Food Timeline 

FAQs: restaurants, chefs, & foodservice

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Historians tell us the genesis of food service dates back to ancient times. Street vendors and public cooks (caterers)
were readily available in Ancient Rome. Medieval travelers dined at inns, taverns, monestaries and hostelries.
Colonial America continued this tradition in the form of legislated Publick Houses. The restaurant, as we know it
today, is said to have been a byproduct of the French Revolution. Modern food service is a product of the Industrial
Revolution. Advances in technology made possible mass production of foodstuffs, quick distribution of goods, safer
storage facilities, and more efficient cooking appliances. Advances in transportation (most notably trains,
automobiles, trucks) also created a huge demand for public dining venues. Another thought to ponder: how military
foodservice impacted civilian industry.
"Foodservice organizations in operation in the United States today have become an accepted way of life, and we
tend to regard them as relatively recent innovations. However, they have their roots in the habits and customs that
characterize our civilization and predate the Middle Ages. Certain phases of foodservice operations reach a well-
organized from as early as feudal times...Religious orders and royal households were among the earliest
practitioners of quantity food production...Records show that the food preparation carried out by the abbey brethren
reached a much higher standard than food served in the inns at that time...The royal household, with its hundreds of
retainers, and the households of nobles, often numbering as many as 150 to 250 persons, also necessitated an
efficient foodservice...In providing for the various needs, strict cost accounting was necessary, and here, perhaps,
marks the beginning of the present-day scientific foodservice cost accounting..."
---West and Wood's Introduction to Foodservice, June Payne-Palacio & Monica Theis, editors [Prentice-Hall:Upper
Saddle River NJ] 9th edition, 2001 (p. 5-6)

Restaurants & catering

While public eateries existed in Ancient Rome and Sung Dynasty China, restaurants (we know them today), are
generally credited to 18th century France. The genesis is quite interesting and not at all what most people expect.
Did you know the word restaurant is derived from the French word restaurer which means to restore? The first
French restaurants [pre-revolution] were not fancy gourmet establishments run by ex-aristocratic chefs. They were
highly regulated establishments that sold restaurants (meat based consommes intended to "restore" a person's
strength) to people who were not feeling well. Cook-caterers (traiteurs) also served hungry patrons. The history of
these two professions is historically connected and often difficult to distinguish.

According to the current edition of Larousse Gastronomque (p. 194-5), the first cafes (generally defined as places
selling drinks and snacks) was established in Constantinople in 1550. It was a coffee house, hence the word "cafe."
Cafes were places educated people went to share ideas and new discoveries. Patrons spent several hours in these
establishments in one "sitting." This trend caught on in Europe on the 17th century. When cafes opened in France
they also sold brandy, sweetened wines and liqueurs in addition to coffee. The first modern-type cafe was the Cafe
Procope which opened in 1696.

The French Revolution launched the modern the restaurant industry. It relaxed the legal rights of guilds that [since
the Middle Ages] were licensed by the king to control specific foods [eg. the Patissiers, Rotisseurs, Charcutiers] and
created a hungry, middle-class customer base who relished the ideals of egalitarianism (as in, anyone who could pay
the price could get the same meal). Entrepreneurial French chefs were quick to capitalize on this market. Menus,
offering dishes individually portioned, priced and prepared to order, were introduced to the public for the first time.

Who started the first restaurant? 

There are (at least) three theories:

1. Boulanger, 1765
"In about 1765, a Parisian 'bouillon seller' named Boulanger wrote on his sign: 'Boulanger sells restoratives fit for
the gods'...This was the first restaurant in the modern sense of the term."
---Larousse Gastronomiqe, completely revised and updated [Clarkson Potter:New York] 1999 (p. 978)

2. Mathurin Roze de Chantoiseau in Paris, 1766

"According to Spang, the forgotten inventor was Mathurin Roze de Chantoiseau, a figure so perfectly emblematic of
his time that he almost seems like an invention himself. The son of a landowner and merchant, Roze moved to Paris
in the early 1760s and began floating a variety of schemes he believed would enrich him and his country at the same
time."
http://dir.salon.com/books/review/2000/03/24/spang/index.html

3. Beauvilliers, 1782
"However, the first Parisian restaurant worthy of the name was the one founded by Beauvilliers in 1782 in the Rue
de Richelieu, called the Grande Taverne de Londres. He introduced the novelty of listing the dishes available on a
menu and serving them at small individual tables during fixed hours."
---Larousse Gastronomique, (p. 978)

About restaurants

"...France was the birthplace of what we now call the restaurant...this happened toward the end of the eighteenth
century. With the exception of inns, which were primarily for travelers, and street kitchens...where in Europe at that
time could one purchase a meal outside the home? Essentially in places where alcoholic begerages were sold,
placesewquipped to serve simple, inexepensive dishes either cooked on the premises or ordered from a nearby inn or
food shop, along with wine, beer, and spirits, which constituted the bulk of their business. Such tavern-restaurants
existed not only in France but also in other countries. In Germany, Austria, and Alsace, Brauereien and Weinstuben
served delicatessen, sauerkraut, and cheese, for example; in Spain bodegas served tapas. Greek taverns served
various foods with olive oil..where meals were exempt from taxes, served a variety of fortifying dishes such as
stews, meat with sauce, and organ meats...All of these places...were apt to serve plain and simple fare rather than
more elaborate culinary creations...For a genuine meal one had to look either to a good inn or go to a rotisseur or
traiteur (caterer, from the Italian trattorie). In France, these two guilds, together with the charcutiers, had been
granted a monopoly on all cooked meat other than pates...Only common people actually ate in the traiteur's shop,
perhaps seated at a table reserved for guests in some establishments. Even a moderately well-to-do person would
have preferred to order food delivered to a private home or a room at an inn or hotel or an elegant salon rented for
the occasion...In 1765 a man by the mame of Boulanger, also known as "Champ d'Oiseaux" or "Chantoiseau,"
opened a shop near the Louvre...There he sold what e called restaurants or bouillons restaurants--that is, meat-
based consommes intended to "restore" a person's strength. Ever since the late Middle Ages the word restaurant had
been used to describe any of a variety of rich bouillons made with chicken, beef, roots or one sort or antoher, onions,
herbs, and, according to some recipes, spices, crystallized sugar, toasted bread, barley, butter, and even exotic
ingredients..."
---"The Rise of the Restaurant," Food: a Culinary History, Jean-Louis Flandrin & Massimo Montanari [Columbia
University Press:New York] 1999(p. 471-480)

"Restaurant...The word appeared in the 16th century and meant at first a food which "restores" (from restaurer, to
restore), and was used more specifically for a rich, highly flavoured soup thought capable of restoring lost
strength...Until the late 18th century, the only places for ordinary people to eat out were inns and taverns. In about
1765, a Parisian "boullion-seller" named Boulanger wrote on his sign: Boulanger sells restoratives "fit for the
gods"...This was the first restaurant in the modern sense of the term. Boulanger was followed by Roze and Pontaille,
who in 1766 opened a maison de sante (house of health). However, the first Parisian restaurant worthy of the name
was the one founded by Beauvilliers in 1782...called the Grand Taverne de Londres. He introduced the novelty of
listing the dishes available on a menu and served them at small individual tables during fixed hours. One beneficial
effect of the Revolution was that the abolition of the guilds and their privileges made it easier to open a restaurant.
The rest to take advantage of the situation were the cooks and servants from the great houses, whose aristocratic
owners had fled. Moreover, the arrival in Paris of numerous provincials who had no family in the capital created a
pool of faithful customers, augmented by the journalists and businessmen. The general feeling of well-being under
the Directory, following such a chaotic period, coupled with the chance of enjoying the delights of the table hitherto
reserved for the rich, created an atmosphere in which restaurants became an established institution."
---Larousse Gastronomique, completely revised and updated edition [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2001 (p. 978)

"The Restaurant Revolution

An eye-witness, Grimod de La Reyniere advances three reasons why restaurants emerged in France with the French
Revolution: the rage for English fashions, including the taking of meals in taverns; the influx of large numbers of
revolutionary deputies from the provinces; and cooks seeking re-employment after the break-up of the aristocratic
households....We need to remember that the near universal way to serve meals until this time [1825] was to place the
pot of pots on the table for all to share. The grander the meal, the more dishes. In fancy dining, the artistic creation
was at the table...Hotels served limited ranges at fixed time...The caterers (traiteurs) did not provide portions, but
whole courses'--an entire joint, say--and anyone who whished to entertain a few friends must order them well in
advance'. With the restaurant, artistic creation became the individual plate. In one blow, high quqlity became
publicly available; even more significantly, cooking/sharing was individualized...Restaurants hastened the
emergence of the sovereign consumer. At the table of a first-class restauranteur, any person could dine as well as a
prince..."
---A History of Cooks and Cooking, Michael Symons [Universtiy of Illinois Press:Urbana IL] 1998 (p. 289-293) 
[NOTE: this book contains much more information than can be paraphrased here. Ask your librarian to help you
find a copy]

"Restaurant. According to contemporary dictionaries, a restaurant is simply an eating place, an establishment where
meals are served to customers. By this definition, restaurants--by whatever name they have been given--are almost
as old as civilization. The ruins of Pompeii contain the remnants of a tavern which provided foods and wines to
passers-by...the prime function to these early eating places' was to cater to the needs of people away from home
who, unless they had brought their own food and cooks with them, were obliged to take whatever was available--or
go hungry. From the second half of the 17th century there were cafes, public places where people could meet and
talk, eat and drink....In England there were also taverns which, catering to a socially superior clientele, employed
well-known cooks and offered an extensive choice of dishes. The restaurant, as it was conceived in Paris towards the
end of the 18th century, had a different vocation. Its principal advantage was that it offered diners a choice:
according to Brillat-Savarin [he was lawyer and gourmand who wrote the Physiology of Taste], restaurants allowed
people to eat when they wanted, what they wanted, and how much they wanted, knowing in advance how much this
would cost. The top restaurants of the day boasted a vast menu, with a choice of 12 soups, 65 entrees...and 50
desserts. Prior to this, French catering was highly regulated and shared between various corporations [guilds]...The
regulations surrounding these trades gave each one certain privileges. The rotisseur, for example, roasted meat but
was not allowed to bake dishes in the oven, nor to make ragouts'[stews]...By 1771 the world restauranteur' was
defined...as someone who has the art of preparing true broths, known as restaurants', and the right to sell all kinds of
custards, dishes of rice, vermicelli and macaroni, egg dishes, boiled capons, preserved and stewed fruit and other
delicious and health-giving foods...The word restaurant', used to describe an eating house, first appeared in a decree
of 1786...Restaurants were...an important consequence of the Revolution and concurred with its aims in promoting
egality around the table. Eating was no longer the privilege of the wealthy who could afford to maintain a cook and
a well-supplied kitchen."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 660)

On Restauranteurs, The Physiology of Taste, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (c. 1828)

About restaurants in early America 

Colonial taverns and inns sold food, but they were not generally known for their cuisine. Nor was the food offered
on menus. The French restaurant concept was introduced to the newly established USA in the very last years of the
18th century. Food historians place the genesis of grand city restaurants, often based in fine hotels, to the first
quarter of the 19th century.

"The French Revolution encouraged the growth of restaurants by abolishing the monopolistic cooks' guilds and by
forcing the aristocrats' former chefs to find new, proletarian uses for their talents...Travelers to France excitedly
brought the news of these Parisian restaurants to an American public that already enjoyed a spiritual kinship with
France ever since that country allied itself with our own Revolution. French culture had already had a considerable
effect on our own...This affinity for French cooking convinced a former cook to the archbishop of Bordeaux to open
his own French-style eating house in Boston in 1794. His name was Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payplat, and he called his
establishment by his nickname, "Jullien's Restarator," where he became known as the "Prince of Soups," echoing the
original meaning of the word "retaurant."...But the growth of the concept of freestanding restaurants depended
ultimately upon a large enough number of people willing to accept it and pay for it. In 1800 the total population of
New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, and Charleston combined was only 200,000, but soon it began to soar.
New York grew fastest--160,000 inhabitants by 1825...By 1805 New York had four coffeehouses, four oyster
houses, four tea gardens, two victualing houses, and a cookshop, as well as forty-two combination boardinghouses
and taverns and these increased rapidly for absorb the new prosperity...The food available in these new eating
houses--which went in and out of business at an amazing rate of failure--continued to be for the most part coarse,
heavy, and of mediocre or poor quality. Game was plentiful, including venison, pigeon, racoon, and elk. Turtle was
considered a delicacy...Fresh meat went bad quickly, so many workers slaughtered the pigs that freely roamed the
streets consuming refuse, and Broadway was lined with vendors selling roast pork. Others hawked oysters, fast
becoming a passion with Americans...Once the food was set on the table, the customers tore into it with what one
observer called "inconceivable rapidity," and other defined as a technique of "gobble, gulp and go." This was pretty
much the standard procedure in most eating houses and taverns. Even in the grand, new, modern hotels like New
York City's Hotel (1794), a service philosophy of "come-and-get-it" was accepted as normal, and communal dining
rooms serving up fixed meals at set hours were till the rule, although the spendiferous Tremont House in Boston,
which opened in 1828, inaugurated "French Service" in its two-hundred-seat dining room, where guests might dine
at individual tables and use th new four-tined fork. By the 1830s the "American Plan," by which travelers were
forced to pay for room and board whether they ate a meal or not, was becoming standard in the hotel industry. In
lesser hotels and taverns, it was not so much a question of "come-and-get-it" as it was "try-to-to-eat-it." 
---America Eats Out, John Mariani [William Morrow:New York] 1991 (p. 25-7)


 A restaurant timeline, CuisineNet
 Restauranteur, Meditation 28, Physiology of Taste, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin [1826],br> [NOTE: If
you want the complete text of this passage (in English) we recommend the M.F.K. Fischer translation.
There are many recent editions. Your librarian can help you find a copy.]
 menus

RECOMMENDED READING:
The Invention of the Restaurant, Rebecca L. Spang

See also: Fast food

ABOUT CATERING

"Restauranteurs vs Traiteurs
While competing in the marketplace, cooks have, since ancient times, formed guilds. A little booklet of Notes on the
History of the Company of the Mistery of Cooks of London, published by the Cooks' Company perhaps in the early
1960s, dates the Fraternity's formation to 1311-12. The trades regulated themselves and were regulated in terms of
fair trading and health, were taxed and given some protection by the City and crown. That is, they operated as a
profession, with its mutual promotion and restrictive trade practices--limiting entry through (often exploited)
apprenticeships, sharing tricks of the trade, and fixing prices...The guild of cook-caterers, the cuisiniers, paralleled
the hierarchy in the court kitchens...Do not forget we are talking about public cooks: cuisiniers are not to be
confused with queues, master cooks employed in noble households and convents. Furthermore, the guild of cuisiners
was forever splitting and being challenged by new specializations...The tradesmen sold goods to be carried away,
but a further offshoot of the cuisiners was the traiteurs--eating-house keepers or caterers. They were popular with the
modest people, for they sold small quantities at low prices. From statutes in 1559, they specialized in weddings and
banquets, held on their own premises or elsewhere...When Antoine Beauvilliers opened the first great restaurant, La
Grande Taverne de Londres--in 1782, according to Brillat-Savarin, and in 1786 according to others--a new trade,
deriving partly from English taverns, had broken from the the traiteurs...The caterers had an exclusive right to sell
cooked meat dishes, but limited themselves to selling whole cuts of meat, not an individual helping. That monopoly
was contested in 1765 by Boulanger, a seller of bouillons. While the traiteurs claimed the exclusive right to sell
ragout, stock fell outside their monopoly and was sold under the name restaurant, in the sense of restorative'."
---A History of Cooks and Cooking, Michael Symons [University of Illinois Press:Urbana IL] 1998 (p. 315-8)

"When he went to Paris in the early eighteenth century, Joachim Nemeitz quickly discovered what was wrong with
the French capital: the food...Forced to eat at an innkeeper's or traiteur's (cook-caterer's) table d'hote, the simple
visitor to Paris would soon discover that he "does not fare well at all, either because the meat is not properly cooked,
or because they serve the same thing every day and rarely offer any variety."...Throughout the eigheenth century,
many a traveler would have cause for similar complaints...food served by French innkeepers and cook-caterers,
though inexpensive, would further ruin...health...For centuries before the first restaurants opened their doors,
travelers and Parisians without their own kitchens had depended upon the inns, cookshops, and wineshops...Early
eighteenth-century Paris was, in fact, home to thousands of retail food and drink merchants, all organized by
monarchial decrees into twenty-five different guilds. As defined in their statutes, the retail food trades were
characterized by extreme divisiveness and exaggerateed compartmentalism...Master cook-caterers held the right to
serve full meals to large parties...The cook-caterers (traiteurs), it is said, quickly brought legal charges against one
particularly aggrandizing restauranteur named Boulanger who dared to sell a dish (sheeps' feet in white sauce) that
was not a restaurant but a ragout (anything composed of several different ingredients and cooked in sauce). After a
series of appeals, we are told, the courts eventually decided in favor of the cook-caterers, and restricted the
"restauranteurs" to selling bouillons...The retail food trades were notoriously difficult to delimit, The futility of
enforcing divisions among the food trades derived in part form the combinative nature of the work itself...Already in
1704, almost three-quarters of the master traiteurs were also cabaret-keepers; in 1748 the traiteurs' guild noted that
"most of our masters" also have the privileges of pastrycooks or roast-meat-sellers...A 1760 decision of Parliment
instructed that, in order to prevent monopolies, the Paris caterers should henceforth elect their four "syndics in
charge"...The combination of titles, while fairly common in all the retail food trades, was particularly prevalent
among the traiteurs. It is evident that the cook-caterers of Paris had long had their fingers in numerous pies, and that
by far the majority of them would have been well within their legal rights had they run businesses that sold a variety
of foods and a wide range of potables. Such an accumulation of tasks was easily possible, but it did not distinguish
the first restauranteurs from the established cook-caterers. Indeed, many of the first restauranteurs were also master
traiteurs with close business ties to many of the other established Paris food and drink trades." ---The Invention of
the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture, Rebecca L. Spang [Harvard University Press:Cambridge
MA] 2000 (p. 7-11)
[NOTE: This book contains far more information than can be paraphrased here. Please ask your librarian to help you
obtain a copy.]

African American caterers

Historic newspapers and scholarly articles provide but brief glimpses into the catering businesses run by blacks in
the late 19th century. They do confirm general observations regarding being edged out by new immigrant arrivals.
W.E.B. Dubois observed and studied this trend. For a comprehensive study of this topic we recommend the
resources held by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture/NYPL

"The African Amercian caterers in particular were comparatively well-to-do; they employed other members of their
community, met with prominent white families, and were social leaders and noted abolitionists...Philadelphia
caterers developed reputations for particular dishes, such as terrapin stew and chicken croquettes, which were seen
as African American specialties and prestigious foods on the tables of socially prominent white families...African
Americans continued to dominate the catering business in northeastern cities into the 1890s...African American
caterers also held positions of respect in southern cities throughout the era of segregation."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New
York] 2004, Volume 1(p. 24-25)

"Ten per cent of the colored people are skilled laborers--cigarmakers, barbers, tailors and dressmakers, builders,
stationary engineers, &c. Five and one-half per cent are in business enterprises of various sorts. The negroes have
something over a million and a half dollars invested in samll business enterprises, chiefly real estate, the catering
business, undertaking, drug stores, hotes and restaurants, express teaming &c. In the sixty-nine leading
establishments $800,000 is invested-- $13,000 in sums from $500 to $1,000 and $200,000 in sums from $1,000 to
$25,000. Forty-four of the sixty-nine businesses were stablished since 1885, and seventeen others since the
war...Five leading caterers have $30,000 [invested]..."
---"The Black North: A Social Study, New York City," W.E. Barghardt DuBois Atlanta University, New York
Times, November 17, 1901 (p. SM10)

"It seemed natural at this time that this leading class of upper servants would step into the economic life of the
nation from this vantage ground and play a leading role. This they did in several instances: the most conspicuous
being the barber, the caterer, and the steward...he held his own in the semi-servile work...until he met the charge of
color discrimination from his own folk and the strong competition of Germans and Italians...the caterer was
displaced by the palatial hotel in which he could gained foothold."
---"The Economic Future of the Negro," W. E. B. Dubois, Publications of the American Economic Association 3rd
Series, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Feb., 1906), pp. 219-242

"The Italian, Sicilian, Greek, foreign to America's language and instutituions, occupy quite every industry that was
confessedly the negro's forty years ago...Think of our city's most famous catereres of forty or fifty years ago. They
were the Downings, Mars, Watson, Vandyke, Ten Eyck, Day, Green, and others, all colored. Their names were as
familiar and as representative in high class work as are Delmonico and Sherry today. Who have succeeded to the
business that theses colored caterers had on those days? With one exception, Italians."
---"The Economic Future of the Negro. The Factor of White Competition ," Alfred Holt Stone , Publications of the
American Economic Association 3rd Series, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Feb., 1906), pp. 243-294

"For more than a century the Negro has cominated the catering field in Philadelphia. Thsi buisness has been
intimately linked with the history of the Quaker City from its earliest days until the present. One of the first
successful Negro ctaerers was Peter Augustine, who started and establishment on Third street above Spruce in 1816.
His fame was world-wide. Often he sent his terrapin for which he was noted, to Paris. The firm of Augustine &
Baptiste, his successor, continues to provide eatables for some of Philadelphia's oldest and wealthiest famlies. For
100 years this business has been kept in the family. Mrs. Clara Augustine and Miss Tillie Baptiste now conduct it on
Fifteenth street, betwen Locust and Walnut streets. Among others of the old guild of caterers was Thomas J. Dorsey
whose culianry accomplishments won for him both name and wealth. Henry Jones was equally as well known and
successful. James Prosser was given credit for being one of the pioneer caterers and is said to have systematized and
stabilized the business. His establishment was at Fourth and Market streets. A contemporary of Prosser was James
Porter Sr., who conducted a restaurant at Eighth and Market strets. He was the first steward of the exclusive
Philadelphia Club, which in the beginning was housed in the old Napoleon residence on Ninth street above Spruce.
George Porter, a son, was associated with him. Prominent Negro caterers in Philadelphia of a later date were Henry
Minton at Fourth and Chestnut streets and subsequently Twelfth street, near Walnut and Richard Thompkins on
Fourth street, near Walnut. The catering and restaurant business was brought to a degree of perfection by these men
of antebellum days and by many who followed. Years ago the Negroes practially controlled these profitable avenues
of endeavor and were materially responsible for Philadelphia becoming famous as 'a city of good food.'
Philadelphia's Original caterer and creator of this branch of business was Robert Bogle."
---"Phily Citizen Was First Maker of Ice Cream," Lester A. Walton, Pittsburgh Courier, May 19, 1928 (p. 12)

"The institution of catering...reaches its highest excellence in Philadelphia. This occupation was oriingate dby a
Phildelphia Negro, Robert Bogle, whose services were marked by such superlative excellence that one of his
discriminating patrons, Nicholas Biddle, the leading Philadelphia financier of thsi time, was moved to poetic
expresion, and wrote his 'Ode to Bogle' in 1829. The Negro caterers have give to this art a quality and flavor which
is unique and distinctive and which tradition is being continued along admirable lines by Holland's, Augustine and
Baptiste, and others."
---"Social Worker Cites Contributions of Negro to Philadelphia's Progress," Wayne Hopkins, Philadelphia Tribune,
June 2, 1932 (p. 9)
[NOTE: Want to read Ode to Bogle?]

