good, so he began to experiment to figure out how he could market it.
Through his new company, Floridian Products Corporation’s “Rattlesnake Division,” End became a real-life snake-oil salesman. Only he didn’t just stick to the oils.
End sold off every part of the rattlesnake — fangs, rattles, skulls, meat, venom and more — to the public, reaping a hefty profit.
One of the most popular products was End’s signature “Genuine Diamondback Rattlesnake with Supreme Sauce,” which was canned rattlesnake meat with a sauce of meat stock, mushrooms and heavy cream.
“Advertisements recommended serving the meat in pastry shells or on thin slices of toast as an appetizer for cocktails,” one historian wrote. “End and his associates promoted the meat as a delicacy and encouraged customers to ‘be the first in your neighborhood to give a rattlesnake dinner.’”
The venture proved a huge success for End and his company, which began working with local snake hunters to catch even more rattlesnakes in the area.
While he initially started a factory in Arcadia, End soon moved his main operations to Tampa, where he opened a “Rattlesnake Cannery and Emporium” at Bridge Street and Gandy Boulevard — thus founding the city’s “Rattlesnake” neighborhood.
The emporium put on performances, mainly consisting of live rattler handlers and shows where the rattlesnakes were “milked” for their venom, for visitors and End even opened a post office nearby.
End’s rattlesnake empire was in full swing, though with the advent of World War II, many of his helpers and hunters in the rattlesnake industry were whisked away to combat.
Despite that, End reportedly claimed Rattlesnake would “go on to bigger things and better things, in spite of hell, Hitler and high water.”
But End himself didn’t last too long. In 1944, he suffered a bite while working with a 6-foot-long rattlesnake, and even with the use of antivenom, he died a few short hours later.
The Rattlesnake emporium and post office ultimately closed down, and End’s wife sold his cannery equipment, patents and formulas to herpetologist Ross Allen, who operated a Reptile Institute at Silver Springs.
That doesn’t mean you can’t eat rattlesnake, though.
Even without End, canned rattlesnake can still be found online at sites like Mountain America Jerky and Amazon. Reviews tend to be mixed, but let us know in the comments below if you’ve tried it.