Your Sheep Are All Counted: A Roadside Archaeology of South of the Border Billboards

by P.J. Capelotti

The highway a beacon promising food and fun to generations of road-weary families. For East Coast road-trippers, the most eye-catching and memorable of these advertisements belong to South of the Border and its mischievous mascot, Pedro. With clever puns, “Pedro-speak,” and a menagerie of animals and pop-culture references, South of the Border captures travelers’ imaginations and has them counting down the miles until they reach this roadside oasis. In Your Sheep Are All Counted, P.J. Capelotti chronicles the growth of South of the Border from tiny beer stand to a destination in itself, complete with shopping, food, motels, games, fireworks, gambling, and more. Along the way, Capelotti dives into a rich archive of billboards past and present, exploring the landscape of advertisements that has helped make South of the Border an American legend. Richard Ratay, author of Don’t Make Me Pull Over!, says, “P.J. Capelotti’s impressively researched book vividly captures the seven-decades-long (and still going!) experience in all its charming, disarming, and unapologetically idiosyncratic glory. Your Sheep Are All Counted is a rousing road trip back through time―serving up a fresh laugh, fond memory, or clever surprise around every bend.” 272 pages, hardcover, 11 x 8.5 inches, full color.

272 pages, Hardcover

Published July 4, 2022

About the author

Historical archaeologist P.J. Capelotti, Professor of Anthropology at Penn State University, Abington College, is author or editor of more than a dozen non-fiction histories. A volume of essays and poetry, Gods Meadow was published in 2005, and his first novel, Nautilus: a modern sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, has been described by Clive Cussler as "an amazing tale filled with enigmas filled with riddles and dark mysteries. Truly a fascinating read." Nautilus was published under the pen name Pete Shaw.