"William Walker, a colored caterer, living at 439 West Thirty-ninth Street, with his wife, went into the restaurant of
John Stark, at 436 and 438 Ninth Avenue for supper serveral weeks ago. Walker alleged that the proprietor snatched
the bill of fare from his wife's hand, and told both that he would not serve them because of theri color. Walker was
corroborated by his wife in his testimony that Restaurant Keeper Stark said he would no serve them because of their
color. Mr. Stark denied the statements of Mr. and Mrs. Walker, and said that when they entered his restaurant he was
closing up one of the rooms, which he usually does every night. When the plaintiffs entered he requested them to
take a seat in the other part of the restaurant, which was to remain open all night. He said that the plaintiff became
very indignant, and ordered his wife to sit down in the room they were in..."
---"Sued Under the Malby Act," New York Times, October 4, 1895 (p. 14)

See also: Augustus Jackson

Early American women caterers

[In 18th century America some] "women in the food workplace were caterers or confectioners of a sort. They
sometimes ran small shops that specialized in their own preserves, candies, or baked delicacies. They were more
likely to be situated in towns in which people followed fashion and made their purchases with cash (rather than
bartering)...Some women baked to order and undertook simple catering from their homes. Their advertisements
appeared regularly in eighteenth-century newspapers."
------Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, (p. 554-555)
The American Historical Newspaper and ProQuest Historic Newspaper databases are excellent sources for find
18th-20th century ads and business listings. Ask your librarian how to access.

Personal chefs & private cooks

The rich and famous have long enjoyed the services of personal chefs. Until recently, personal chefs were retained
by wealthy families, royalty, top government officials, prosperous businessmen, and the like. Personal chefs traveled
with their employers, serving them in battlefields, summer retreats, foreign lands, and voyages. Napoleon's personal
chef is reputed to have invented Chicken Marengo for his finicky boss on the battlefield. Jacques Pepin traveled with
Charles De Gaulle as his personal chef. Oprah Winfrey's personal chef was elevated to adjunct celebrity status by
helping her employer lose weight.

The modern American personal/private chef industry descends from this grand culinary tradition. After World War
II America entered an age of economic growth. Baby Boomers reaped the benefits of higher education and
unprecedented job opportunities. Those attaining "Yuppie" status freely spent their newly acquired wealth on
expensive goods and premium services. Savvy entrepreneurs capitalized on the growing demand for specialized
personal services. Personal financial planners, personal trainers, personal nutritionists, personal shoppers, personal
party planners, & related fields proliferated. Personal and private chefs took the general concept of catering (cooks
for hire) from special occasion to everyday. Before long, having one's own personal chef was THE ultimate status
symbol. Brand-name chefs were actively recruited for lucrative positions.

The industry mushroomed as people with cooking experience seeking alternative work opportunities were drawn
into the mix. Both chefs and clients grew at a remarkable pace. When the economy slowed in the 1990s, the personal
chef industry reinvented itself. Chefs began to penetrate the middle class market, targeting dual-income career
couples. The new hooks were economics (less expensive option that eating out), health (balanced, specialized diets),
and convenience (professional meals ready to heat). The economic problems facing our country today [2009]
present significant hardship for the personal chef industry. New clients are difficult to source. Old clients are scaling
back or dropping this service altogether. Time for another reinvention.

INDUSTRY EXPERTS & STATISTICS:

 The American Personal and Private Chef Association

 United States Personal Chef Association

PERSONAL VS PRIVATE CHEF? (industry definitions):

"What is the difference between a personal chef and a private chef? A private chef is employed by one individual or
family full time, and often lives in, preparing up to three meals per day. A personal chef serves several clients,
usually one per day, and provides multiple meals that are custom-designed for the clients’ particular requests and
requirements. These meals are packaged and stored, so that the client may enjoy them at his or her leisure in the
future...Who hires personal chefs? The typical client mix includes two-income couples with or without children,
career-focused individuals, those with special dietary or health needs, seniors and those who enjoy fine dining. How
many personal chefs are out there? The current number of personal chefs is estimated at 9,000 serving 72,000
customers. Industry observers predict the number will double in the next 5 years. What do personal chefs do?
Personal chefs design and execute menus for clients. They plan, purchase and prepare meals (usually once a week)
either at the clients’ home or in a rented professional kitchen. Meals are packaged and stored, either in the clients’
refrigerator or freezer with heating-instruction labels."
---American Personal and Private Chef Association

"While there are many similarities between personal chefs and private chefs, it's important that we distinguish
between these two culinary professions. A private chef is one who is employed by a specific person or organization
exclusively. She earns a paycheck and is responsible for providing her culinary services to one person or group. She
works scheduled hours, cooks menus to satisfy the needs of her employer, whether a family or an organization...a
personal chef is a chef for hire who works for herself as a small business operator. There is no exclusivity agreement
involved, and she can choose the number of clients with whom she will associated and for whom she will prepare
custom menues. As the profession began to gain popularity among culinarians and the attention of the media, many
critics called personal chefs a fad profession that would be around only as long as it was fashionable. However, over
time, this supposed fad became a trend and gave chefs and cooks around the world the opportunity to work with
food on their own terms. The personal chef trend has become a legitimate career path in the culinary industry and a
viable alternative career for culinarians looking to leave traditional cooking situations."
---The Professional Personal Chef, Candy Wallace [Wiley:New York] 2007 (p. 1-2)

WHO WAS THE FIRST PERSONAL CHEF?

Industry experts do not credit a particular person with this honor. Candy Wallace, founder ot the American Personal
and Private Chef Association, states:

"Culinary history has not officially recorded when the first personal chef opened his doors for business. Was it
hundreds of years ago, when a talented chef cooked for several affluent families traveling from one estate to
another? Or was the first personal chef someone who cooked for a friend's family that had fallen on hard times and
needed help with the day-to-day chores of the household? History provides us with clues, but determining when the
personal chef profession emerged is open to discussion." 
---Professional Personal Chef (p. 1)

Our survey of American newspapers chronicles the genesis, evolution, issues, and challenges facing of the
modern private and/or personal chef industry:

[1978]
"Muhammad Ali had his Aunt Coretta in the kitchen. Joe Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, did his cooking. George
Foreman had a culinary specialist while training in Africa. And now, Ken Norton has a personal chef at Gilman Hot
Springs. It seems a heavyweight champion's camp isn't complete without one. Norton, preparing for the first defense
of his World Boxing Council title, against Larry Holmes June 9 in Las Vegas, had been ordering from a restaurant
menu until Joe Behar arrived last week...Behar's primary employer is the La Jolla Village Inn, owned by Norton's
manager...Behar...prepared Norton's meals at the home of Mike Penrod, manager of the Massacre Canyon Inn,
where Norton stays."
---"Norton Has a Personal Chef and a Hearty Diet," Jack Hawn, Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1978 (p. E15)

[1979]
"At least seven Cabinet secretaries have personal chefs who prepare their breakfasts and lunches, often at bargain
prices, a survey of federal departments disclosed. It costs taxpayers more than $126,000 a year in salaries for the
chefs, who put together meals in the secretaries' personal kitchens and serve then in their private dining
rooms...Atty. Gen. Benjamin R. Civiletti, whose two chefs are paid $23,000 and $17,000, often lunches with his
special assistants and division chiefs in a handsome Williamsburg-style dining room next to his offices. Civiletti and
his associates pay only $1.50 for breakfasts, which may include juice, eggs, bacon, grits, sausage or pancakes.
According to the chef's menu, Civiletti this week will lunch on broiled whitefish, deviled crab and Swiss steak, plus
vegetables, salad, dessert and beverage, for $2.50..."
---"Taxpayers Subsidize Meals: 7 Cabinet Secretaries Have Own Chefs," Los Angeles Times, December 16, 1979 (p.
B6)

[1988]
"A Personal Chef. A Chicago company called Room Service has been offering "white glove dining in your home"
since February. Bob Horwitz, a partner and vice president, figures he has it easier than a Southern California
delivery service because "I can cover 12,000 people in one block. Out there, it would probably be that many in 10
miles." Room Service's partners raised $750,000 to open the business, which delivers selections from eight well-
known Chicago restaurants in 10 specially equipped vans costing $26,000 each. Driven by waiters or waitresses,
they are stocked with heating ovens, refrigerators and running water. Within an hour of a customer's phone order, a
tuxedo-clad Room Service employee picks up a slightly undercooked meal from the restaurant of choice and
delivers it to home, office or apartment. There, the waiter or waitress sets up the meal, complete with placements,
napkins, heavy-duty plastic cutlery, salt and pepper and wet towels. Most meals (at an average cost per delivery of
$35) require a few extra minutes of cooking time. Horwitz said the service, for which the customer is charged 20%
over the menu price plus a $3 delivery fee, is geared to upper-income customers....In Philadelphia, Steve Poses, a
restaurateur and caterer, recently added a service called Personal Chef to his Commissary restaurant and takeout
operation. "Today everyone needs a personal chef," he said. "Unfortunately, not everyone can afford one." The
service sets up menus for entertaining at home. The party fare can be delivered or picked up."
---"Special Delivery, Personal Chefs and a Telephone for Your Freezer," Martha Groves, Los Angeles Times, July
18, 1988, (p. 5)

[1990]
"Two incompatible types emerged in the 1980's: the couch potato and the insatiable restaurant goer. But by the dawn
of the 90's, a few fortnate people were finding a way to reconcile their interests in staying at home and their desire to
enjoy good food: hire a chef. Personal, or private, chefs have joined that arsenal of service people, from personal
trainers to personal bankers, that smooth the lives of today's rich and famous and, increasingly, more down-to-earth
professionals, too. Some chefs...are working full time for the wealthy and he well known, even living in their
houses. But others may cook dinners only a few evenings a week for professional singles or couples, or just come in
for special occasions. Carole Rydell, placement coordinator at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.,
said she saw a slow, steady increase in the number of requests the school received for private chefs in the last seven
years. 'We get requests from wealthy people for someone to serve on their yacht,' she said. 'But at the lowest end, we
get requests from doctors and lawyers and people in finance and advertising who entertain a lot for business or
social reasons.' She said the requests increase during the summer, when people hire chefs for their vacation or
weekend homes."
---"Tired of Eating Out? Send for Your Chef," Kathleen Beckett-Young, New York Times, August 22, 1990 (p. C1)

[1994]
"The latest trend for baby boomers struggling to squeeze more quality out of their quality time? Personal chefs-
they'll do the shopping, cook a couple weeks' worth of gourmet, low-fat meals and leave the food in the freezer to be
consumed at will. "It's a business whose time has come. I don't think this would have worked 10 years ago," said
David Mac Kay, executive director of the U.S. Personal Chef Assn., which in less than two years has grown to more
than 300 members serving clients in 46 states."
---"What's for Dinner? Personal Chef Has a Gourmet Answer Lifestyle: Harried baby boomers hire professionals to
do the marketing, cook a couple weeks' worth of gourmet meals, and leave them in the freezer. The service isn't
cheap, but it's growing in popularity," Luis Cabrera, Los Angeles Times, Sep 11, 1994, (p. 5)

"Pursuing Rosie Daley through a supermarket takes some agility. She zips through the produce section at Whole
Foods Market like a kid in a candy shop, grabbing red peppers with one hand and scooping up porcini mushrooms
with the other. She wastes no time filling her cart with carrots, oranges, lettuce, greens, edible flowers and, later,
bags of bulk whole-wheat flour and other grains. There's reason to tail her: Daley is Oprah Winfrey's personal chef.
She knows what Winfrey wants, or at least what Winfrey ought to eat to maintain her slimmed-down figure. And
Daley knows how to satisfy Winfrey's tastebuds while not straining her caloric budget. That's why three years ago
Winfrey whisked Daley, 32, away from her job as chef at the Cal-a-Vie health spa in Vista, Calif., where Winfrey
was spending a couple of weeks getting into shape. Personal cooks are fine for those who can afford such individual
attention, but now Daley-with Winfrey's help-is putting some of Winfrey's favorite recipes into a cookbook for
everybody to share. "In the Kitchen With Rosie, Oprah's Favorite Recipes" (Knopf, $14.95) goes on sale next
Thursday, with a kickoff appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show and at Marshall Field's book department. But
though it has an introduction by the famous talk show host and little Oprahesque vignettes that precede many of the
50 recipes, it is not a book about Winfrey, Daley says. "It's about making healthful food realistically." Daley cooks
at Winfrey's Chicago apartment, at her farm in northern Indiana and at her condo in Telluride, Colo. And she stocks
the Winfrey refrigerators with juices and healthful snacks and prepares foods for her to eat at the studio, on airplanes
and elsewhere."
---"OPRAH'S FAVORITES PERSONAL CHEF PUBLISHES COLLECTION OF LOW-FAT RECIPES THAT
FUEL STAR'S BUSY SCHEDULE," Steven Pratt, Chicago Tribune, Apr 21, 1994, (p. 3)
[1995]
"When Stephanie Hersh got her fist job as a private cjef for a family of four in Milton, Mass., in 1989, she did what
she though private chefs do: she spent each day preparing haute cuisine for dinner. At the end of the first week, her
employer sat her down and said they needed to talk about menus. As Ms. Hersh recalled it, her employer was
reassuring but firm, telling her: 'Not that this hasn't been wonderful--it's jut not the way we eat. We like foods like
macraoni and cheese and meatloaf and lasagna.'...Ms. Hersh promptly switched gears and began making simpler
meals. There was a time when private chefs provided five-course meals for the leisure class. Now, both the clientele
and the cuisine are changing. Because of time-crunched, nutritionally conscious, two-career families, a new breed of
private chef has been spawned: one who goes into a home and cooks affordable meals that are meant to appeal to
those who are tired of restaurant and takeout food. Now, there is even a business-support association for those
wishing to start a personal chef service: the United States Personal Chef Association, which has 650 members in 46
states. It was founded in 1991 by David MacKay and his wife, Susan Titcomb, who is a personal chef in
Albuquerque, N.M. Work as a personal chef usually offers an easier life than in restaurants. Four days a week,
Nancy Davis, a former restaurant chef who runs a personal chef service in Austin, Tex., called Chef on the Run,
dons her chef fatigues, loads her car with cooking equipment and groceries, and spends the day cooking in clients'
kitchens--a venue she says she vastly prefers to a restaurant kitchen, with its high stress level and nighttime hours,
which makes social life difficult. Ms. davis leaves 10 individually packaged entrees wand side dishes for two in the
refrigerators of those clients who are on an every-there-week schedule. Her portions are large, and clients sometimes
stretch two meals from one. Although she makes things like lemon-grass chicken and crayfish enchiladas, she will
also accommodate blander palates. Her charge is $260 for 10 meals for two people...It often happens that clients
who are initially skeptical about the prospect of a stranger in their kitchen cooking what they fear could turn out to
be no more than expensive Lean Cuisine quickly become converts to the luxury of sitting down to professionally
prepared meals withing minutes of arriving home from work...'When you look at the economics, it's a bargain
compared to going out to eat three times a week,'...'Even so, most people regard us as somewhat extravagant, and the
notion of having someone come to your home to cook is considered a but much.'...Members of the United States
Personal Chef Association are not required to be trained chefs--though some are--and they range from retired
jewelers to hairdressers and former military personnel."
---"Private Chefs for Busy People Who Like Their Meatloaf," Anne S. Lewis, New York Times, April 26, 1995 (p.
C4)

[1998]
"Personal chefs--people who plan, shop for and prepare meals for clients in their homes--offer a novel approach in
the vast food service industry that is catching on across the country...At an initial consultation, Linkens [a personal
chef] sits down with customers to find out dietary preferences, and restrictions, and how they want the service
tailored to fit their needs. A typical bimonthly contract includes 10 meals for two with Linkens bringing all
ingredients and even his own pots and pans to the homes of customers, where he spends an entire day preparing their
food. When he leaves, the refrigerator and freezer are stocked and the kitchen spotless. The menu and the budget are
entirely up to the client."
---"Chef Creates a Business Providing Personal Service, Shopping to Table," Philadelphia Tribune, August 11, 1998
(p. 2B)

"Once considered trendy or a perk for the wealthy, the personal chef business is gathering steam. Zierke is one of
1,800 personal chefs around the country and Canada, according to David MacKay, founder of the U.S. Personal
Chef Assn. of Albuquerque, N.M. About 11 years ago, MacKay said, he "created a concept" to get his wife, Susan,
out of the hectic restaurant business. "I thought, 'Hey, if the yuppies are paying to have maids come in to their house,
they'll pay to have personal chefs come in,' " he said. In 1992, he started the association with five members. Today,
there are conventions, training sessions, correspondence courses, certification and a bimonthly magazine. At the
present growth rate there will be more than 5,000 personal chef service businesses in the United States in five years,
MacKay said."
---Demand for Personal Chefs Heats Up; Business: Cooks travel to customers' homes to prepare meals. For many,
service is a lifesaver," Greg Smith, Los Angeles Times, September 27, 1998 (p. 16)

[2000]
"Personal fortunes have always demanded personal service. And over the past quarter-century the vogue in one-on-
one attention has shifted from psychiatrist to personal trainer to nutritionist. Today, those flush with fortune--or
seeking to emulate serious wealth--want a chef to call their own. Friends who used to ask for restaurant
recommendations now ring up requesting referrals for personal chefs. The United States Personal Chef Association
of Rio Rancho, N.M., estimates that only 1,000 American families employed cooks 10 years ago compared with at
least 100,000 families today. Cooking schools ike Peter Kump in New York have established referral services.
Dozens of personal-chef placement services have sprung up, primarily in large cities..'I was out with several well-
known chefs, and as we left the restaurant, I heard one rich guy say 'There goes so and so. He's my chef,'...'Can you
imagine that? Wealthy people used to put chefs in business by backing their restaurants. Now forget about the
restaurant--they just want to own the chef.'. Al Martino, who owns Chef's International, a placement service in New
York says that former assistants to celebrity chefs like Daniel Boulud, Alice Waters and Wolfgang Puck are in the
highest demand. 'The very young and newly rich haven't lived long enough to educate their taste,' Martino says.
'Employing a brand-name private chef is a way of appearing to have taste.'"
---"A Chef of One's Own," Molly O'Neill, New York Times, October 15, 2000 (p. SM119)

"Local cooking school officials and industry groups say a raging stock market, strong economy and long workdays
have left people with more cash and less time, feeding the demand for personal chefs whose cuisine ranges from
Asian fusion to macaroni and cheese. The product of a prosperous, health-crazed age, personal chefs have been
popular on both coasts and now are gaining grounding the Midwest. "The more two-income households there are,
the more people you find looking for personal chefs," said Tara Foulks, director of career services at the Cooking
and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. The number of people seeking personal cooks through the school has roughly
tripled in the last two years, Folks said. Once reserved for the aristocracy, chefs are cooking for a different clientele
these days: health-conscious upper-middle-class parents and professionals sick of skipping meals or gorging
themselves on fast food. According to the American Personal Chef Association (yes, there is one), some 100,000
U.S. households are sitting down to professionally cooked meals at home."
---"TIME-STARVED FAMILIES TRY PERSONAL CHEFS FAT WALLETS, BUSY DAYS FEED DEMAND
FOR COOKS," Vanessa Gezari, Chicago Tribune, Aug 11, 2000, (p.1)

[2001]
"Personal chefs are a growing specialty -- and the ultimate in convenience foods. They take care of everything -- the
meal planning, shopping, cooking and cleanup. Organized through the United States Personal Chefs Association
(USPCA), the profession attracts people who love to cook and are good at it but don't want the stress and long hours
of restaurant kitchens or the high pressure and late nights of catering. As personal chefs they get the good parts of
cooking for a living -- the smiles on their clients' faces and the thank you's. They also get to control their own
schedules.Born in the boom years, the USPCA has grown from about 500 people in 1995 to about 5,000 in all 50
states today, including about 100 in the Washington metropolitan area. Despite the current economic slowdown,
aspiring personal chefs continue to fill up the organization's classes. Maybe that's because personal chefs don't just
cook for millionaires. Their clients range from families with two working parents and too little time to cook, to
singles who like good food but don't know how to cook, to people on special diets for medical reasons. Although
USPCA chefs usually charge a set fee for their whole package (four portions each of five different dinner entrees),
that fee is generally based on the estimated cost of a mid-priced restaurant meal in their locality. In the Washington
area that means $17 to $21 per person, one of the highest in the country. It's not a paltry sum but it's well under the
cost of many restaurant tabs."
---"HOUSE CALLS; A Day in the Life of a Personal Chef," Judith Weinraub, Washington Post , June 6, 2001, (p.
F1)

"A power shift is astir in America's kitchens, and it has nothing to do with those little buttons on your blender. In the
not-too-distant future, the country's most sought-after chefs may no longer be the celebs overseeing trendy urban
restaurants and starring in TV cooking shows. Takeout food from restaurants and grocery stores may no longer be
the automatic in-a-pinch choices for the harried, hungry masses. There may not even be a pinch. The emerging
pacesetters are chefs who cook in customers' homes and empower them to specify the cuisine, menus, calorie
content, spicing levels and dinner hour. These pros more closely resemble your grandmother than Escoffier: They
also do your shopping, wash the dishes, even take out the garbage. They're graduating from cooking schools by the
hundreds, and they are beginning to reshape the chef-diner relationship. "This is the kitchen equivalent of day care,"
says Clark Wolf, a New York-based food and restaurant consultant. "Just as we have accepted other people taking
care of our kids with our instructions, we have accepted other people cooking for us with our instructions." What
people want the most isn't found in any restaurant or grocery store. "What I'm selling people is time, not so much
food, or I'm selling them health," says Jan Sims, who runs the 7-month-old personal chef service And What's for
Dinner in Topeka, Kan. The mouth- filling slogan for her business: "Meals Like Mom Made, Made in Your Place to
Your Taste." When in-home chef services came to national attention in the mid- 1990s, the prime customer base was
affluent couples, usually with families. But the number of personal chefs has mushroomed since then, and today
they're increasingly filtering into mainstream markets such as Sunbelt retirement communities and middle-class
homes in the heartland. The United States Professional Chef Association, one of the industry's largest training and
certifying organizations, places the number of full-time in-home chefs at 6,000, and the customers using them at
100,000 or more. Five years ago, "there were maybe just a few hundred personal chefs," says the association's
president, David MacKay. "Today they're in every state and in every city above 50,000 (population)." A cottage
industry As the number of in-home chefs has grown, the profession has taken on some of the trappings of a cottage
industry. Most services are solo operations, sometimes advertised in free supermarket-shopper newspapers or by
note cards pinned to bulletin boards. The chefs usually have at least an associate's degree (or the equivalent) from a
culinary school. A service with 20 clients can bring in $30,000 to $40,000 a year. Typically, personal chefs visit a
home once or twice a month. They prepare a dozen or more meals at a time and store them in the refrigerator or
freezer for the client to reheat later. Clients pay about $14 to $20 per person per meal (usually a meat, starch and
vegetable), with extras negotiable."
---"Personal chefs are no longer just for the rich 'Kitchen equivalent of day care' trickles down to the middle class,"
Jerry Shriver, USA Today, February 9, 2001, (p.1A)

[2003]
"Most personal chefs take food and cookware to a client's home, prepare a couple of weeks' worth of meals, some of
which are frozen, and leave the place spic and span. Others cook and package meals at a commercial kitchen, since
[Westchester County, NY] health codes prohibit chefs from selling the food that they prepare in their own
home...Chefs must also have certification in safe food handling. Increased sophistication about food, spurred in part
by star television cooks and celebrity restaurateurs, helped create this new niche in the food service industry, said
Candy Wallace, executive director of the American Personal Chef Association, founded in San Diego in 1995. 'We
also get a lot of clients with dietary restrictions and people watching their weight,' she said,' People can custom-
tailor their food. You can't really do that in a restaurant, but if you hire a personal chef, you can sit there and watch
while your meal is cooked if you want.' Ms. Wallace's organization counts 3,000 members, she said, 1,000 more
than in 2001. The industry is also an outgrowth of the country's convenience culture. 'Over the years, we started with
a baby sitter in the house and we have a house cleaner,' said Nancy Rossnagel of Pleasantville...'Having a chef was
the next logical step.'...Being a personal chef offers unrivaled flexibility...One pitfall in a profession with such
obvious upside potential is frequent client turnover."
---"Chefs Who Make House Calls," Marc Ferris, New York Times, March 2, 2003 (p. WE3)

[2007]
"As lives get increasingly busy with careers, kids, commutes and other chaos, a growing number of people are
turning to personal chefs to make sure that there's a hot meal on the table at the end of a long day. Hiring a
professional to cook for you isn't a whole lot different from hiring someone to clean your house or walk the dog, and
it's not just for the wealthy, said John Moore, executive director of the United States Personal Chef Association. "It's
not 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,'" Moore said. "People don't have personal chefs because they have tons of
money, they have them because it solves a problem. It puts dinner on the table. "Personal chefs typically prepare
several days' worth of customized meals in advance, potentially for several clients. The meals are prepared and
packaged, ready to be popped in an oven or microwave whenever a client wants to eat.Some chefs charge a flat rate;
others are paid by the hour. The chef does the grocery shopping, along with the cleanup, and those costs are added to
the bill.Total costs usually range between $15 and $20 per person per meal, depending on the kind of food prepared
and other related costs. That's not much different from a meal at a restaurant, Moore said."Except that people don't
have to go out, pay for parking or leave a tip," Moore said. "And they get to eat a meal that was custom made just
for them."Personal chefs have the potential to make more money than their restaurant counterparts, about $25 per
hour on average, compared with about $14.75 for a head cook or chef in a restaurant, Moore said.As a result, the
personal chef industry has gained numerous "restaurant refugees," who see the profession as a way to both get away
from hectic restaurant schedules and make more money, Moore said.The association estimates that there are just
over 5,000 personal chef businesses operating in the U.S. and Canada, up from about 1,500 a decade ago."
---"More people acquire taste for personal chefs," Chicago Tribune, October 11, 2007 (p. 5)
[2009]
"It takes a certain kind of personality to be a person's private chef. If that person is, say, R&B artist Keyshia Cole,
then the daily menu might be low carbs, high protein and little feedback other than "that was good." If that person is
a major league baseball pitcher, the Zone Diet might become a way of life, and the way you cook. Chef Barry
Kraemer has that certain kind of personality, and he has cooked, professionally and personally, for Cole and the
pitcher."When you're hired by a celebrity, or a family, to cook for them, you become a one-man show of
housekeeper, dog walker, babysitter, chef, garbage man, grocer and go-to guy all in one," says Kraemer of the 10- to
14-hour days he has worked making low-carb meals for Cole and others. (Cole was shooting a video during
Kraemer's tenure.) His job, with the help of Cole's trainer, was to "transform her body and sculpt her like a body
builder." Says Kraemer of his work: "It's challenging, and I love it. But if you're looking for the 'attaboys,' this job's
not for you." The chef says it's rare if he actually has contact with the famous people he's cooked for, other than an
occasional "hello." The former Arden's Garden sales rep started catering for a few of his clients several years back
and finally made the switch to full-time private chef when he answered Cole's trainer's ad on Craigslist. Today he
runs a personal chef and catering company, Sage Kitchen. "If I didn't love serving people and taking care of them, I
could never succeed at this," Kraemer says. "Because a lot of times you don't get any feedback at all." He also must
like long, arduous workdays, because most are spent shopping (often going to several stores to find that one
particular requested item) and prepping for not just the day but the entire week --- only to have the whole menu
changed at the last minute, or a party of two at 8 turning into a party of 12 at midnight. "I just keep the freezer and
pantry stocked and anticipate all the changes," Kraemer says. "And the answer to everything is 'yes.' "Jobs may last
from a couple of months to years. It can be lucrative, but often when the show is over, or that transfer to another
team happens, Kraemer is left holding the kitchen tongs. Kraemer, who lives in Norcross, is self-taught, learning to
cook from tasting and doing. He gives his clients an extensive questionnaire once he's hired so that he can assess
exactly what they want. The 43 questions cover everything from low-glycemic food preferences to dessert. The job
requires an inordinate amount of organization, and Kraemer says that the kitchen must always look like "you're on
TV" because guests --- from television executives to personal friends --- could drop in at any time."These are people
who are used to being cared for," Kraemer says. "They have unpredictable schedules. It's a little like a cooking
contest I have with myself every day.""
---"Personal chef only part of the job: Role delivers long hours, little feedback. Barry Kraemer works off
questionnaire to better serve clients," Meredith Ford Goldman, The Atlanta Journal - Constitution, August 6, 2009
(p. E1)

See also: Ancient Roman cook-caterers

Restaurant menus

Restaurant menus, as we know them today, are a relatively new phenomenon. Food historians tell us they were a
"byproduct" of the French Revolution. About restaurants. In the 20th century children's menustake their place at the
table.

"From the early 1770s, at the latest, the use in restaurants of a printed menu, or carte, that allowed each customer to
choose his or her own restoratives marked another distinctive innovation in service. Before the emergence of the
restaurant, a menu had always been a list of all those foods to be served during a particular meal (as at a banquet
today). Cookbooks recommended them and chefs in wealthy households composed them, but all the items on the
menu were brought to the table in the course of the meal. A table d'hote had no menu; the eaters (whoever in the
course of the meal might be) and the food (whatever it might be) arrived at the same moment. The restaurant's role
as a place for the exhibition and treatment of individual weaknesses, however, necessitated a new sense of the menu:
the creation of a list of available items from which each consumer made personal choices at the most convenient
moment. In the restaurant, the vagaries of each customer-patient's malady demanded different dietary treatments; no
two souls or nervous systems were "sensitive" in the same way. When ordering from a restaurant menu, the patron
therefore made a highly individualistic statement, differentiating him-or herself (and his or her bodily complaint)
from the other eaters and their conditions. By the mere presence of a menu, the restaurant's style of service
demanded a degree of self-definition, and awareness and cultivation of personal tastes, uncalled for by the inn or
cookshop...Restaurants had printed menus because they offered their customers a choice of unseen dishes...While a
restaurant's fare might not be uniform...its monetary transactions were...the printed menu allowed restaurant patrons
to calculate costs "before spending a penny." There in print, set and fixed before his or her very eyes, the restaurant
customer saw prices and dish names, concoctions and costs. No longer required to share each of the dishes brought
to a table d'hote, but permitted to concentrate on the ones he or she explicitly requested, the restaurant patrons could
make preference as much a matter of finance as of taste...In a restaurant, the ostentations potlatch of baroque
expenditure was replaced by the equally conspicuous and significant economy of rationalized calculation."
---The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture, Rebecca L. Spang [Harvard University
Press:Cambridge MA] 2000 (p. 76-8)
[NOTE: This book contains far more information about the origin and history of the menu than can be paraphrased
here. If you need more details please ask your librarian to help you find a copy.]

Looking for information on the origins and evolution of classic French menus?
We are often asked to provide the sequence of items comprising the "classic 12 course French menu." Curiously?
We find no print evidence confirming the existence of a standard menu with this number of courses. The classic
French style of menu making and courses is complicated. The number of courses, and the number of dishes served at
each course, are period and meal dependant. Our research confirms "classic" meals are generally offer 4 to 8
courses. Examples of 12 course menus are rare, perhaps suggesting they are not "standard" at all. Fannie
Farmer's Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, c. 1896 (menu starts at the bottom of the page & is continued on the
next two pages). Below please find our starter notes:

"Composition of the Classic Meal...formal meals consisted of several 'courses'--usually there or four but at times
five or more--each composed of several dishes brought to the table at the same time. Here is how A.-B.-L. Grimod
de La Reyniere describes such a meal in his 1805 Almanach des gourmands: 'An important dinner normally
comprises four courses. The first consists of soups, hors d'oeuvres, releves, and entrees; the second, of roasts and
salads; the third of cold pasties and various entremets; and lastly, the fourth, of desserts including fresh and stewed
fruit, cookies, macaroons, cheeses, all sorts of sweetmeats, and petits fours typically presented as part of a meal, as
well as preserves and ices.' In describing the different courses, Grimod de la Reyniere puts different types of dishes
in the same category. Some are defined by aspect and mode of preparation...Others are defined by their position and
function in the sequence..."
---Arranging the Meal: A History of Table Service in France, Jean-Louis Flandrin, translated by Julie E. Johnson
[University of California Press:Berkeley] 2007(p. 3-4)

"Many nineteenth-century authors suggested or justified a reduction in the number of courses and dishes. We have
seen that between the sixteenth century and the seventeenth, fewer course came to be served at aristocratic tables.
But their number was far from fixed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Important dinner... usually had five
courses--soups, entrees, roasts, entremets, and dessert...Menon's Cuisiniere bougreoise, published in 1746, offers
one three course menu and two four-course menus, which also differ in how the courses are distributed."
---Arranging the Meal (p. 95)

Details on the courses served in Grimod's period

"A contemporary grand dinner was composed of four services: the first was made up of soups, hors d'oeuvres,
releves and entrees. There might also be a visit from some savoury flying saucer or assiette volante, i.e. things that
must be eaten as soon as they are taken off the spit, out of the oven or off the hob; Grimod gives these examples:
'minute' cutlets, steaks, chicken croquettes, ortolans and other little birds on skewers, little pates, cheese ramequins
or any form of souffle. The second service comprised of roasts and salads, with the obligatory groses pieces
decorating the ends of the table. In general, these remained untouched, for they were more to please the eye than the
appetite and could be anything from a vast mille-feuille to a Nerac terrine, a heap of crayfish or a blue carp. The
third service involved cold pates and entremets, either sweet or savory... The final service was our modern dessert,
with fruits, compotes, jams, biscuits, macaroons, cheeses, petits fours and sweets as well as ices. At a large, formal
dinner, the first service could contain anything up to a hundred dishes. In general, a colour, either white or brown,
predominated...This colour consideration became universal in nineteenth-century cooking."
---A Palate in Revolution: Grimod de La Reyniere and the Almanach des Gourmands, Giles Macdonogh [Robin
Clark:London] 1987 (p. 114)

5 course 17th century French menu

"Under Louis XIV, the menus were magnificent. Doubtless, not all the dishes which figured in the five obligatory
courses which made up the gala banquets were perfectly executed, nor were they as variet as they should have been.
Nevertheless, there were many of them, if one may judge from the menu of the dinner offered by Mme. la
Chanceliere to Louis XIV in 1656 at her Chateau of Pontchartrain...
First course: Eight potted meats and vegetables and sixteen hot hors-d'oeuvre.
Second course: Eight important intermediate dishes called broths. Sixteen entrees of fine meats.
Third course: Eight roast dishes and sixteen vegetable dishes cooked in meat stock.
Fourth course: Eight pates or cold meat and fish dishes and sixteen raw salads, with oil, cream and butter.
Fifth and last course: Twenty-four different kinds of pastries--twenty-four jars of raw fruit--twenty-four dishes of
sweetmeats--preserves, dried and in syrup and jams.
There were, in all, 168 garnished dishes or plates, not counting the various foodstuffs served as dessert."
---Larousse Gastronomique, Prosper Montagne [Crown Publishers:New York] 1961(p. 618)

7 course 19th century French menu

"Soup
The Remove (any combination of meat, game, fish and poultry is permissable)
The Entree (meat, sweetbreads, poultry, fish)
First Entremets (croque-en-bouche, small fish, pate, etc.)
The Roast (centerpiece of the meal)
Second Entremets (cooked vegetables, fruit)
Dessert (cakes, pastries, etc.)"
---Art of Eating in France: Manners and Menus in the Nineteenth Century, Jean-Paul Aron [Harper Row:New York]
1973 (p. 111-114)

17 course "full classic" 20th century menu

"1. Hors d'oeuvre (appetizer): Desined to stimulate the appetite, and hors d'oeuvrew could be a small cold tomato
salad, or crudite, possibly presented on a rolling cart from which several items are served on a small plate by the
waiter and set in front of the guest...
2. Potage (soup): This could be a clear soup, such as bouillon or consomme...
3. Oeufs (eggs): A small omelet or poached or scrambled eggs.
4. Poisson (fish): Usually soft and easily digestible, meant to prepare the appetite for the following courses.
5. Farineaux (starches): Generally a pasta, such as ravioli, gnocchi, spaghetti or...risotto.
6. Entree (light meat): The first meat dish: a small portion of fowl, beef, pork, or lamb, garnished but served
without vegetables when followed by a releve.
7. Sorbet (ice): Sorbets...are served between main courses to cleanse the palate and to prepare the stomach for the
next course. The sorbet course is used as an intermezzo ("intermission").
8. Releve or remove (light meat): This larger course follows, or replaces, the entree. Traditionally, it is a joint of
meat that is carved and served with sauce or gravy, potatoes, and vegetables.
9. Roti (roast): Together with the releve, this course is the main event. Usually roasted game, ofen served with a
small green salad.
10. Legumes (vegetables): The winding down of the meal, these vegetables are usually served with a sauce.
11. Salat (salad): Aids in digestion after the heavy meal and cleanses the palate.
12. Buffet Froid (cold buffet): A small portion of a cold meat (i.e., ham, roast chicken) or fish.
13. Entremets (sweet): In America, this is dessert...
14. Savoureaux (savories): This course is usually served hot on toast; items in include Welsch rarebit, grilled
chicken livers and bacon, or an unsweetened souffle.
15. Fromage (cheese): A cheese cart or platter, brought from table to table, bearing an assortment form which the
guests may choose.
16. Fruit: Fresh, dried or candied.
17. Digestif/tabac (beverages/tobacco): Coffee, tea cordials, brandies, cigars..."
---Remarkable Service, Culinary Institute of America, 2nd edition [John Wiley & Sons:New York] 2009 (p. 32-34)
[NOTE: This book also offers notes on modifying the classic menu.]

Recommended reading (your librarian will help you find these books)

 The Art of Eating in France: Manners and Menus in the Nineteenth Century/Jean-Paul Aron
  Arranging The Meal: A History of Table Service in France/Jean-Louis Flandrin
 European Gastronomy: The Story of Man's Food and Eating Customs/Willi Bode
 "Menus,"Larousse Gastronomique [Crown:New York] 1961 (p. 617-620)
 Historical Banqueting (with menus)

How was the term "menu" derived ?

Word derivations/origins/first use can be found in large, unabridged dictionaries. The Larousse de la Langue
Francaise [Librarie Larousse:Paris] 1979 (p. 1140) confirms the word "menu" has Latin roots. The term has been
used in the French language since the 1080. The word "menu" as it relates to food dates in French print to 1718.
The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition) confirms the English word "menu" was borrowed from the French. The
French borrowed it from the Latin word "minutus," meaning detailed list. According to the OED, the first instance
of the word "menu," as it relates to food, in English dates to 1837. There are other meanings of this word which pre-
and post-date the food relationship.

 What's on the menu?

 Our survey of historic menus
 Historic restaurant menu collections here.

About children's menus

The earliest references we find in print to children's menus (developed specifically for children, not a separate list of
choices printed on the adult menu) are from the late 1930s. These were developed by railroad companies in order to
entertain their youngest customers (thus appeasing their ticket-paying parents).

"Featured by the Frisco is a children's menu card printed in color with pictures of farm and train scenes. One page is
black and white which can be colored with crayons provided by the steward."
---"Rail Notes: Ferry's End," Ward Allen Howe, New York Times, February 27, 1938 (p. 167)

"Parents may share portions with younger members of the family; half portions at half prices are served to children.
Simple and wholesome food is always a concern when the youngsters go on a trip, and the demand for it is met on
many trains by children's menus. The cards, with pictures of nursery-tale characters divert the young patron while
the waiter fetches the well cooked cereal of poached eggs and milk toast."
---"Art of Dining Adjusted to Speed," New York Times, May 22, 1938 (p. 128)

"When children rode the train, special efforts were made to add to their dining pleasure. It might begin with the
steward, cookie jar in hand, passing through the train handing out complimentary between-meal snacks. When he
seated children in the dining car, he might hand each one a peppermint stick. The colorful children's menu,
sometimes with a happy story or interesting facts included, often named the meal as to enhance the fantasy children
exprienece when traveling by train. So chicken soup, a broiled lamb chop, mashed potatoes, carrot sticks and ice
cream became the "Engineer's Special Dinner." Children's mealtime favorites included spaghetti, a broiled
hamburger with French Fried potatoes, and French toast...Every effort was made to ensure that all children ate and
enjoyed their meals, and that memories of the experience lingered with them. They were, after all, the next
generation of riders." ---Dining by Rail, James D. Porterfield [St. Martin's Griffin:New York] 1993 (p. 311)

Children's menus proliferated in the booming years after World War II. They continued the tradition of
entertainment set by the railroads. Family friendly suburban restaurants (Howard Johnson's, for example) were well
known for their creative children's menus in alternative formats.

Online documents from the University of Washington contain three examples of children's menus. The earliest is
dated 1950. Note states menus bgan to be popular in the 1950s.

 Rhodes Mezzanine Tearoom

Description: Rhodes Mezzanine Tea Room, Children's Menu Date: ca. 1950 Notes: Rhodes Mezzanine
Tea Room was located in Rhodes Department Store, 2nd Avenue in downtown Seattle. The Children's
 Menu is die-cut and illustrated in the shape of a circus wagon with a lion inside. The menu features items
for children grouped together under such names as "The Farmer in the Dell" and "Jack Frost" (Egg Salad
Sandwich with Malted Milk). Each meal has an illustration of the particular story for which it is named. For
the "tiny tots" they have a selection of Gerber's baby foods. Children's menus were a trend started during
the baby boom of the late 1940s and lasting into the 1960s, and the Rhodes Mezzanine was a popular place
for ladies and their children during lunch. While there one could request one's favorite tune to be played
live on the pipe organ that resided on Rhodes' Mezzanine.
 Marshall Field's
Descrption: Frederick & Nelson, Paul Bunyan Tiny Tots Menu Date: ca. 1965 Notes: Frederick & Nelson
(Department Store), 5th Avenue & Pine Streets. Illustrated Paul Bunyan Tiny Tots' menu, includes theme
meals, illustrated with clowns, giraffe, Paul Bunyan. Paul Bunyan was also the theme of the soda fountain
restaurant on the basement level. Menu has promotion of Frederick & Nelson children's departments and
activities for children on back.
 Ivar's Indian Salmon House
Description: Ivar's Indian Salmon House Children's Menu Date: ca. 1965 Notes: Ivar's Indian Salmon
House, 401 Northlake Way. Mask die-cut and illustrated with a design of a male Indian's head. There are
eye holes, a cut out for a nose, and rubberbands for fastening the mask around the ears. This child's menu is
from the early days of this restaurant, which later changed its name to Ivar's Salmon House (and still exists
today). Adult menus (and the restaurant itself) are decorated authentic Northwest Indian designs. Child's
menu items are on the back, which is illustrated with totem poles and wetlands.

Howard Johnson's (& other menus) circa 1960s & 1970s.

Modern table service [French, Russian, English & American]

In all societies and times, grand meals composed of several courses require a plan for serving. Modern European
table service traditions center on four distinct, yet related, styles of service: French, Russian,English & American. In
Western cultures, Butler service also figured in.

The evolution of modern table service

The evolution of classic European table service was slow and complicated, especially in England. There, you have
not only service a la Francaise but service l'Anglaise competing with Service a la Russe. Food historians generally
place the beginning of the evolution in dawning decades of the 19th century. The switch is in serious motion by mid-
century. By the 1880s-1890s, Service a la Russe reigned supreme.

"By the close of the eighteenth century the traditional service of meals in the French manner, as it had evolved from
the baroque age, was already under strain. It had begun reasonably enough. A set of dishes was placed on the table
from which people either helped themselves or were assisted by the servants. Everything was arranged in perfect
symmetry, and when one course ended the dishes were cleared and replaced by the next, equally symmetrical
course. The rule that dishes were multiplied in dozens according to the number of guests meant that a table could
end up with as many as hundred dishes on it at a time...By 1800...the range of containers and other tableware had
increased hugely...The consequence was that a vast amount of food went uneaten and...it was inevitably cold or, at
best, lukewarm...in 1838...[in England we find]...a version of the French system known as service a l'anglaise ...This
sort of...[service] would have already been regarded as old-fashioned among the upper classes, who were eagerly
adopting changes which had their origins in France...In June 1810...the Russian diplomat Prince Borisovitch
Kourakine served his guests in an entirely novel manner [service a la Russe]...That new service, with the
opportunities it presented for the ostentatious display, began to gain acceptance and can be seen from the fact
sourtouts a la russe in 1810. Careme...did not favour service a la russe and the traditional method of a la francaise
lingered on until the 1850s...In France it was to take until the last decade of the nineteenth century for service a la
russe to become the norm. Even then for state dinners and great occasions service a la francaise was retained for its
spectacular effect...Only when service a la russe was finally universal could Escoffier establish the sequence of
courses that remains familiar to this day: hors d'oeuvre or soup, fish, meat with vegetables, sweet, savoury and
dessert. In England the move to the new method of service was equally slow. Service a la francaise continued into
the 1870s and 1880s, with the usual two great courses followed by dessert. The vast majority of Mrs. Beeton's 'Bills
of fare' are intended for this system, but she also takes note of the new one...The effect of a la russe, apart from the
hot food, was to multiply the course, but the result was a welcome contraction of the time spent at table. Under the
old system a meal could last for hours. A dinner a la russe lasted an hour and a half at the most...[Service a la Russe]
triumph is...connected with the emergence of an extremely rich new middle class. The opportunity for lavish display
and the need for a small army of servants effectively marked service a la russe as the choice only for those who
could afford it..."
---Feast: A History of Grand Eating, Roy Strong [Harcourt:New York] 2002 (p. 294-299)

"Felix Urbaine Dubois, sometime chef for the King of Prussia...is credited with doing something for the cause of hot
food by being the prime mover in the displacement of service a la francaise by service a la russe. The former phrase
means the method, dating from the Middle Ages...Service a la russe made its appearance in France and England
around mid-century, but was not universally adopted until the 1890s."
---All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present, Stephen
Mennell [Basil Blackwell:Oxford] 1985 (p. 150)

"The nineteenth-century displacement of "French service" by "Russian service" is reputed to be a major event in the
history of table serve. Yet the period when this transition occurred is difficult to pinpoint. It is not even certain that
this tableservice innovation changed anything regarding the order in which dishes were presented. The order of
presentation, however, did not remain static throughout the nineteenth century. All sorts of minor changes were
taking place, some perhaps resulting from the new serving customs. In their 1856 Cuisine classique, Dubois and
Bernard wrote, 'Table service today is generally based on two methods, ' French service and Russian service, which
where a common goal but start from conflicting if not opposite principles. each method has its proponents and
opponents, converts and critics, but both are practiced equally. Cooks to the Prussian King and advocates of the
Russian style...predominated at prestigious French and English tables...This Russian service, which apparently came
to prevail in France only during the second half of the nineteenth century, was already being discussed fifty years
earlier. In the 1804 Almanach des gourmandes, [by] Grimod de La Reyniere..."
---Arranging the Meal: A History of Table Service in France, Jean-Louis Flandrin, translated by Julie E. Johnson
with Sylvie and Antonio Roder [University of California Press:Berkeley CA] 2007 (p. 94)

Mrs. Beeton's observations regarding Service a la russe [1861]

"Note.—Dinners à la Russe differ from ordinary dinners in the mode of serving the various dishes. In a dinner à la
Russe, the dishes are cut up on a sideboard, and handed round to the guests, and each dish may be considered a
course. The table for a dinner à la Russe should be laid with flowers and plants in fancy flowerpots down the middle,
together with some of the dessert dishes. A menu or bill of fare should be laid by the side of each guest. Note.—
Dinners à la Russe are scarcely suitable for small establishments; a large number of servants being required to carve;
and to help the guests; besides there being a necessity for more plates, dishes, knives, forks, and spoons, than are
usually to be found in any other than a very large establishment. Where, however, a service à la Russe is practicable,
there it, perhaps, no mode of serving a dinner so enjoyable as this."
SOURCE: Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management

Additional details & sources here.

Recommended reading:

 Rituals of Dinner/Margaret Visser (pps. 196-210)

 Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America/Andrew F. Smith, "Dining Rooms, Table Settings and
Table Manners" (p. 397-400)
 "Table Service," John Fischer, Gastronomica Aug 2001, Vol. 1, No. 3: 90-91

Service a la Francaise [FRENCH SERVICE]

"Based upon the banquet styles of the sixteenth century, service a la francaise is the most elaborate and labor
intensive of all serving styles. Traditionally, French service at small banquests in large private homes divided a meal
into three separate courses, with much of the food cooked or finished tableside, from a rolling cart or gueridon, in
the dining room. (Tableside cooking first began in Russia and was then further developed into a flourishing service
style in France...)As guests entered the dning room, the first course was already set up...Hot items were brought into
the dining room on silver platters and paced on the gueridon, or covered warmer. After the guests finished a service,
they got up and left the table while it was cleaned and reset for the next service. This second course was the releve
or remove. The first two services of between ten and forty itmes, including soups, game, and roasts. Many of hese
items wer eplaced on the table on platters with serving utensils for what might be referred to as family-style service
today. A third service, the entremets, included a vareity of desserts, savories, puddings, fruits, and nuts."
---Remarkable Service, Culinary Institute of America [John Wiley & Sons:New York] 2009 (p. 42-43)

"Formal dinners in the old style, a la francaise, had evolved from earlier medieval and Renaisance models, and 'set'
as a system in the course of the eighteenth century. Diners...would arrive at table to find it laden with food. Dishes,
candles, salts, and ornaments had been placed with careful attention to the hierarchy of dishes and the position they
could therefore command upon the table, to symmetry (dishes for dinner a la francaise often came in pairs), and to
the relative heights of fruit pyramids and decorative objects. Order was especially important because of the
crowding of the table: table-servants are warned to take care lest dishes 'look as if they had fallen down like
hailstones.' The whole was designed to give an impression of opulence and abundance. The guests at Baroque and
Rococo dinners a la francaise sat much closer to each other than we do, round the edges of the huge table which was
required for the laying out of all the dishes...They were expected to eat from the dishes placed in the immediate
vicinity of their places. It was permissible to ask a servant to pass a helping of something placed some distance
away, especially if the host had recommended it as he spoke is 'menu' at the beginning of the feast, but it was not
done to ask too often. People were more obliged than we are to notice what neighbours were missing and could not
reach, or carve, or cut without their help."
---The Rituals of Dinner, Margaret Visser [Penguin Books:New York] 1991 (p. 198, 201)

"Throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, service a la francaise, or French-style service, remained
de rigueur in elite American homes, and visitors' accounts suggest that dining at Jefferson's table was no exception.
This mode of entertainment gained favor in France among medieval nobility and soon spread throughout much of
Europe. Although dining etiquette developled over the centuries, the tenets of service a la francaise remained largely
unaltered and were heralded in early America. Fashionable hosts strictly followed the style's edicts, which reflected
hierarchy, balande, and symmetry so admired in the period. French-style service commonly dictated two to four
courses, each consisting a of an even number of dishes placed symmetrically around a centerpiece, such as a large
roast or a decorative serving vessel. Dishes were divided into classes and hierarchally arranged, with those
belonging to lesser classes surrounding those of greature stature. The number of diners determined the quantity of
dishes served. A three-course dinner for eight, for example, could require as many as twenty-four separate dishes.
As the number of guests increased, so did the variety of foods presented. Service a la francaise was more than
simply a style of eating; it was a mode of entertainment--one that began the moment guests entered the diningroom.
There to greet them stood a table fully set with silver, glass, and great platters and tureens filled and at the ready,
encouraging the appetite and impressing the senses. Above all, service a la francaise emphasized an orderly and
grand presentation of dishes that showcased a host's resources and culinary savoir-faire. Evidence suggests that
Jefferson regarded French-style service as at once the epitome of fashionable entertaining and a mere template. It
guided his decisions and influenced his taste, but, in the end, he used the principles of this revered serve to create a
dining style that was uniquely his own. Jefferson combined French-style elegance and cuisine with his own
democratic sense of style, inspiring one guest to note, 'In his entertainmnets, republican simplicity was united to
Epicurean delicacy.'"
---Dining at Monticello, Damon Lee Fowler editor, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. [University of North
Carolina Press:Chapel Hill NC] 2005 (p. 14) [NOTE: This is a great book! Your local public librarian can help you
get a copy.]

Service a la Russe [RUSSIAN SERVICE]

"Russian or Platter service. Russian service, which is used mostly for banquets, is less showy than French service,
but it is quicker and no less elegant. Speed replaces showmanship, though there is skill involved. The main goal of
Russian or platter service is to assure the guest receives fully cooked, hot food serviced in a swift and tasteful
fashion...In Russian service, all food is fully cooked and artfully arranged and garnished on large platters in the
kitchen. With the server's right hand, empty plates are set in from the guests's right, begining with the first woman
seated at the host's left. The server moves clockwise around the table. The platters of food are carried to the dining
room by a server and presented to the table. The server then begins with the first woman seated at the host's right,
displays the food from the left, and serves the desired portion..."
---Remarkable Service (p. 44)

"Service a la Russe is what replaced Service a la Francaise, in Britain and elsewhere in Europe (France, Germany),
in the course of the 19th century. This new style of table service provided for dishes being served to guests at their
seats by servants who handed them round. It therefore required more servants. There was also the need for table
decorations to take up the spaces which the dishes themselves would have occupied under the old system."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2nd ed., 2006 (p. 712)

"In June 1810...the Russian diplomat Prince Borisovitch Kourakine served his guests in an entirely novel manner.
Instead of entering and finding the food en tableau, there was no food on the table at all. The centre as on the
contrary adorned with a galleried chemin de table on which stood candelabra...once the guests were seated... each
diner was presented by a footman with an already-filled plate from which to help themselves, with the food prepared
to be eaten, filleted or cut into slices and combined with the appropriate sauce, garniture or side dish. A series of
courses were served in this way, each arriving from the kitchens ready dressed...The food arrived...far hotter and
everyone for the first time had a chance to sample some of everything. The new form of service cane to be known as
service a la russe. It gradually spread through Western Europe, although it took a whole century to do so."
---Feast: A History of Grand Eating, Roy Strong [Harcourt:New York] 2002 (p. 297-298)

Service a l'Anglaise [ENGLISH SERVICE]

"English and family servce conjures nostalgic images of families gathered around a steaming roast on Sunday
afternoon...In restaurants and country clubs, this style of servcie is usually reserved for private rooms or special
group dinners, where guests want to mimic a home-style setting while still being waited on. Plates are preset and the
server moves clockwise around the table when clearing used plates. As with Russian and butler service, all food is
fully cooked in the kitchen. The host, or perhaps the maitre d'hotel, carves the meat (or whatever the main dish
happens to be), and passes it to the nearest diner who in turn passes it along the table...The host generally serves
soup into bowls, which are then passed around the table. Side dishes arrive from the kitchen in large serving platters
and guests help themselves, or the host may plate the side dishes before passing the plates. Alternatively, serving
dishes can be placed on a sideboard, from which the server plates of all the food, and then presents it to the guests.
Variations on this less formal style of serving are becoming popular in the United States, especially new American
restaurants and grills that want to create a more family-like ambience...Family style is similar to English style,
except that all of the foods are place don the table in large serving dishes, and guests help themselves."
---Remarkable Service (p. 47)

"An amateur watercolourist named Ellen Mary Best recorded the first course of a dinner as it awaited the entry of
the guests at a surgeon's house in York in 1838. All the food is already placed on the table. This was for a version of
the French system known as service a l'anglaise, in which the hostess served the soup and the host carved the joint at
table. The service. The soup tureen can be seen at one wend with a stack of plates next to it., The hostess would
serve the soup, which was then delivered to a diner by a servant. When the soup had been consumed, the cloche
covering the roast at the opposite end of the table would be removed so that the host could proceed with carving. At
this point, the lids would have been simultaneously lifted from the various other tureens. Here again, the servants
assisted with the serving. Warm plates may have been brought in from the kitchen or fetched from a plate-warmer
by the fire. The hot dishes can be seen to be standing on placemats to prevent scorching the table's surface and each
couvert has bread and a napkin flanked by a knife and fork only (the spoon is oddly missing, as are any side plates).
We are one year into the reign of Queen Victoria."
---Feast: A History of Grand Eating, Roy Strong [Harcourt:New York] 2002 (p. 296)

Butler Service
"The procedures for butler service are the same as those for Russian service, except that the guests serve themselves
with provided utensils from the platter held by the waiter...Beginning with the woman to the host's right, the butler
offers from the left, moving counterclockwise around the table, holding the platter in both hands."
---Remarkable Service (p. 46)
Service a l'Americaine [AMERICAN SERVICE]
"The common style of setting-in plates in the United States is from the guest's left with the left hand. This is
believed to have its origins in American homes with limited staff. The maid would clear a dirty plate from the right
with the right hand, and immediately set-in the filled plate with the right hand, and immediately set set-in the filled
plate from the sideboard for the next course with the left. It was considered a breach of etiquette for a guest to sit at
your table without a plate in front of them. Among the least formal styles of service, and by far the most
widespread...In American service all cooking and plating of food is completed in the kitchen. A waiter picks up the
plated food, carries to the dining room, and sets-in the plates in front of the guests from the right with the right hand
(although some restaurants prefer service to be from the left, with the left hand). This allows two or three plates to
be held in the left hand and the arm while serving with the right. For small parties (less than three guests),women are
served first, moving clockwise around the table, then men. For larger parties, the woman to the left of the host is
served first. The server then procedes, serving each guest in turn, moving clockwise around the table, finishing with
the host. If there is no obvious host, the server may begin with any woman and procede as usual..."
---Remarkable Service (p. 48)

Charles Ranhofer's notes, circa 1893 here

[Use your browser's "find" feature to locate text.]...also includes notes on French & Russian service

Why do American restaurants serve water before the meal?

Excellent question. The answer depends, in part, upon the restaurant.

EUROPEAN TRADITION
"A few French and Italian restaurants here follow the European custom of not serving water at the table when wine
is ordered. Is that proper? Water always should be served, especially in this country. True, in France and in many
parts of Italy, water is not drunk at all, because it is not fit to drink. But French etiquette demands that water be
served at formal diners. And American authorities on etiquette all include a glass of water in table settings. Of
course, doctors advise that water should be drunk between meals, not with food. But a sip of water in the midst of
dinner clears the palate and quenches the thirst, which wine does not do."
---"Food News: Letter Box...Read Queries on Water at Table...," June Owen, New York Times, March 30, 1957 (p.
23)

"Water glasses should be filled three-fourths." 

---Mrs. Allen on Cooking, Menus, Service, Ida C. Bailey Allen [Doubleday:Garden City NY] 1929 (p. 865)

Practical promotion
Wall Drug, circa 1930s [Wall, South Dakota]. This rural prairie waystation became world-famous by offering "free
ice water" to every visitor. By the time folks arrived in town, they were weary and parched. The promotion still
works today (we've been there, the water every bit as refreshing today as it was seventy years ago. History here.

Industry standard
Soda fountain experts in 1920 relay this: "It is customary to serve a glass of iced water with all sundaes. This should
not be omitted, and do not wait for the customer to ask for it."---The Dispenser's Formlary, compiled by the Soda
Fountain, ( trade magazine) [Soda Fountain Publications:New York] 1925 (p. 104)
[NOTE: The book does not offer any specific reason for the practice. This topic merits additional research.]

Deought restrictions
In recent years, several parts of the USA have experienced drought restrictions. The translates into either voluntary
or mandatory water restrictions in restaurants. During those times it is common practice to offer, rather than
automatically serve, water to customers at table.

Automats
Mr. Joseph Horn and Mr. Frank Hardart launched their restaurant empire in 1888 in a tiny 15 stool lunchroom in
central Philadelphia with $1,000 borrowed from a family member and a recipe for coffee. The restaurant was
successful and before long the Horn and Hardart Baking Company operated several lunchrooms throughout Philly.
In 1900 Mr. Hardart traveled to Berlin and visited the Quisiana Company Automat, a "waiterless restaurant." He
was soon convinced the automat represented the food service wave of the future. It was simple, efficient and
sanitary. Mr. Hardart ordered automat machinery for his company. In 1902, the very first Horn & Hardart automat
opened at 1818 Chestnut St, Philadelphia. In 1912 the first H & H opened in New York City, smack in the middle of
Times Square.

Automat technology was patented by inventor John Fritsche and assigned to Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart. [ USA
patent #1,199,066; September 26, 1916]. Several other patents were issued for coffee dispensing systems, automatic
doors, etc. You can read the patents full text via Google (search the three last names listed above). NOTE: Automat
recipes were not patented.

Inexpensive lunchrooms and cafeterias were wildly popular in the dawning decades of the 20th century. They
offered both full and self service. Automats introduced another layer of technology between the diner and the food.
Like today's self-service check-out systems, people had to be trained on the equipment before it caught on. Then, as
now, folks rejected automation because it put people out of work and dehumanized daily experience.

"Display ads in the newspaper made a simple pitch: 'Automat Lunch Room Opens To-Day. New Method of
Lunching. Try it! You'll Like It!!' New Yorkers did like it, once they got the hang of it. Initially, befuddled
customers kept tapping on the little glass windows separating them from the food. Consequently, busboys spent
most of their time running back and forth explaining the system. Once diners mastered the technollogy, they found
that the Automat offered surprisingly good food at a bargain price in attractive surroundings. After taking teir food
from its little compartment, and dropping a nickel in the slot for a cup of coffee...they took their seats at round tables
covered with white milk-glass. At the center of each table, in addition to the standard sugar, salt, and pepper, were
celery salt and Worcestershire sauce...For millions of New Yorkers...the Automat was modern living at its best:
American food served in sleekly designed space using the latest technology..."
---Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York, William Grimes [North Point Press:New York] 2009 (p. 190-191)

Horn and Hardart restaurants were especially popular during the Great Depression years and WWII because they
served inexpensive yet tasty selections. Customers could (and did) sit for hours over a cup of coffee and piece of pie.
Automats were respectable places for unemployed and other folks who had (literally) two nickels to rub together.
After the war, the popularity of automat dining slowly began to fade. Renewed prosperity sent many middle
Americans in search of more expensive (or surburban family-oriented) dining facilties. The company's committment
to high quality food at low cost became an economic drain.

The original Philadelphia H & H automat closed in 1968. Horn & Hardart filed for bankruptcy in 1971. The last
automat (200 E 42nd St., NYC) closed its doors April 10, 1991. A portion of Mr. Hardart's original imported
automat machines from Chestnut St. are currently housed in the National Museum of American History (Palm
Court), Washington DC.

What about the food?

Meals were planned by award-winning chefs and recipes were stored in a safe. Quality control was tantamount to
the operation. Every day the founders and top executives met at what they called the *Sample Table,* to ensure
their recipes were followed to their satisfaction. Consider this review:

"Nickels in slots at Horn & Hardart Automats, which once upon a time yielded only buns, bean pots, fish cakes,
coffee, and such, can nowadays be played cafeteria-wise. Handful of nickels will load your tray with quite a meal,
hot and well prepared. Of the 40 automats, I think you'd particularly like the ones at 545 Fifth Avenue (corner of
45th), and 106 West 50th (new Rockefeller Center), and 104 West 57th."
---Knife and Fork in New York, Lawton Mackall [Doubleday:Garden City] 1949 (p. 146)
How do I find authentic Horn & Hardart recipes?
Evidence suggests that the original recipes used by H & H were closely guarded secrets:

"In the heyday of Automats, recipes were stowed in a safe, and they told not only how to make the food but where to
position it on the plate."
---Last Automat shuts its many little doors forever," Chicago Tribune, April 12, 1991 (p.2).

This might explain why there are only a few H & H attributed recipes printed in books and circulating on the
Internet. Are they authentic? Maybe. We are still researching the topic. According to an article printed in
the Philadelphia Inquirer [August 8, 1994, section D, p. 1: Horn & Hardart foods are back], "Entrepreneurs Aaron J.
Katz and Albert A. Mazzone have recreated recipes from the old Horn & Hardart restaurants..." This article does not
indicate whether these recreations were made from original recipes or the product of a good chef's professional
approximation. Here are the recipes commonly attributed to Horn & Hardart:

 The Automat, Lorraine B. Diehl and Marianne Hardart--baked beans, beef and noodles with
burgundy sauce, chicken potpie, chocolate-chip cookies, creamed spinach, macaroni & cheese,
mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, mashed turnips, oatmeal cookies, pumpkin pie, rice
pudding, tapioca pudding
 New York Cook Book, Molly O'Neill-- baked beans (p. 155), baked macaroni & cheese (p. 248)
 The Automat--macaroni & cheese baked beans & creamed spinach
 [1943]
"Spaghetti and Spinach Au Gratin ...The executive chef of Horn & Hardart's Autmoat
Cafeterias, F.J. Bourdon, sends the writer three good recipes, omitting somment. The one we like
especially is for spaghetti and spinach au gratin.
4 tablespoons buter
4 tablespoons flour
1 pint milk, scalded
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
1/2 pound spaghetti
1 pound spinach, washed and trimmed
Melt the butter, blend in the flour and slowly add the milk, stirring constatnly, preferable with a
wire whisk. Add the mustard, salt and pepper and mix well. Cook for two minutes. Remove from
the fier and add the cheese, mixing until well blended. Meantime, cook separately the spaghetti
and spinach in salted water. When tender, drain and place the spinach in a greased baking dish.
Put the spaghetti on top andcover with the cheese sauce. Cook under a broiler until brown."
---"How Restaurants Do It," Jane Holt, New York Times, May 2, 1943 (p. SM22)<="" ul="">

Recommended reading...your librarian can help you find these:

 The Automat, Lorraine B. Diehl and Marianne Hardart [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2002 
[NOTE: This book is chock full of photos, memories, and historic sidebars.]
 historic overview & pictures
 "Bakery is Seeking Reorganization," James J. Nagel, New York Times, October 23, 1971 (p. 48)
[NOTE: company history & bankruptcy filing.]
 "History of the Automat," Smithsonian Magazine, January 1986 p.50 (10 pps)
 "Last Automat Closes," New York Times, April 11, 1991, p.B1
 "Echoes of the Automat," Supermarket Business, December 1994, p.91 (4 pps)
 "Age of the Automat," Restaurants & Institutions, October 1, 1996 p.57 (4 pps)
 "In Little Boxes, the Automat Lives On," William Maxwell, New York Times, April 5, 1998 (p. CY4)
[NOTE: this article profiles Steve Stollman, NYC purveyor of antique automat equipment.]
 "Meet Me at the Automat," Smithsonian magazine, August 2001
  "When a Nickel Opened Doord: The Automat's Golden Age," Frank J. Prial, New York Times, April 8,
2003 (p. D1)
[NOTE: This article states the price of a cup of coffee rose from a nickel to a dime on November 29, 1950.]

See also: Vending Machines.

Amuse bouche

According to the food writers, amuse-bouche, the practice of offering tiny works of edible art before dinner, is a
French practice that may have originated in the late 20th century as a part of Nouvelle cuisine. The first mention of
"complimentary amuse-bouche" in the New York Times appeared in an advertisement for New Year's Eve dinner at
Gitane, South Orange NJ [December 29, 1985 (p. NJ17)]. References to this item are negligable in the late 1980s-
mid 1990s. From the late 1990s to present references to amuse-bouche proliferate.

"Eating a chef's amuse bouche -- the bite-sized, predinner course sometimes known as an "appeteaser" -- can be like
hearing a great opera singer hum in the shower or watching a pro quarterback play catch in his backyard. Tiny in
scale and largely unrestricted by the concerns of full-scale menu offerings, amuse bouche dishes often serve as a
chef's sketch pad. And many chefs call the modest little offerings one of their favorite preparations to dream up....An
increasingly popular offshoot of ritzy French traditionalism, amuse bouche literally means, "mouth pleaser."
Striving to excite the palate in a mere one or two bites, an amuse bouche often takes shape as a dish that never
would work as an entree. That allows chefs freedom to stretch out and challenge culinary conventions while
pampering guests with a typically free, unannounced sampling of things to come."
---"Amuse Bouche: A Tantalizing Teaser that Whets the Appetite," Andy Battaglia, Nation's Restaurant News, May
1, 2000 (p. 41)

"The amuse bouche (ah-MYOOZ boosh), or palate teaser, is a tiny predinner mouthful that arrives compliments of
the chef. The amuse may be a small fry, but it's becoming the big catch at fine restaurants across the
country."Amuses aren't new, but they're more popular than ever," says Jean Joho, chef-owner of Chicago's Everest.
He offers every patron his signature creation, cauliflower fondant with caviar...Though hors d'oeuvres are also
miniature morsels, they're not amuses. "An hors d'oeuvre or canape is something that's passed around when people
are standing up at a cocktail party or reception," Kinch says. "Amuses are usually served with a knife and fork." Or a
cup. Kinch and other chefs sometimes offer a soup or consomme amuse, served in espresso cups...When the
nouvelle cuisine movement ushered in an era of smaller portions, amuses gave diners an extra bite and chefs an
extra chance to strut their culinary stuff. But when the popularity of nouvelle waned, so did that of the
minimouthfuls. "Amuses became unfashionable during the late '80s, but recently they've returned to fashion," Joho
says. "I'm a fan of serving them because it's a way of being creative." Traditionally, an amuse is offered before the
appetizer, but it may show up at other times. "You can have a predessert amuse," Kinch says . "A sorbet or granita
served between the main course and dessert fits the amuse category.""
---"Bite-size amusements Tiny palate teasers whet trendy diners' appetites," Cathy Hainer, USA Today, February 26,
1999 (p. 9)

"Amuse-bouche...are today what hors d'oeuvres were to America in the 1950s: a relatively unknown freature of
French culinary tradition that, once introduced, immediately became standard fare. Chefs at many fine restaurants
offer guests an amuse-bouche...before the meal is served." (inside book jacket) "I vividly recall my first trip to
France in 1980...I grabbed a cab and raced to Paris, worried I might miss my reservation at Jamin, Joel Robuchon's
famed restaurant...Once I was seated...a tiny bite of ethereal food was placed in front of me. It was my very first
exposure to the custom of greeting a diner with amuse-bouche." 
---Amuse-Bouche, Rick Tramonto [Random-House:New York] 2002 (introduction page xiii)

Chefs tables

Our research suggests "Chefs Tables," as we know them today, are a modern twist on a century-old French tradition.
Historic newspaper articles confirm this dining option was available, by invitation only, in the US in the second half
of the 20th century. Chef's Tables, as a public dining option, were actively promoted by celebrity restauranteurs in
the 1990s. What is old becomes new.

We find nothing in our French culinary history resource specifically discussing Chef's tables. The tradition of chefs,
cooking staff and waitstaff dining together before serving the night's meal is hundreds of years old. This reason
entirely practical:

1. Staff needed to be fueled before the long night ahead.

2. Waiters tasting the day's special offerings were better informed when it came to making suggestions to
patrons.

"Pat Nixon and Spiro Agnew were guests several years ago at 'chef's table' dinner at the Century Plaza Hotel. In fact,
celebrities are often invited to the chef's tables in fine hotels in the United States. The custom of inviting selected
people to dine at the chef's table, located in the chef's office in the hotel's kitchen, was started in France at least 100
years ago. Invitation to dine where the chef and his assitants have their meals are usually reserved for special
occasions and generally are issued to preview a new entree, to introduce a new chef or to taste the menu the chef
recommends for a special dinner. It has always been the custom to keep seating at the 'chefs table' to 10 or fewer."
---"Special Few Get Dining Preview," Mary Lou Hopkins, Los Angeles Times, August 21, 1980 (p. OC-C7)

"In Europe, the chef's table for more than a century has been the place for entertaining friends and family of the
chef. After reading about the custom, Charlie Trotter decided to have a chef's table in his kitchen when he opened
his eponymous restaurant in Chicago in 1987...Chefs' tables are proliferating in all parts of the country."
---"The Chef's Table: Someone's in the Kitchen with the Cooks," New York Times, October 27, 1993 (p. A1)

Charlie Trotter's currently offers diners a kitchen table experience. "Most agree the chef's table got its start in Europe
more than a century ago. Chefs, who worked long hours, wanted to see their family and friends so they fed them in
the kitchen. The concept has evoled into a feast of a dinner than can include six to 12 smaller-sized courses,
specially concocted after guests choose their wine or other beverages. many cheftfs' tables are so popular they are
booked for weeks, often months, in advance. Trotter, for example, claims his table is the most sought after in
Chicago. So who would be willing to shell out as much as $100 to $150 a person...to dine in a busy kitchen? Some
are celebrities who want to avoid pointing fingers and autograph hounds...Some are business types looking to stage
the ultimate power meal. And still others are out to impress a date or celebrate a special occasion. David Brill, a
restaurant consultant, puts it another way. 'Basically, it's for the chef's friends...'...Even Trotter admits that life at a
chef's table doesn't always go as planned...He also runs into the occasionally rowdy group that has to be asked to
quiet down while in his kitchen. On the flip side, a chef's table helps set a restaurant aparat in cities that are saturated
with eateries." ---"Fad or favoritism? The chef's table is all the rage today," Martha Irvine, Philadelphia Tribune,
September 1, 1998 (p. 2B)

Coffee house menus

Food historians tell us food served in coffee houses was generally a prix fix affair with a set menu established daily
by the proprietor. Similar to the bills of fare served at contemporary taverns, inns, and boarding houses. The primary
purpose of coffee houses was intellecutal stimulation, sharing news, conducting business transactions and fostering
social comraderie. Food was served, but it wasn't featured. Some American coffee houses also proffered finer dining
options. Sadly, these early bills of fare were not preserved. What we know about the foods served in these
establishments is gleaned from primary sources: inventories, ledgers, letters, and journals.

A short course in the genesis of European coffee houses:

"Once the Ethiopians discovered coffee it was only a matter of time until the drink spread through trade with the
Arabs across the narrow band of the Red Sea... While coffee was first considered a medicine or religious aid, it
soom slipped into everyday use. Wealthy people had a coffee room in their homes, reserved only for ceremonial
imbibing. For those who did not have such private largesse, coffe houses, known as kaveh kanes, sprang up. By the
end of the fifteenth century, Muslim pilgrims had introduced coffee throughout the Islamic world in Persia, Egypt,
Turkey, and North Africa, making it a lucrative trade item. As the drink gained in popularity throughout the
sixteenth century, it also gained its reputation as a troublemaking brew. Various rules decided that people were
having too much fun in the coffee houses...Why did coffee drinking persist in the face of persecution in these early
Arab societies? The addititive nature of caffeine provides one answer... yet there is more to it. Coffee provided an
intellectual stimulant, a pleasant way to feel increased energy without any apparent ill effects...In 1616 the Dutch,
who dominated the world's shipping trade, managed to transport a [coffee] tree to Holland from Arden...At first
Europeans didn't know what to make of the strange new brew. In 1610 traveling British poet Sir George Sandys
noted that the Turks sat "chatting most of the day" over their coffee, which he described as "blacke as soote, and
tasting not much unlike it."...Europeans eventually took to coffee with a passions...In the first half of the seventeeth
century, coffee was still and exotic beverage, and like other such rare substances as sugar, cocoa, and tea, initailly
was used primariy as an expensive medicine by the upper classes. Over the next fifty years...Euroepans were to
discover the social as well as the medicinal benefits. By th 1650s coffee was sold on Italian streets by
aquadedratajho, or lemonade vendors, who dispensed coffee, chocolate, and liquor as as well. Venice's first
coffeehosue opened in 1683...Surprisingly...the French lagged behind the Italisans and British in adopting the
coffeehouse...It wasn't until 1689 when Francois Procope, and Italian immighrant, opened his Cafe de Procope
directly opposite the Comedie Francaises, that the famous French coffeehouse took root...The French historian
Michelet described the advent of coffee as "the auspicious revolution of the times, the great envent which created
new customs, and even modified human temperament."...The coffeehouses of continental Europe were egalitarian
meeting places where..."men and women could, without impropriety, consort as they had never done before. They
could meet in public places and talk."...Coffee arrived in Vienna a bit later than in France...Coffee and coffeehouses
reached Germany in the 1670s. By 1721 there were coffeehouses in most major German cities...Coffee and coffee
houses took London by storm. By 1700 there were more than two thousand London coffeehouses, occupying more
premises and paying more rent than any other trade. They came to be known as penny universities, because for that
price one could purchase a cup of coffee and sit for hours listening to extraordinary conversations...Each
coffeehouse specialized in a different type of clientele. On one, physicians could be consulted. Other served
Protestants, Puritans, Catholics, Jews, literati, mercahnts, traders, fops, Whigs, Torries, army officers, actors,
lawyers, clergy, or wits....Not that most coffeehouses were universally uplifting places; rather, they were chaotic,
smelly, wildly energetic, and capitalistic."
---Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed our World, Mark Pendergrast [Basic
Books:New York] 1999 (p. 6-13)

"The first British coffee house was opened in Oxford in 1650 by Jacob, a Turkish Jew. Two years later, Pasqua
Rosee, who was either Armenian or Greek, opened one in London. Coffee has been seen as a subversive substance
at various points in its history. At one time, Islam perceived the convivality it fostered as a threat to religious life;
the mosques were empty, the coffee houses full."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2nd edition 2006 (p. 201)

About coffee houses in colonial & early America

Early American movers and shakers met in coffeehouses, taverns and other public dining venues. Coffee houses,
descending from European roots, became hotbeds of commerce and political discourse. Why coffee houses?
Because they offered decisionmakers a place to conduct business without the aid (or distraction) of alcohol. It is
interesting to note that early American coffee houses were not alcohol-free. In order to stay is businesss, a savvy
owner had to cater to all beverage tastes. Special rooms or whole floors were designated "coffee" areas.

"New York coffee houses in the eighteenth century followed the European mould as centres of business and politics
but failed to emulate their literary cast...Coffee houses frequently doubled as court house and council chambers...and
during the Revolution were a vital nexus for spreading the news. The Exchange Coffee House was opened in the
1730s and became an unofficial auction house and commodity exchange. It moved several times and was soon
ecliped by the Merchants' at the corner of the present Wall and Water Streets...During the war of Independence the
Merchants' was effectively the seat of the revolutionary government...When the British occupied the city, it became
the loyalist centre of trading and news..."
---Coffee: A Dark History, Antony Wild [W.W. Norton:New York] 2005 (p. 135-6)
"Toward the end of the seventeenth cnetury the fashion for coffee and chocolate houses of the kind then the rage in
London (which had two thousand of them by 1698) hit American shores as a diversion from the more ruffian
taverns. In 1670 Dorothy Jones of Boston announced she would be serving coffee and chocolate in her new
establishment, and the idea caught on fast. In the same year the New York Merchants' Coffee House opened, later
earning the reputation as being "birthplace of the American Union." Coffeehouses were considered somewaht more
civilized than taverns for gentlemen to meet it, although alcohol and food were served in both. In the next century
coffee houses grew into lavish establishments, like New York's Tontine Coffee House, which was built in 1794 on
the corner of Wall and Water Streets. It housed the stock exchange and insurance offices...the Tontine had...a
tearoom, a dining room, mahogany furniture, and crystal chandeliers, all of which drew a rising middle class whose
expectations of comfort were increasingly a matter of competition among tavernkeepers...New York's Tontine
eventually offered at least a dozen dishes a day."
---America Eats Out, John Mariani [William Morrow:New York] 1991 (p. 18-19)

Recommended reading: Rum, Punch & Revolution: Taverngoing & Public Life in Eighteenth-Century
Philadelphia/Peter Thompson

Ancient Roman cook-caterers

"Slaves did the cooking (everyone but the poorest Romans had at least one or two), leaving the mistress of the house
free to oversee the acquisition of supplies and the state of stock on hand. The richest people even had well-paid
cooks (coci); those unable to afford a regular cook hired on when needed for a banquet."
---A Taste of Ancient Rome, Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa, tranlsated by Anna Herklotz, forward by Mary Taylor Simeti
[University of Chicago Press:Chicago] 1992 (p. 21)

"The Roman matron didn't cook. In all other countries and provinces a woman's place was in the kitchen, but in
Rome cooking was a slave's job...Famous gourmets, like Lucullus and Apicious, were a dab hand with the pots and
pans but so too were emperors, like Vitellius and Heliogabalus. True gourmets found cooking too important to leave
it to slaves: Alexis also makes it clear in the play The Pit' that the art of cooking is a fitting occupation of the
freeborn. For the cook in that play is far from being a bumpkin. Indeed, the cookery writers Kerakleides and
Glaucus of Locris also clearly state that the art of cookery should not be left to slaves or even to ordinary freedmen.'
(Anth. XIV-661e)...On special occasions a hired cook came to demonstrate his arts. The plays o f Plautus, form the
third century BC, feature many commercial cooks. They are independent-minded, humorous figures, with a
tendency to boast. As freelance businessmen they sometimes had their own retinue of slaves--kitchen helpers, but
also waiters, flautists and dancers--so that they could provide complete party service. The chef was called the
archmagirus, or magirus, the sous-chef was the vicarius supra cocos, and there were other cooks below him. Some
rich people owned hundreds of cooks, whom they took with them when they travelled. Others hired additional cooks
only for parties. Most cooks, however, were slaves, with all the restrictions that that implied...Cooks were for sale in
the slave markets as bakers, grinders, buyers, carvers, chefs and so on. The question of finding the right person for
the right job. This was no simple matter, because the slaves were in competition with each other...Heavy demands
were made of a cook: the playwright Nicomedes insisted on an understanding of astrology, mathematics, medicine
and art..."
---Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome, Patrick Faas [Palgrave McMillan:New York]
1994 (p. 125-8)

"Cooks were highly paid and sought-after professionals. From the fifth century BC many cookbooks were written by
philosophers, physicians, cooks and gourmets for the instruction of philosophers, physicians, cooks and gourmets.
Unfortunately, with the exception of a compilation or recipes that survived in two manuscripts from the late fourth
or early fifth centuries inder the name of Apicius, and the massive work of Atheneus from the end of the second or
the beginning of the third century, none survived. The Deiphosophistae of Athenaeus is, on the other hand, a
treasure trove of information, gossip, legend, literary quotation, ethnography, potted history, philosophical and
medical lore and the like, all centered around dining, food and drink. ..They claim that the good cook must penetrate
nature, know something about medicine, about the seasons, the setting and rising of the stars, in order to be able to
prepare food that is nourishing and will be properly digested and exhaled'...On a less exhalted plane, cooks claimed
to know what was good for digestions, for promoting regularity, and for averting all sort of sicknesses and plagues
and chills."
---From Feasting to Fasting, Veronika E. Grimm [Routledge:London] 1996 (p. 46-7)

Chefs & chef's uniforms

Chefs, as we know them today, evolved from several distinguished lines of professions engaged in cooking-for-
hire. Antonin Careme is generally credited for elevating this profession to modern status and establising the chef's
uniform.

"Chef. A person who prepares food as an occupation in a restaurant, private house or hotel...Chefs have occupied an
important role in society from the 5th century BC onwards and in the Middle Ages, with the creation of guilds, they
constituted a hierarchical community. In France, in the reign of Henri IV, the guilds split up into several separate
branches: rotisseurs were responsible for la grosse viande (the main cuts of meat), patissiers dealt with poultry, pies
and tarts, and vinaigriers made the sauces. The traiteurs (caterers) included the master chefs, the cooks and the porte-
chapes (the chape was a convex cover to keep dishes hot), and they had the privilege of organizing weddings and
feasts, collations and various meals at home. These chefs cuisiniers (head cooks), as they were now called, served a
period of apprenticeship, at the end of which they had to create a masterpiece of meat or fish. High-ranking chefs
were revered, and some of them, like Taillevent, were raised to the nobility. The most famous of all was
undoubtedly Careme. Under the Ancien Regime, a distinction was made between the officier de cuisine, who was
the actual cook, and the officier de bouche, who was in fact the butler...From the 19th century onwards, chefs wore a
large white hat to distinguish them from their assistants...It seems that the hat first made its appearance in the
1820s."
---Larousse Gastronomique, Completely Revised and Updated [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2001 (p. 264-5)

"Chef is a French word, which has entered other languages, denoting a professional cook. It is a contraction of the
phrase chef de cuisine hence originally a description of rank as much as, if not more, than, occupation...Although
there had obviously always been cooks in charge of other cooks--there is the 15th-century description of the chief
cook whos job was tasting and testing, not cooking--the phrase itself did not appear before the beginning of the 19th
century, passing quickly from France to England and other countries...Before that chefs were called cooks,
sometimes qualified as man-cooks, master-cooks, cook-maids, professed cooks, principal cooks, or even (in the case
of La Chapelle on the title-page of The Modern Cook, 1733) chief cook'. In particularly grand and conservative
establishments in France before the Revolution, the head cook might be called ecuyer de cuisine, supported by ranks
of specialists such as rotisseurs, patissiers, and so forth, as well as a body of cuisiniers...The adoption of a new
professional description must surely reflect a change in cooks' circumstances...Into this vacuum floated the
possibility of a new breed of cook: the artist-cook, described with eloquence and conviction by the most influential
practitioner and writer of the decades, Antonin Careme, who both orchestrated developments in contemporary haute
cuisine and acted as role model to many aspiring cooks...Careme offered an intellectual platform for cooks to
redefine their professional status, while the way in which high cookery was developing towards stratified working
methods to achieve complex culinary ends gave practical reasons for at least some cooks to rise to the top of the
heap...In his own writings, Careme refers to the rank of chef de cuisine..It was the invation of territory hitherto
occupied by the steward of the household (in England) that gave the cook new status...when the cook began to
compose his own menus as well as design his own pieces montees and supervise the order of service, it was a
defininate extension of his duties into the realm of steward, and would be utter conquest when the clerk of the
kitchen and provision of all supplies became subject to the chef as well. The job definitions of the British cook and
author Charles Elme Francatelli (1805-76), a student of Careme's, indicate the shifts in function. At the outset of his
career he was the chef de cuisine...In its passage into other languages, particularly English, the word chef has come
to stand alone, and describe function more than status...Victor Hugo, discussing Careme's patronage of the arts
during his time with James de Rothschild, calls him cuisiner...never chef; the French trade association was one of
cuisiniers, not chefs...It was in fact the organizational reforms by Escoffier's generation that caused the extension of
the term chef' to a wider body of workers....Chefs were invariably male, largely because a large restaurant kitchen
was a man's world. Women who worked commercially remained cook, cuisiners, or "meres" such as Mere Poulard
of omelette fame. Since technology and social progress have allowed the entry of more women into the once all-
male brigades, so they have also been given the same titles."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 158-162)
[NOTE: This book has far more information than can be paraphrased here. See also the entry for "Cook." Ask your
librarian to help you find a copy.]

Who was Antonin Careme?

Careme was one of the most famous culinary figures of the 19th century. He is credited for several significant
professional reforms and elevating the profession of chef to the status we know today.

"Careme, Marie-Antoine( known as Antonin) French chef and pastrycook (born Paris, 1783; died Paris, 1833). Born
into a large and very poor family, the young Careme was put out on the street at the age of ten, to be taked in by the
owner of low-class restarurant at the Maine gate; where he learned the rudiments of cookery. At 16, he became an
apprentice to Bailly of the Rue Vivienne, one of the best pastrycooks in Paris. Amazed by Careme's abilities and
willingness to learn, Bailly encouraged him, in particular by allowing him to study in the print-room of the National
Library. Here Careme copied architectural drawings, on which he based his patisserie creations; these were greatly
admired by Baily's customers, including the First Consul himself. Careme met Jean Avice, an excellent practitioner
of cuisine, who also advised and encouraged him. Then the young man's talents became noticed by Tallyrand, who
was a customer at Bailly's and he offered to take Careme into his service. Careme's genius. For 12 years Careme
managed the Tallyrand kitchens. The culinary and artistic talents of his chef enabled Tallyrand to wield gastronomy
effectively as a diplomatic tool. Careme also served the Prince Regent of England, the future King George IV, and
was then sent to the court of Tsar Alexander I; he was responsible for introducing some classic Russian dishes into
French cuisine, including borsch and koulibiac. Careme numbered among the other employers the Viennese Court,
the British Embassy, Princess Bagration and Lord Steward. He spent his last years with Baron de Rothschild and
died at 50, burnt out by the flame of his genius and the charcoal of the roasting-spit' (Laurent Tailhad), but having
realized his dream: To publish a complete book on the state of my profession in our times.' The works written by
Careme include Le Patissier pittoresque (1815), Le Maitre d'hotel francais (1822), Le Patissiere royal parisien
(1825), and, above all, L'Art de la cuisine au XIXe siecle (1833). This last work was published in five volumes; the
last two were written by his follower, Plumery... Careme's contribution. A theoretician as well as a practitioner, a
tireless worker as well as an artistic genius., Careme nonetheless had a keen sense of fashionable and entertaining.
He understood that the new aristocracy, born under the Consulat, needed luxury and ceremony. So he prepared both
spectacular and refined recipes, including chartreuses, desserts on pedastals, elaborate garnishes and
embellishments, new decorative trimmings and novel assemblies. A recognized founder of French grand cuisine,
Careme placed it at the forefront of national prestige. His work as theoretician, sauce chef, pastrycook, designer and
creator of recipes raised him to the pinnacle of his profession...Careme was proud of his unique art: sensitive to
decoration and struck on elegance, he always has a sense of posterity. He wanted to create a school of cookery that
would gather together the most famous chefs, in order to set the standard for beauty in classical and modern
cookery, and attest to the distant future that the French chefs of the 19th century were the most famous in the
world'...Careme was also concerned with details of equipment. He redesigned certain kitchen utensils, changed the
shape of saucepans to pour sugar, designed moulds and even concerned himbself with details of clothing, such as the
shape of the hat."
---Larousse Gastronomique, completely revised and updated edition [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2001 (p. 220-1)

Recommended reading: Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Careme, the First Celebrity Chef/Ian Kelly

Why (in history) were most chefs men?

Chefs were traditionally men for the same reasons as lawyers, doctors, professors, military officers, clerics. In most
cultures, professional positions of power were restricted to free males. Only recently have women begun to break
these ranks.

Who was the first recorded chef in the world?

Interesting question. The food history books do not offer a simple answer. Instead, they describe the history and
evolution of the profession we now call chef'. In sum, people have been cooking grand meals for others for
thousands of years. They were not called chefs, however. The culinary profession was stratified by guilds during the
Middle Ages. Some of these guilds (think labor unions) had the word "chef" in the title. "Chef cuisiner," or head
cook was one of these. Many significant professional reforms were made in the early 19th century, including the
eventual elevation of chef cuisiner (chief cook) to one in charge of all aspects of kitchen management. Many of the
most famous "chefs" (as we think of them today) were not called such during their own times.

Food historians generally credit Apicius (4th century?), a Roman cook, for recording (writing) the first cookbook.
There is much discussion regarding the both the author and the cookbook. You will find a brief discussion in Alan
Davidson's Oxford Companion to Food (p. 24). In a broad interpretation of the term chef' Apicius might be the
answer you are looking for. Certainly, recipes were recorded long before Apicius

Recommended reading

 A History of Cooks and Cooking, Michael Symons

---traces the evolution of the culinary profession from ancient times to present
 Haute Cuisine: How the French Invented the Culinary Profession, Amy B. Trubek
---focus on classic French cuisine

ABOUT CHEF'S UNIFORMS

The history and evolution of the chef's uniform is a fascinating and complicated topic. Christine Crawford-
Oppenheimer, The Culinary Institute of America's reference librarian, observes much of the "popular" literature
circulating on this subject falls into the category of folklore. Her research confirms contemporary chef's uniforms
descend from the long march of practical occupational costumes. Case in point? The "Toque Blanche." The term, on
its most basic level, means a fitted white headcovering. Primary evidence confirms headgear worn by head chefs
through the years varied according to culture and period. Long before the "Toque Blanche" denoted a striking
headpiece visually calling out kitchen rank, it referred to a respected gastronomic fraternity. It was not until the 20th
century that tall, white, pleated culinary crowns reigned supreme. Black chef's toques offer their own curious
parallel history. Scholars like Ms. Crawford-Oppenheimer challenge us to question tantalizing stories of chef-wear
resulting from cooks hiding in early Greek [Byzantine] monasteries and 100 pleats for 100 ways to prepare eggs.
"Facts" repeated by several sources have an insipid way of becoming their own truth.

The Uniform/CIA (perfect for students)

headgear: toques & black caps
coats & jackets
pants & aprons
changing the lady?

"Evolution of chef's dress...this dress is not really of great antiquity but is the outcome rather of gradual evolution. It
appears to have been completely standarized only during the full blossoming of the hotel industry in this [20th]
century. Cooks in medieval kitchen kitchens appeared to work in a variety of costumes of which some sort of apron
would seem to be the only common denominator. Bt Victorian times...There is no doubt that working dress (apart
from its functional purpose) plays an important part in establishing morale and in heightening or diminishing job
prestige...Because of the nature of the work he has to do it is equally important that it is worn with intelligent regard
for its purpose, which includes, importantly, the maintenance of hygiene and the aiding of cool working."
---Chef's Manual of Kitchen Management, John Fuller [Batsford:London] 1962 (p. 19-20)

The Toque, folklore:

"The tall white hat, or toque, symbolizes the art of fine cooking throughout much of the world. Some sources say
that the toque originated in Assyria in the mid-seventh-century B.C., when King Assurbanipal lived in fear of being
poisoned. He required the head cooks in wealthy households to wear pleated cloth headdreses similar to those worn
by the royalty. This headgear served both to identify the cooks of a particular household and to encourage
allegiance. A second legend traces the toque back to antiquity, when rulers presented master culinarians with
bonnet-like caps studded with laurel leaves, emblems of the ruler's office, in a ceremony that marked the beginning
of all official feasts. Yet another tale situates the origin of the toque at the end of the sixth century A.D., when
barbarians from northern Europe overran the Byzantine Empire. To escape persecution, philosophers and artists fled
to Greek monasteries for refuge, where they found themselves in the company of Orthodox priests who enjoyed
good food. This legend tells that many of the refugees became cooks in the monastery kitchens, adopting the
cassock and headgear of the priests to disguise themselves. However, they chose to wear white instead of traditional
black, as a mark of individuality. Of course, none of these accounts can be verified and most likely the chef's toque
evolved over time, with no single country or culture entirely responsible for its creation. The French word toque, by
was of the Spanish toca, originally referred to a head covering worn by both men and women. Eventually, the toque
took the shape of a small, round, close-fitting or "crown" of cloth with a gathering of material that was often pleated
to cover the top of the head. By the sixteenth century, the characteristics of the hat varied from country to
country...we must credit the famous chef Antonin Careme... with bringing the modern toques into the kitchen. He is
said to have been inspired to change his floppy, beret-style cap when he saw a woman wearing a stiff, white hat on
the street one day. 
---"The Chef's Uniform," The Culinary Institute of America, Gastronmica, Winter 2001 (p. 89-90)

"In the days of the ancient Greek and Roman empires, at festivals which lasted weeks...the Master Culinarians, prior
to serving the food, were called before the rulers who crowned them with a bonnet-like cap, studded with laurel
leaves, an emblem of their office. This ceremony marked the beginning of the feast...at noted Papal dinners, where
the food was prepared by monks, we find only that expert culinarians wore the white cap, whereas the novices
remained bareheaded...during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, the ordinary skull caps came into style and these
were worn by apprentices, workers, and expert chefs, varying only in colors according to rank. During the same
period, deeds of exceptional value and creative skill in cookery were rewarded by allowing the creator to wear the
white cap--Toque Blanche--for a period of time befitting the merit of his deed...M. Boucher, chef of the Prince de
Tallyrand in the early part of the 18th century, is credited with having brought the Toque Blanche into mode...An
interesting and unusal story is told of Germain Chevet. Chevet, who was the creator of a rose of rare beauty, was
ordered to cultivate this specie exclusively for Louis XIV, King of France. When Chevet arrived in Paris, during the
outbreak of the French Revolution, he founded a restaurant bearing his name at the Palais Royal which became the
favorite meeting place of the gourmets. This restaurant was surrounded by beds of the famous King's rose, and
Chevet insisted that each member of his culinary staff wear a fresh rose in the crown of his Toque Blanche every
day..."
---"La Toque Blanche," Alfred G. Wagner, Chef, Culinary Review, January 1939 (p. 27)

The facts:

"Of course, the matter of kitchen headgear immediatedly brings to mind the outlandish tower of cloth that is the true
chef's hat, or toque (French for a soft, brimless, usually small hat). Could it be that this evidence had evolved or
been invented for venerable chefs with career-weakened eyes?...The origin of the chef's toque are somewhat
obscure. The distingushed gastronomical authority Andre Simon said that it is a copy of the had worn by Greek
Orthodox priests and dates from a time of upheaval (some say the sixth century A.D.) when "many famous cooks to
escape persecution sought refuge in monasteries." Other investigations into the subject, however, make it clear that
regardless of what may have happened in early Greece, monasteries, today's toque was reinvented around 1900. In
both France and England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, those cooks who bothered with headgear at all
wore a soft cotton hat, or bonnet, that looked very much like a nightcap. The great transition from shapeless to
shaped can be attributed with some certainty to Marie-Antoine Careme, the renowned chef of the early nineteenth
century, who at the time was in the service of the English ambassador to Vienna, Lord Stewart. As Careme wrote in
his Maitre d'Hotel francais (1822), 'Meditating ceaselessly on the elegance of our work, I had dreamed for a long
time of ways to change the manner in which we wear our cotton cap; for it appeared to me absolutely necessary not
to change the cap itself, whose whiteness allies it so well to the rest of our uniform, and whose extreme cleanliness
is the handsomest endowment of the cook. Professionals distinguish themselves by it, and by the order that they
bring to their work...At the time that I had the idea of wearing my cap thus trimmed with a circle of cardboard (one
could make it an octagon), which lends it more grace, I found myself in Vienna during my last stay in 1821. Every
day around eleven in the morning, I repesented the dinner menu to his Excellency Lord S--------. The Ambassador
looked at me, smiled, and said: 'This new style better suits the cook.' I pointed out to his Excellency that a cook
should be the image of good health, while our ordinary cap is more reminiscent of the state of convalescence. My
Lord agreed, and I never gave up my new headgear. My young men took it up, and several cooks of Vienna admired
their newly fashionable selves, never doubting that they would find devotees in Paris.' Careme's modest effort at
bestowing a little "grace" on the chef's cap ushered in a new era of experimentation. The following decades tossed
up a number of new styles, from pill-box shaped porkpie hats...to tam o'shanters...from black berets ato great cotton
puffs swept backwards. Out of the welter of invention arose the modern toque, which Phillis Cunnington and
Catherine Lucas, two historians of English costume, call 'one of the tallest hats ever to dignify a man.' Dignify, they
suggest, is the true meaning of the toque; high hats have quite frequently adorned the leaders of social groups and
lent them a commensuraltey imposing physical stature."
---The Curious Cook, Harold McGee [Macmillan:New York] 1990 (p. 28+)

"Unlike Talleyrand or the Prince Regent...Lord Stewart met his celebrity chef in the kitchens--Careme's domain.
And here, in 1821, he first noticed a difference in his chef's appearance. Antonin had take to wearing a raised hat, a
sort of toque, in contract to the white nightcaps usually worn in kitchens in those days. When Stewart, in his halting
French, asked why, Antonin said he felt a chef should not dress as for a sickbed--perhaps after the unfortunate
demise of La Grande Bagration who never recovered from the 'almost total inactivity' that overcame her on her diet
of pure Careme. Antonin's insistence on stiffening his white hat was imitated first by the chefs of Vienna, then Paris,
and then everywhere. Antonin later published an illustration of the cap, stiffened with a round of cardboard and later
still he even suggested--in an early example of celebrity-chef product endorsement--the best place to buy one: the
bonnetier M. Pannier, on the boulevard de la Madeleine in Paris."
---Cooking for Kings: The Life of the First Celebrity Chef, Ian Kelly [Walker & Company:New York] 2003 (p. 188-
9)

Black caps?

"The mystery of the 'Black Hat Chefs' has been solved thanks to William J. Spry, executive chef, Hotel Dorset,
NYC...Spry, who is a native of England, wrote to his friends there to get the factual history...Here is what he reports:
'In the Middle Ages, British cooking was known as Baronial Cooking. As a tradition the main course of a meal
consisted of huge roasts, barons of beef, lamb, wild boar, or venison were roasted on a spit above a large roaring
fire, which in most casts was beneath a huge chimney breast. The task of suervising this operation was of course
undertaken by the Master Cook. This mean that anyone operating a spit was in danger of his hat receiving a large
amount of soot and debris falling down the chimney. Thus for all practical purposes, the Black Cap was more
serviceable than a white one, and so it evolved that the Master Cook always wore a short Black Cap. As the kitchens
of these Baronial Halls were quite often a considerable distance from the dining hall, the cap of the cook was
pressed flat to enable him to carry the huge platter on his head..."
---"Black Hat Chefs Mystery Solved," Restaurant Exchange News, June 1981 (p. 9)

"The great Alexis Soyer even when in 'whites' did not wear the high bonnet, the toque...but a somewhat flamboyant
creation which approximated to a tasselled beret in black velvet. Even after Soyer's day the white hat was by no
means de rigeur amongst all chefs and in the last ten years of the nineteenth century there were many instances of
chefs like M. Claudius...who wore a headgear something like a librarian's black skull cap. Indeed, in a cookery book
published in 1919 there is a photograph of Victor Hirtzler who was chef of the Hotel St. Francis, San Francisco,
wearing a dark skull cap very much of this pattern. He is dressed otherwise in the chef's costume familiar today. In
this country [UK], a similar black skull cap is still worn by the master cook...at the famous English-style restaurant,
Simpson's in the Strand. It has accordingly been inferred that this is specifically an English cook's distinctive
insignia but as has already been noted there is pictorial evidence that chefs of other nationalities have, in relatively
recent times, sported a head-dress not dissimilar."
---Chef's Manual of Kitchen Management, John Fuller [Batsford:London] 1962 (p. 19-20)

100 pleats for 100 eggs?

"Pleated toques are usually about eight inches high, but chefs in a position of authority can wear hats ten to twelve
inches in height. It is said that the chef's toque blanche has one hundred pleats to represent the one hundred ways to
cook an egg. The pleated white hat remains customary to this day and represents a long tradition in the cooking
profession." 
---"The Chef's Uniform," The Culinary Institute of America, Gastronmica, Winter 2001 (p. 89-90)

"It was regarded as natural that any chef, worthy of the name, could cook an egg at least one hundred ways. Tne
most renowned chefs often...[claimed]...they could serve their royal masters a different egg dish every day of the
year."
---A Pageant of Hats, Ancient and Modern, Ruth Edwards Kilgour [Robert M. McBride:New York] 1958 (p. 382)

Perhaps this is another twist on the classic chicken & egg conundrum? Period & place fit...

"Louis, Marquis de Cussy. One of the wittiest gastronomes of the early 19th century (born Coutances, 1766; died
Paris, 1837). He held the post of prefect of the palace under Napoleon I. If his great friend Grimod de la Reyniere is
to be believed, Cussy invented 366 different ways of preparing chicken--a different dish for each day, even in a leap
year. In 1843 he published Les Classiques de la table, in which he devoted many pages to the history of gastronomy.
He also wrote several articles. As principal steward of the emperor's household, he looked after the wardrobe, the
furniture and the provisions of the court. When Louis XVIII succeeded Napoleon, it is said that at first he refused to
have anything to do with Cussy, but that later, learning that he was the creator of strawberries a la Cussy, he gave
him a post of responsibility. Chefs have dedicated several recipes to him..."
---Larousse Gastronomique, completely revised and updated, [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2001 (p. 389)

About the coat

"Almost as distinguishing as the toque blanche is the veste blanche, or double-breasted white jacket. Its military
style is no accident of fashion. The earliest chefs were servants of kings and could very possibly have been called
upon to serve on the battlefield as well as the dining hall. Much less has been written about the chef's coat than
about the toque. Most references suggest that white was chosen to emphasize good sanitation. Jackets ranged from
long-sleeved coats fashioned after papal dress to costumes derived from rural dress, which included a jacket covered
by a long apron and worn with a knotted kerchief around the neck. The jacket protected the chef from the heat, as it
still does today. The coat has other advantages, as well. A split at the cuff seam allows the cuffs to be turned back,
giving the chef a neat an professional appearance that would be lost through rolled-up sleeves; at the same time it
ensure protection to the forearms and wrists in the event of a splatter or spill. The double-breasted design offers a
quick fix for hiding soiled areas, since the panels can easily be reversed to regain a crisp, white, professional
appearance."
---"The Chef's Uniform," Gastronomica, Winter 2001, Vol. 1, No. 1 (p. 90)

"Changing the lady?" Common sense suggests this phrase describes swapping coat buttons to make clean
appearance. To date, we have not found any definative print references regarding the originator/first date of this
phrase.

Chef's Pants and Apron

"The history of the chef's checkered pants is the most difficult to document. Most sources assume that this fabric
was chosen to camouflage spills. While bakers wore white, chefs turned to either regular black-and-white checks or
a houndstooth pattern, with the exact color and pattern varying from place to place. Some believe that the
houndstooth check originated in the costume of the English master huntsman. Designed with built-in safety features,
chef's pants sometimes have snaps instead fo a zipper so that they can literally be torn away to prevent bodily burns
in the event of an accidental spill. The pant legs are straight, not cuffed or rolled, so that liquids cannot be trapped at
the ankle. The very first chef's uniform was no more than an apron worn to protect clothing from inevitable splashes
and spills. The messier the work, the longer the apron. Butchers wore long aprons; skilled artisans and craftsmen
wore theirs shorter."
---"Chef's Uniform," (p. 90)

Recommended reading: Occupational Costume in England/Phillis Cunnington

Cooking schools
Cooking schools, as we know them today, descended from culinary/cooking training programs run by ruling
households, military organizations and religious establishments (monestaries, abbeys, colleges). Feeding large
numbers of people required massive numbers of well-trained staff. Early cooks learned by doing via apprenticeships.
Antonin Careme is generally credited for elevating the respect of the chef and codifying kitchen staff in the 19th
century.

Who started the first cooking/culinary training school, where and when? The answer depends upon the country and
the definition of "school." Early classes enrolling tuition-paying students were generally conducted in private
quarters, often the teacher's home. These cooking schools catered to women students. Men training for top-level
culinary positions continued to learn their craft working for master chefs apprenticeship-style well into the 20th
century.

[17th century England]

"Cookery schools have been going for longer than might imagined, even if most female cooks have commonly
learned either at theri mother's knee, or by steady climb through the ranks of domestic service. The career of the
17th-century author Robert May is an example of the classic professional formation of the male cook. As a child, he
worked with his father, cook to a family well entrenched at the English court, then spent his teenage years in the
kitchens of a prominent French diplomat and lawyer in Paris...He was then formally apprenticed in London to the
cook to the Grocers' Company and the court of the Star Chamber before returning fully traned to the paternal stove.
This model was to hold good well into the 20th century. A necessary foundaton for educational activity...was a
didactic literature. The earliest recipes might have been, for the most part, the aides-memoire of professional
cooks...but by the late 16th century...there were works that specifically addressd women...This literature also reveals
the existence of schools of cookery, for books were often the outcome of a successful teaching career, or were the
teaching materials converted to print. From the earliest such book published in England, Rare and Excellent
Receipts by Mrs. Mary Tillinghast (1678) ' Printed for the Use of her Scholars only', to the book 'published for the
convenience of the young ladies committed to her care' by Elizabeth Marshall (1777) who ran a pastry school in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne from about 1770-1790, there were several such instances. The most celebrated is perhaps
Edward Kidder, author of Receipts of Pastry and Cookery for the Use of his Scholars (c. 1725), who ran a school in
several locations in London through the first quarter of the 18th century. If an obituarist is to be believed, upwards
of 6,000 students passed through his hands. Note that the chief subject of instruction, as in many other schools in
Britain, and in America where they also existed, was pastry...Many authors turned to teaching. In the late 1670s,
Hannah Wooley offered to instruct ladies whos lives were dislocated by the Civil War and Restoration and who
were thus forced to turn to service for an income...In the 19th century the purpose of culinary education changed
somewhat. While still pursing...the aims of the early teachers with schools for the middle classes...the same groups
saw the need to instruct those less fortunate..."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford Unviersity Press:Oxford] 2nd edition, 2007 (p. 213)

[1808: Philadelphia]
"Four different types of cooking schools emered in America during the nineteeth century. The first was an expansion
of the pastry lessons offered by experts during the eighteenth century.. The shift between private lessons and public
courses was made by Elizabeth Goodfellow, who opened a pastry shop in Philadelphia in 1808. She subsequently
offered lessons, which turned into formal classes offered to the public, and thus establsihing America's first cooking
school...The second type of school was a European import. Its proponent was Pierre Blot, a Frenchman who
immigrated to the United States about 1855...Two years later he launched a cooking school called the Culinary
School of Design and called him self the professor of gastronomy...With the financial assistance of Commodore
Vanderbilt's daughter, Blot opened the New York Cooking School, which was America's first French cooking
school. It mainly catered to the wealthy and lasted only a few years" 
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New
York], 2004, Volume 1 (p. 324-325)

[1865: Sweden]
"Many countries began to introduce cookery into their school curricula at about the same time...The Swedes led the
way, establising a two-year course for teachers of cookery in Goteborg in 1865...The Germans followed in the
1870s...In France, domestic science was introduced into the primary school curriculum...in 1882."
---All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present, Stephen
Mennell [Basil Blackwell:Oxford] 1985 (p. 230-231)

[1872: USA]
"Juliet Corson...targeted unemployed working-class women, with the hope that after taking cookery courses they
might find employemnt as domestics. Beginning in 1872, she began lecturing on cooking at charitable institutions in
New York City. In November 1867 she launched the city's second New York Cooking School, which offered a
series of twelve lessons...In 1878 the Boston Cooking School was launched inder the auspices of the Women's
Education Association. Maria Parloa was the first teacher...The final type of cooking school to emerge during the
nineteenth cetnury was based at colleges and universities. The interest in cooking schools also influenced college
programs. These originally were intended to prepare women for life as homemakers and later were vocationally
directed. The first known cookery program at a college was at Iowa Agricultural School in Ames (later Iowa State
University); in 1876 the school offererd a course in domestic economy, which included cooking. The teacher was
Mary B. Welch...A kitchen was constructed and in 1878 Welch began teaching the course using Corson's Cooking
Manual as a text."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New
York], 2004, Volume 1 (p. 325-326)

"Culinary experts took to the classroom in the last quarter of the century. Four cooking schools stand out as
representative examples of such successful ventures. These cooking schools provided helpful cookery and
housekeeping information for homemakers as well as career training for women who planned to put skills learned in
the classsroom toward earning a respectable living. Juliet Corson founded the New York Cooking School. Three
outstanding culinary experts, Miss Parloa, Mrs. D.A. Lincoln, and Fannie Farmer were assocaited with the Boston
Cooking School, and the Philadelphia Cooking School brought to the attention of nineteenth century cooks Sarah
Tyson Rorer. All became popular culinary teachers, and each produced cookbooks widely accepted by their
readers."
---The American Cookbook: A History, Carol Fisher [McFarland:Jefferson NC] 2006 (p. 45)

[1895: Paris]
"In 1895, Marthe Distell founded the first Cordon Bleu school in Paris, to instruct the daughters of the bourgoise in
the art of cooking."
--The American Cookbook, (p. 216)

US Military cooking/culinary schools: 20th century

Much is written about U.S. military rations; not so much about the culinary program instituted for training the cooks.
20th century notes here:

[Current] 
Joint Culinary Center of Excellence manages US Military training programs

[1945]
Food Service Program (Quartermaster Museum)

[1917] 
School for Army Cooks (National Cooks Training Corps)/Journal of Military Service Institution of the United
States, volume 61

[1907]
"Cooking School for Soldiers. But of more general importance in the interior of our man-at-arms is the new school
for army cooks being built under Gen. Sharpe's direction at Fort Ripley, Kan. This institution, which will be
competed by June 1, will contgain a big cooking school on the groundfloor and barracks above for the eighty student
cooks and student bakers. Grouped about two big ranges, two classses in session at a time will learn the noble art of
tickling the military palate. Each range will be large enough to cook the meals of an entire comapny. The food
prepared will be eaten by the student cooks themselves and by the...men in the guardhouse. This soldier cooking
school, now in temporary quarters at Fort Riley, is one of the most interesting of our military institutions. Among its
student cooks officers and enlisted men, in cap and apron, may be seen working side by side. The corps of
instructors is made up of veteran army cooks--some of them colored-- who have made great reputations as culinary
artists. When it became known that the army's famous cooks were being detailed for this educational work
companies possessed of good ones ceased to boast of their merits. Indeed, so secretive have the companions become
as to the skill of their superior chefs de cuisine that the commissary department no longer hears of them who mght
be wanted for teachers at fifty cents extra per day--the instructor cook's pay. So civilian cooks have had to be
obtained to fill up the corps of culinary teachers.Get Sergeants Pay All of the student cooks are men who have
volunteered to take the course. There is no dearth of these among the privates, inasmuch as a graduate cook, as soon
as he is assigned to an organization, commence to draw full seargeant's pay, besides such extra allowance from the
company's fund as his skill deserves. Not every private who applies is received at the school, however. Eligable
must have a common school eduation and must have at least two and one-half years before their enlistments will
have expired. Besides the extra pay the company cook is relieved from guard and police duty, but he must take his
turn at drill and target practice. Each company is allowed two cooks and generally two 'kitchen police,' who do the
kitchen drudgery. The course of the army cooking\ school is four months. The student cook starts in with scullery
work and next he learns the handling and cleaning of the range. Then he takes up cooking proper--first the theory
and afterward the practice. In the course of his theory work he must muster some hard problems in food econony
and must acquire considerable executive ability. After being taught: to keep accounts and to estimate the cost of the
items...to be required...The student-cook receiving the highest mark in his class at the end of the four months' coruse
recieves a prize of $15, and there is always a second prize of $10. There is also a school for army bakers at Fort
Riley. This occupies a separate building and will continue to do so, even after the new cooking school is completed
but the student-bakers will share the new barracks of the student-cooks. In fact they all belong technically to one
institution the 'School of Bakers and Cooks.'"
---"The State Camp Cooking School," New York Times, July 6, 1894 (p.4)

[1894]
"The National Guard of the State of New York is rapidly developing into a body of soldiery well prepared for any
emergency. This may seem like an unecessary statement to those enthiasts who are carried away with the purely
spectacular features of military work...At the State Camp...a cooking school has been established, and it is safe to
say that no feature of the excellent training established at Peekskill will prove, in time actual service, to be more
valuable than this. It is by no means difficult to organize a mess corps in each regiment in such way that each
company will have its own cooks and its own field cookery outfit. The first steps toward such an organization have
been taken, and by the time the National Guard, or any part of it, has to be called out for service again the problem
of self-sustenance should have been solved. When the next term of active service comes it will prove conclusively
the great value of the camp cooking school"
---"The State of Camp Cooking School," New York Times, July 6, 1894 (p. 4)

Readers Guide Retrospective (database) returns 6 magazine articles (1914-1941) describing Army cooking schools
(your librarian can help you get the articles)

 "Finest mess in the world (United States Army school for bakers and cookd at Fort Slocum, N.Y.), W.
Davenport, Colliers, March 8, 1941 (p. 14)
 "Feeding the Army! Army Cooking Schools," Z.H. Garfield, Hygeia, December 1940 (p. 1058)
 "$10,000-a-year cook teaching sailors her trade," F.H. Hubbard, American Magazine, August 1918 (p. 61)
 "School for Army cooks," Scientific American, September 22, 1917 (p. 220)
 "What our Military Cooking Schools Mean to the Soldier," D.A. Willey, Scientific American Supplement,
March 7, 1914 (p. 156)

CIA connection
The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY) was founded in 1946 to provide returning WWII veterans with
training in the culinary arts. Originally located in Conntecticut, the world's premier culinary school now sits on New
York's Hudson River, just north of Peekskill. Coincidence? Or not.
"Prior to 1946, no one in America went to school to learn to be a restaurant chef...This lack of American cooking
schools was meaningless, given most Americans' view of cooking as a vocation. In the nineteeth and early twentieth
centuries, at least at the more elegant establishment, kitchens were staffed by European men trained through arduous
apprenticeship, a course of practical education, severed by contract, which for centuries had been the way that
culinary knowledge was transmitted...One of the consequences of World War II was the opening in 1946 of the first
American cooking school for professionals. The New Haven Restaurant Institute in Connecticut benefitted from the
GI Bill's education boom for returning veterans and also encompassed modern concepts...Later known as The
Culinary Institute of America (CIA) the school relocated to Hyde Park, New York, in 1970. The CIA became the
first degree-granting culinary institution, awarding associate's degress in occpational studies and applied science."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Volume 1 (p. 327-328)

Delicatessens

"Until the late nineteenth century, delicatessens were primarily run by Germans and Alsatians in this country. The
word itself derives from German and means delicacies, but is used not only to describe a shop, but also is the word
for the products sold in a shop. Eventually Jews, too, went into the business...Delis were especially attractive for the
observant as the stores were open on Sundays, selling canned and packaged goods, often duplicating the services of
grocery stores. More than anything else the delicatessen became the "Jewish eating experience" in this country. A
deli was a little restaurant with a counter, a few stools and smoked beef, pastrami, frankfurters, potato knishes, rye
bread, club bread, mustard, and pickles," recalled Norman Podhoretz, editor of Commentary Magazine, who grew
up in Brownsville, Brooklyn...As Jews became more affluent, two distinct types of delicatessens emerged. "An
offshoot of the kosher restaurant is the kosher delicatassen and lunchroom"...The other type of delicatessen that
emerged as Jews became assimilated and moved uptown or to Brooklyn or suburbia was the carry-out, or "kosher
style" deli. It looked and smelled like a kosher delicatessen, but coffee was served with cream. The overstuffed
pastrami and corned beef sandwiches were served followed by a piece of New York cheesecake...The quintessential
Jewish "kosher style" delicatessen today is the Carnegie on Fifty-fifth and Seventh Avenue in New York."
---Jewish Cooking in America, Joan Nathan [Knopf:New York] 1994 (p. 184-6)

"Delicatessen. A grocery store that usually sells cooked meats, prepared food, and delicacies. The word is from the
German Delikatess, "delicacy." In the 1880s it referred to preserved foods. During the period of post-Civil War
emigration to America, many Jews set up butcher shops called schlact stores, but as more foods were added to the
shelves, the term "delicatessen shop," "delicatessen store," and "delicatessen" became common, though some
preferred the non-German term "appetizing store." Later on "delicatessen" was shorened to "deli" or "delly," which
sometimes also referes to the foods sold in such an establishment. New York City is still the hub for deli culture and
sets the standards for those elsewhere. Delicatessens specialize in serving pastrami, potato salad, pickles, rye bread,
liverwurst, and many other items enjoyed by the Jews of eastern cities. To call such a store a "Jewish delicatessen"
is, therefore, something of a redundancy, and many delicatessens maintain Kosher regulations. But today many other
ethnic groups run their own delis, as in "Italian deli" or "Latin-American deli."
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani {Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 110)

"Jewish immigrants did not at first open restaurants, but they took the concept of the schlact, or grocery, store to far
more delectable and diverse levels than Americans had ever before experienced. And, in most cases, one could eat
on the premises. The word delicatessen comes from the German word, delikatesse, for delicacy, although many New
York Jews preferred the non-German word "appetizing." The deli counter's display of breads, smoked salmon, dried
fish, noodle pudding, cured meats, pickles, and oddities like cream soda and celery tonic represented American
bounty in its most voluptuous and self-indulgent form, and the experience of going to a deli--"Jewish deli" would
have been a redundancy--became the stuff comedy and heatburn were made of. Americans took to the overstuffed
sandwiches and fried potatoes with the same relish they would to ham-and-cheese sandwiches and French fries, and
"deli counters" became as much a fixture in American supermarkets as a butcher or dairy case...Most delis were in
the Jewish neighborhoods of East Coast cities, epecially New York, where delis dimpled the streets of Brooklyn, the
Bronx, East Harlem, and the Lower East Side, although some of the most famous--Reuben's, the Stage Deli, and the
Carnegie Deli--were uptown attractions, as much for their celebrity clientele as for their food...The less stringent deli
owners became about keeping kosher, the more appeal they had to Gentiles, and non-kosher customers."
---America Eats Out, John Mariani [William Morrow:New York] 1991(p. 74-6)
Delicatessen, definition circa 1911

Recommended reading:

 The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America/Andrew F. Smith editor

 Hungering For America: Italian, Irish & Jewish Foodwasy In the Age of Migration/Hasia R. Diner
 New York Times Historic Database/Proquest (1851--2004):sample menus, popular delis, market trends, etc.

Recommended reading: Save the Deli/David Sax

Fast food

While most Americans think of fast food in terms of modern chain restaurants, food historians like to remind us the
first "fast food" restaurants were thermopolium, operated by Ancient Romans. Throughout history most cultures and
cuisines developed shortcut options to traditional dining customs. The concept of modern fast food was a byproduct
of the industrial revolution. People on the go (or working) required fast, economical and portable foods. Street
vendors, fair fare, lunch wagons, diners, roadside eateries, drive-ins, ice cream stands, noodle parlors and sushi bars
cater to this market. Each in its own place and time. According to John Mariani, American food historian, the phrase
"fast food" was first coined by George G. Foster in 1848. It did not become popular, however, until the 1960s when
chain restaurants proliferated.

 Street food
 Ancient Roman taverns
 Elizabethan England
 19th century French Bistros
 19th century British fish & chips
 Fast Food, St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture
 Survey of American fast food options
 Fast food franchise time line (20th century USA)

ABOUT STREET FOOD (general)

The history of mobile street vending (in the broadest sense) can be traced to military field mess units. The idea of
cooking and serving food from portable canteens evolved over time. Ancient Romans hawked "street foods" in
marketplaces and sold them in sporting venues. Medieval street foods were sold at fairs, tournaments, and other
large gatherings. Today, we sometimes call this "fast food."

The types of items consumed "on the street" are generally determined by the tradtional foods of the country/region.
Which foods are most popular? That depends upon the time and place. In the places where many cultures and
cuisine combine, the confluence of street food is a reflection of the inhabitants. Food carts were often used by
peddlers to sell inexpensive homemade and manufactured goods. Ice cream and candy were often sold in this
fashion. Early carts where powered by people (pushed, pulled), animals (goats, horses), wheels (bicycles, tricycles)
and motors (cars, trucks).

This is how one food historian sums up the topic:

"Street food in a given place, is often far more interesting than restaurant food. Generally speaking, wherever it is
found it will be likely to represent well-established local traditions; and in some places a tour of hawkers' stalls may
be the quickest and most agreeable method of getting the feel of local foods. Among the factors which seem to
determine how numerous and diverse street foods are in this or that country, one is clearly climate--a temperate or
warm climate makes these operations much easier and also produces a larger number of passers-by who are not
intent on getting to somewhere out of the cold. Another factor is the degree of economic development. Broadly
speaking, developed countries have fewer street foods. However, there are many exceptions or anomalies...there are
indeed few generalizations which can be safely made on the subject. Nor is there much literature available for
study...A list of the most famous and widespread street foods would certainly include ice cream, doughnut,
hamburger, and hot dog."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 758)

ANCIENT ROMAN TAVERNS

"Rome had countless bars, restaurants and inns...Tabernae, taverns, were found chiefly near the bathhouses, but also
near temples, libraries and other public buildings. There were several different kinds. Engravings show that they all
had an L- or horseshoe-shaped bar made of stone and cement. In comparison with a modern bar, it was low-just over
a metre height. Four or five clay pots were permanently bricked into the bar, sometimes with a mortar. This meant
that they were well insulated so food and drink could be kept warm or cold in them for a long time. Near the bar
stood a small bronze oven, usually portable, in which water was kept at a boiling point. The larger taverns had a
separate kitchen and a cellar. If the space was large enough, low tables and stools were arranged close to the bar;
otherwise customers had to stand...Food in the taverns was less spectacular than in wealthy houses, but the
proprietors prepared it freshly. Typical dishes would have included the popular puls (a porridge or rissoto) and
dishes with beans, peas or lentils. From the time of Emperor Vespasian these were the only dishes dishes taverns
were permitted to serve. Claudius and some other emperors had prohibited the sale of boiled meat, and any tavern
foolish enough to offer it was closed down. Thus to circumvent the law, meat was usually boiled on the street...We
can conclude form this that boiled meat was popular. Frescoes, ancient graffiti and other sources suggest that roasted
meat was also served, such as ham and pig's head, with eel, olives, figs, possibly sausage, fishballs, meatballs,
salads, poultry, marinated vegetables, cheese, eggs, omelettes and all manner of light snacks (think of Italian
antipasto and Spanish tapas)...Fornax means oven', and this restaurant was a sort of pizzeria."
---Around the Roman Table, Patrick Faas [Palgrave MacMillan:New York] 2003 (p. 41-2)

"The more convival side of Rome's night-life is represented by the taverns and hot food stalls. These were more than
a nocturnal luxury: they were also a daily necessity in a crowded city many of whose poorer inhabitants could not
possibly have risked lighting a cooking fire in their tenements...The noise and aroma of Rome's street food began
before sunrise...and continued throughout the day...Everybody ate street food, even emperors. It was slightly less
respectible to eat in the pervigiles popinae ever-open cookshops'...The bars and taverns in and around the great
Baths were the nearest thing that Rome had to restaurants. In some you could choose wither to sit or to recline; and
in some you could spend serious money...while the snacks available in others would be converted into a full meal
only by a miser...In some you could demand a certain level and variety of cuisine for which the ordinary cookshops
had no time at all..."
---Empire of Pleasures: Luxury and Indulgence in the Roman World, Andrew Dalby [Routledge:London] 2000 (p.
218-220)
[NOTE: some of the foods referenced in this sections include: sausages, hot chickpea soup, lettuce, eggs, chub
mackerel, beetroot, gourds, radishes, black pudding, white bread, salad (dressed with oil), mustard, ham, grilled fish,
venison, wild boar, chicken, hare, cabbage, boiled meat, turtle-doves, pheasant, honey, fatted goose, pickles, yogurt,
halva, and wine. Water was for washing, not drinking.]

ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND
In Shakespeare's day, street/fast foods were sold to playgoers. About these foods

19TH CENTURY FRENCH BISTROS

According to the food historians, bistros are offshoots of cafes. The menu is generally the same. The difference?
Bistros are quick service; cafes are more leisurely establishments.

"Bistro, a term which dates back only to the late 19th century in French and to the early 20th century in English, is
elastic in its meaning but always refers to an establishment where one can have something to eat, as well as drinks.
Such an establishment would normally be small, and its menu would be likely to include simple dishes, perhaps of
rustic character and not expensive. If it is correct that the word comes from a Russian one meaning "quick!", this
would fit in with the general idea that one can eat quickly at a bistro. However, the concept of simple inexpensive
food served in a French atmosphere has wide appeal, and as a result the use of the term, whether as a description of
eating places of of food, had, towards the end of the 20th century, begun to be annexed by more pretentious
premises."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 77-8)

"Bistro. A bar or small restaurant, also known as a bistrot. The origin of this familiar word is obscure. It first
appeared in the French language in 1884, and perhaps comes from the Russian word bistro (quick), which the
Cossacks used to get quick service at a bar during the Russian occupation of Paris in 1815. There also appears to be
a relationship with the word bistreau, which in the dialects of western France describes a cow-herd and, by
extension, a jolly fellow--an apt description of an innkeeper. The most likely origin is doubtless and abbreviation of
the word bistrouille. Modern French bistros are of modest appearance and frequently offer local dishes, cold meats
and cheese with their wine."
---Larousse Gastronomique, completely revised and updated [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2001 (p. 116)
[NOTE: The first edition of LG (1938) does not contain a separate entry for this word.]

"1815. Russian soldiers bivouac in the Place de la Concorde and under the trees of the Tuileries and the Champs-
Elysees at Paris following the Battle of Waterloo...and by some accounts they introduce the word "bistro" for cafe
by ordering waiters to bring orders "bystro, bystro" (quickly, quickly). French cafe owners cover their counters with
zinc to protect them from fist marks and wine stains (the word "zinc" will become a generic for cafe.).
---The Food Chronology, James Trager [Henry Holt:New York] 1995 (p. 205)

According to the current edition of Larousse Gastronomique (p. 194-5), the first cafes (defined generally as places
selling drinks and snacks) was established in Constantinople in 1550. It was a coffee house, hence the word "cafe."
Cafes were places educated people went to share ideas and new discoveries. Patrons spent several hours in these
establishments in one "sitting." This trend caught on in Europe on the 17th century. When cafes opened in France
they also sold brandy, sweetened wines and liqueurs in addition to coffee. The first modern-type cafe was the Cafe
Procope which opened in 1696.

First American bistros?

The earliest references we're finding in print for American establishments specifically called bistros are from the
1940s. Presumably, the fuzzy line between cafes, bistros and similar European-style eateries makes it difficult to
establish with certainly the first one here. Two of the oldest print references we find are for mid-town
establishements in New York City. Curiously??! They are both on Third Avenue, only a few doors apart. Lawton
Mackall's Knife and Fork in New York [Country Life Press:Garden City 1949] describes Le Bistro, 814 Third Ave.,
thusly: "In Prewar France a vistor overtaken by hunger needed only to apply to the nearest small eatery-and-
drinkery. Were it ever so humble, it would scare up a worth-shile meal for him. This Third Avenue spot was
designed as a certified copy of a typical bistro. French owned spick-and-span. Should you need nutriment and/or
quenchment other than hard liquor, it has it for you, noons or evenings, tasting as of France." (p. 103) According to
an article published in the New York Times ("Parisian Milliner Leases Floor Here," NYT December 10, 1941, p. 46),
Le Bistro was established that year. Another New York Times article describes Le Moal as "a small restaurant at
811 Third Avenue, near Fiftieth Street, but in an unpretentious way the place is typical of some little bistro in
Brittany. Well-cooked food and prices as modest as the decor are the attractions on which Mme. Frank Le Moal
relies for patronage--and with satisfactory results."
---"News of Food: A Small Restaurant on Third Avenue is Typical of a Little Bistro on Brittany," New York Times,
January 17, 1948 (p. 15).

About restaurants

19th CENTURY ENGLISH FISH & CHIPS

"Fried fish, sold in pieces, cold, must have been established as a standard street food in London by the 1840s or
earlier...At that time the fish was sold with a chunk of bread...Chips had an earlier history, probably from the late
18th century...The marriage of fish and chips, wherever it was comsummated, gained popularity swiftly and
spread...The number of fish and chip establishments grew steadily until the Second World War."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 301,303)
History of Fish and Chips restaurant industry/National Federation of Fish Friers

A SURVEY OF AMERICAN FAST FOOD DINING OPTIONS

[1872]
Night lunch wagons (Providence, RI) inspire the first diners.

[1876]
Some food historians believe Harvey Houses were the first fast food chains in the United States. These were the
brainchild of Englishman Fred Harvey, who began positioning his eateries along key points of Santa Fe Railroad in
1879. These restaurants were known for extremely high quality food served in record time. An entire trainload of
people needed to be served in 20 minutes or less. The menu was varied and food was served quickly.

[1900]
Louis' Lunch (New Haven, CT) is said to have sold the first hamburger on a bun.

[1902]
Horn & Hardart's first automat opens in Philadelphia, PA

[1905]
Gennaro Lombardi opens the first pizzeria in the United States, New York City.

[1916]
Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, Coney Island NY

[1921]
White Castle (Witchita, KS) hamburger stands serve standard "fast food" fare at cheap prices. Food and buildings
were uniform throughout the chain.

[1921]
According to the food historians, The Pig Stand (Dallas, TX) was the first drive-in restaurant chain. It also offered
the very first drive-thu window, 1931 in California (Pig Stand Number 21).

"The drive-in idea came about because its creator, J.G. Kirby, a Dallas tobacco and candy wholesaler, had come to
the conclusion that "People with cars are so lazy they don't want to get out of them to eat." With the help of Dr.
Reuben Wright Jackson, Kirby designed and opened a drive-in pork barbecue eatery he called the Pig Stand in
September 1921 on the Dallas-Fort-Worth Highway. Within a decade Kirby and his franchises had Pig Stands all
over the Midwest as far away as New York and California...The drive-in was a direct expression of the appetite of
an automobile-obsessed culture for basic food and social interaction."
---America Eats Out, John F. Mariani [William Morrow:New York] 1991 (p.122)

[1926] 
Taylor's Maid-Rite debuts in Iowa

[1953]
McDonald's first store with the classic golden arches opened in Phoeniz, Arizona in May 1953. Ray Krock joined
the company in 1955 and opened his first restaurant one year later.

RECOMMENDED READING:

 America Eats Out, John Mariani "Eat and Run. Fast Food in America" (p. 163-177)
 Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age, John A. Jakle & Keith A. Sculle
  Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America, Harvey Levenstein "Fast Foods and Big
Bucks" (p. 227-236)
 Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser

See also: take out foods.

Ancient Roman solder mess

True or false: Ancient Roman soldiers ate well. TRUE!!! In the context of period and place. Historians and
archaeolgists agree Roman soldiers were well equipped and supplied with the human fuel they needed to achieve
their goals. Does this mean the Ancient Roman soldier enjoyed lavish meals & fine cuisine? Certainly not. They did,
however, have full government backing with regards to esatablishing supply chains, engaging in active indigenous
food acquisition practices and sampling local fare.

Then as today, rations were selected by cost, availability, portability, imperviousness to weather/rodents/insects, and
cooking requirements. Then, as today, soldiers at base could expect fresh bread and regular meals while those
engaged on march or in camp made the best of the daily situation. Then, as today, some foods were exotically
spectacular while others questionably edible.

"The Roman army had the best commissariat and arrangements for feeding in the ancient world. It was an important
agent in transmitting the Roman way of life to the provinces, and in doing so it revolutionized the economy and
provided new foods. Its demands caused native populations to increase food production from subsistence farming to
an agriculture that produced surpluses. On the march, it was supplied with rations of wheat and other foods, and
when established in the forts it could expect regular supplies. The army created a network of contacts and an
efficient transport system and it constructed roads, which allowed goods to be moved quickly throughout the empire
as well as locally from fort to fort and country to town. Standard food would consist of bread, bacon, cheese,
vegetables, and the lowest quality of wine. For these commodities, a fixed amount was deducted from a soldier's
pay. Emperor Hadrian followed the example of his troops and in camp ate the basic food of bacon, cheese, and sour
wine. A soldier could supplement these rations by buying supplies elsewhere, bu the army also supplied extra food,
incluing liquamen, salt, and olive oil. The last was more than a food, for it could be used to oil joints on armor, as a
lubricant for the body, and for lighting. Special rations would be issued at festivals and other occasions.
Nevertheless, a camp commandant had to mae sure that sufficient supplies for fuel and food must be provided at all
times...Bread was a basic commodity, fresh loaves provided daily in camps or forts. Unlike Greek soldiers, the
Romans did not eat barley bread. To eat this was regarded as a disgrace...Meat--beef, pork, goat, and mutton--was
provided by the commissariat or by hunting wild boar, deer, hare, and fowl... Soldiers encamped near the seacoast
included fish in their diet...Food could be supplemented in other ways. It might be bought from passing traders or
from a shop in a vici that had been established around the camps...The variety of army diet is reveaed by the
Vindolanda writing tablets. A list covering the payments and suppliers over a period of eight days in June sometime
between A.D. 92 and A.D. 199 seems to have been part of a survey given as payment in kind to support the army in
Egypt. The foods include wheat, lentils, cattle, calves, goats, pigs, hams, wine, and radish oil. This oil was a staple
cooking oil in Egypt, and the soldiers must have adapted to its use...Archaeological evidence from military sites
along the Rhine indicates the consumption of a variety of grains, pulses, vegetables, nuts, and fruit. The fort at
Neuss, dated to the first century A.D., has revealed evidence of wheat, barley, wild oats (probably used as fodder),
eggs, meat, oyster, broad beans, lentils, garlic, grapes, elderberries, and hazelnuts. In addition, there are four food
that must have been introduced to the area by the army--rice, chickpeas, olives, and figs. Barrels, which had
contained imported wine, were found. At Dura-Europus, on the Euphrates, papyrus records show soldiers engaged in
tasks of collecting, purchasing, and escorting supplies of corn (grain, not maize), food barley, and speical supplies
for banqueting."
---Food in the Ancient World, Joan P. Alcock [Greenwood Press:Westport CT] 2006 (p. 209-211)

If you were an ancient Roman soldier, you would want to know these things...
"Patera. Another peice of kit that no legionary will voluntarily go without is his patera. This is an all purpose cup,
cooking pot and food bowl. The best ones have a diameter of about 7 in., and are made from bronze, sometimes
lined inside with tin, and have grooves ground into them to help conduct heat during cooking...a heavy patera is
more solid, and lasts longer, but weight is always a disadvantage on the march."
---Legionary: The Roman Soldier's (Unofficial) Manual, Philip Matyszak [Thames & Hudson:London] 2009 (p. 67)

"Water flask. The water flask represents another such choice. A little-known attribute of water is that it is
astonishingly heavy Therefore a soldier must choose between carrying several pounds of water (depending on
location) or risk the deprivations of thirst. In some regions, gourds, hollowed out and sealed with a wax stopper,
make excellent lightweight water bottles. It is impossible to fix handles to these, but it is easly enough to fashion a
net around the gourd and carry it on a sling."
---ibid (p. 67)

"Rations. To this one should add several days' supply of food (including buccellatum, a kind of hard tack."
---ibid (p. 67)

"Breakfast. Begin the day with a light meal (probably of cold meat and cheese) prepared under the watchful eye of a
military tribune. He has the job of making sure that the food given to the legionaries is of an adequate standard. (it is
not unknown for the suppliers to use bribrey to pass off sub-standard rations, and it is the tribune's job to prevent
this."
---ibid (p. 122)

"Dinner. While most of the troops are on their duties, others are helping to prepare the late afternoon meal which is
the legionary's main sustenance of the day. In some areas, one of the better and most exciting fatigue exercises of the
day is to be assigned to a hunting prty to bring fresh game--venison or boar--to the mess tables of one's fellow
soldiers. By and large legionaries in base ae among the etter-fed citizens of the empire, and depending on the
nationality of the majority of his legionaries, the commander will take care to supply the en with items such as wine
and the piquant (or reeking, depending on taste) garum fish sauce--beloved of Italians, but needing long-distant
transport. Meat, cheese, bread ad beer are all staples of the legionary diet. Pork is the most common type of meat,
though what you get will depend on what is available locally."
---ibid (p. 124)

"Campaign rations. One major difference between a marching camp and permanent base is the lack of kitchen
facilities. The logistical issue is something that has also occurred to those trying to stop the legins invading them.
While the legion itself may be invincible, its supply lines are not, and no army operates at its best while the soldiers
are starving...It is in case an ambush on the supply trains is successful that the legionary carries up to a week's
supply of food in his pack. This is apart from the dreaded hard tack which remains once the legionary has explored
the possibilities offered by his boots and shield cover as alternative diet options. In the field the conontubernium has
to feed itself. Food comes from two sources. The Comissariat. Perhaps one of the most distinctive features of a
Roman army in the field is how much effort has been made to ensure tht food supplies are available for the army as
it progresses. Stockpiles. The general in charge will have ensured that before te first legionary sets a toe over the
provincial border to enemy territory, huge stockpiles of grain and meat have been laide by to feed him all the way to
his destination. Food on the march. As the philosophical quartermaster will tell you, the true purpose of lifeis to
keep meat fresh. Therefore he might lay on a herd of cattle to follow the legion, providing a supply of food that
transports itself, stays fresh, and also provides a handy source of rawhide, sinew ad glue. Packed meals. The legion
mainly supplies the men with grain and cured meat. The grain is ground in hand mills that are carried on the mule of
the contubernium, and can be baked into crude cakes, or ito a mela resembling thick porridge. A lazy troop, or one
with a lot on its plate...might simply boil the grain and eat that. Forage parties. Such a diet becomes monotonous
after a very short time, and marching and digging for the greater part of each day definitely stimulates the appetite.
Therefore the addition of fresh beef, pork or mutton, or an unexpected dollop of vegetable fare, is extremely
welcome. This food comes form the land the army is passing through...So this is there the auxiliaries earn their keep,
as they work in forage parties, seeking out where the villagers have stashed their herds and bringing them back to
camp to provide the soldiers with fresh meat. Other parties spread out from the line of march pillaging orchards and
farmlands and coming back with fresh fruit and vegetables...This is one of the reasons why the summer and early
autumnare called the 'campaigning season'--because the countryside holds enough food to keep an army in the
field."
---ibid (p. 145-147)

"Besides his arms and armor, the legionary was accustomed to carry...articles for obtaining and cooking food, such a
sickles, cords, and cooking vessels...The ration of food for one day weighed probably about 1 2/3 lbs. On short
expeditions, the soldier must carry his own provisions. As many as 17 days'rations, amounting to 28 lbs., are known
to have been provided and carried. The ration was usually in the form of coarse flour, or of unground grain which
the soldier must crush for himself. According as the food was for a longer or shorter time, the weight carried,
exclusive of arms and armor, must have reached 30 to 45 lbs...Caesar fixed the pay of his legionaries at 225 denarii a
year. ...For food and equipments, so far as they were provided by the state, a deduction from his pay was made. As
provision, each man was allowed per month four measures (8.67 litres, or a little less than a peck) of wheat. The
measure may be estimated to be worth at the highest three-fourths of a denarius. Thus the amount deducted for food
cannothave exceeded 36 denarii per year. However, in the provinces, the food, if not given outright, was reckoned at
a very lowprice."
---Caesar's Army, Harry Pratt Judson [Biblo and Tannen:New York] 1961 (p. 36-37) Historians confirm Roman
legionaries consumed local commodities and foods of "hosting" nations. They also learned new cooking techniques,
adopting/adapting as they saw fit. Most of the English language food history sources for "eastern"" cuisine chronicle
medieval period forwards. Two sources that might be of interest to you are Turkish Cuisine in Historical
Perspective/Deniz Gursoy and The Oldest Cuisine in the World: Cooking in Mesopotamia/Jean Bottero. Your local
public librarian will be happy to get you copies. Also recommended (for authenticating period foodstuffs): Food in
Antiquity: A Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples/Brothwell & Brothwell and Food in the Ancient World form A to
Z/Dalby. Pliny's Natural History, books 12-16 catalog "known" foodstuffs to 1st century Romans. There you will
find several references to foods from Persia.

Inflight catering

From the beginning of time, there were travelers. Eventually, these travelers got hungry and had to eat. Enter on-site
foodservice. Ancient Roman soldiers, Medieval crusaders, Renaissance explorers, colonial traders, and 19th century
railroad passengers were fed by enterprising mobile entrepreneurs who capitalized on captive markets. Inflight
catering descends from this tradition.

Like passenger railroads and cruise lines, the first commercial airlines catered specifically to wealthier classes.
These customers demanded the finest service and were willing to pay the price. En-route meals served two purposes:
stay the hunger and pass the time. Railroad moguls starting thinking about passenger food from the beginning. So
did the airline companies. As techology advanced, so did the catering possibilities. Inflight catering presented a
unique set of challenges for the cooks and crew serving the food. In the early years, on-site kitchen full-service
facilities were not possible, as they had been on railroads. Which airline was the first to offer inflight catering? Both
United and American claim this distinction.

First foods

"The first airlines were created after World War I by former military pilots. Their purpose was mail deliversy, not
passenger transport. Passengers were gradually included on flights...Since passengers were considered an necessary
evil by the pilots who ran ...the airlines, no thought was given to any foodservice for them, although the pilots and
other members of the crew might sometiems share a box lunch sandwich or a thermos of coffee with them. It was
not until 1936, with the development of the DC-3, that the first airplane galley was introduced by American Airlines.
That galley was quite primitive by modern standards as there was no electical power available for heating foods or
beverages, and all hot foods and liquids were boarded at ready-to-serve temperatures and held in hot thermoses.
Three years later, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the first aircraft with a pressurized cabin that permitted commercial
flights above the weather, was developed with a galley no more advanced than that of the DC-3. Primitive though it
was, the DC-3...revolutionized air travel in the United States, and it was in this plane that routine, planned passenger
foodservice became the standard for the industry...Also in the 1930s, Pan American Airways developed extensive
galleys on their flying boats. The clippers that were used for overseas flights. Although there was no electric power
available for these galleys for either heating or cooling food products, the last of these famous aircraft, the Boeing
314, had food-heating capability from a glycol circulating system which piped glycol from the galley to one of the
plane's four engines. The engine heated the glycol, which, in turn, heated water in the galley...from the very first,
these flying clippers had the capability of making fresh coffee on board...There was no refrigeration system on board
these flying clippers, and weight limitations precluded boarding more than the minimum amount of ice that was
needed for bar service requirements. However, because of the poor reliability of the glycol heating system, cold
meals or cold buffets were served on these flights whenever climatic conditions allowed. Except in places such as
wake Island, where there were no ammenities available and Pan American had had to establish and staff kitchens,
food for the clipper flights was procured from high-quality local hotels or restaurants. The finest foods were
procured as Pan American was competing with the elegant steamships of the day for their passengers. However,
canned foods,' such as ham, potatoes, peas, and so on were always carried on board for emergency purposes and for
second meals that were required on long flights...By the mid-1930s, airlines were beginning to realize the
importance of inflight foodservices and were becoming concerned about both the quality of the food products
available and the high prices charged by the airport terminal restaurants wehre they usually bought their food
supplies. United Airlines...was the first airline to recognize the marketing potential of inflight foodservice as the
competition of airlines increased...[a consultant] developed United's answer to the problem--build its own flight
kitchens at airports where its flights landed. The first experimental kitchen was completed in Oakland, California in
December 1934. Operating its own kitchen was so successful for United...United eventually built a chain of twenty
kitchens throughout the United States..."
---Inflight Catering Management, Audrey C. McCool [John Wiley & Sons:New York] 1995 (p. 17-22)

Pioneering caterers

"Marriott was one of the earliest inflight caterers as a result of innovative actions by William Kahrl, the manager of
a new Marriott Hot Shoppe across the road from Washington's Hoover Airport (now Washington National Airport)
in the late 1930s. In late 1937, at th request of one of his customers who was the manager of American Airlines'
operations there at that time, Kahrl started putting coffee and sweet rolls on American flights coming from the West
Coast...The airline furnished the thermoses; the Hot Shoppe furnished the food and paper supplies; everything as
loaded on a flat pushcart and pushed across Route 1 from the Hott Shoppe to the airport in the very early morning
hours and loaded onto the airplane...Dobbs' entry into the inflight foodservice field was in response to James K.
Dobbs' concern with the poor-quality food that he received on flights as he traveled around the country checking on
his Toddle House operations. He enjoyed quality food, and felt that airline passengers were entitled to the best food
possible...His work was instrumental in the airlines' transition from serving only cold box lunches to serving hot,
restaurant-style meals...Mr. Dobbs' concept was to service the airlines through the terminal restaurants. He also had
a theory that there should be a recipe for everything, and he demanded that all the products in all these restaurants be
prepared by approved recipes. Thus, Dobbs was able to provide consistent food products from one airport to the
next."
---Inflight Catering Management (p. 26-27)

[1925] First aerial restarant

"The First aerial restaurant car in the world is now engaged on the regualr London-Paris airway service. A
uniformed steward, the first aerial waiter, is in attendance, and passengers, and passengers on the aeroplane can
obtain hot and cold meals while flying thousands of feet in the air."
---"Paris-London Airway Has First Aerial Cafe," Daily Record [Morris County, NJ],October 2, 1925 (p. 14)

[1936] United Airlines opens the first flight kitchen.

[1938] Gourmet standards

"Just before you step aboard one of the bright-winged planes that is to carry you along the sky route North, South, or
West, from the airport at Newark, New Jersey, a meal will be stowed in the plane's compact kitchen. Mrs.G. Thomas
French is an authority on air-bred appetites. For the past six and a half years she has been preparing, or supervising
the preparation of, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and in-between meals, to satisfy America's hunger on the wing. She
began the service for one of the lines but very soon thereafter was asked to cater also for the other three at the
Newark terminus. It takes rather a large staff and a very efficiently directed kitchen to supply food for several meals
a day, to four airlines, each with its own timetable. Mrs. French's husband and her mother both have an active part in
the business. There are ten girls in the kitchen (including two cooks), and six boys who help with the commissary
work. There is also a baker who takes possession of the kitchen after the day-force leaves, and works there alone all
night. "Except for the sandwich bread, we do all our own baking--pies, tarts, pastries, creamroll desserts, breads, and
muffins." She pointed to the day's supply--orange bread, date-and-nut bread, and rolled cinnamon bread, all very
delicious...OM airplane service special features...are particularly important. "And we also make a gerat deal of our
salads,"..."They constitute a part of the meal that you can dress up to look particularly attractive."...a first-class salad
can transform a commonplace meal or, served right along with the main course, can make yesterday' roast seem an
inspiration of genius. Only--don't make your salad of left-overs. Use those somewhere else...Not to be repetitious in
the matter of main dishes is just as important on a plane as it is at home. Here Mrs. French is guided by the
commuters. "We get to know them," she explains, "and to expect them regularly on the same days. So we are careful
not to plan the same dish for successive Mondays--or whatever the day may be." Yet the fact that the food must be
cooked in advance and kept palatable until it is served makes a real problem. This is a difficulty, however, that Mrs.
Frwench considers a challenge. The roast meats--turkey, beef, or lamb, for example--are the simplest to plan. Beef-
steak-and-mushroom pie is also good. Moreover it is a noble suggestion for the family at home--not expensive and
not spoiled if you have to keep dinner waiting for a late homecomer or a dilatory guest. Baked stuffed lamb chops
are also very delicious and they bear up well under delay."
---"Picking a meal out of the air," Grace Turner, Los Angeles Times, November 13, 1938 (p. J15)

[1941] Transcontinental fare

"Ten years ago sandwiches were the only food put on transcontinental airplanes. Today, full course meals, hot
breakfasts and luncheons are routine fare in the clouds. The story behind this transition holds a promise of high
interest for homemakers attending Marian Manners' regular weekly cooking class this afternoon. Miss Esther
Benefiel, Miss Avis Peak and Dave Chasen, all of Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc. will be Miss Manners
'guests on a program called "Mile High Menus." They will discuss the cooking problems that airlines have to solve
and the way they solved them. Coupled with demonstrations, the discussions will bring forth many ideas that
housewives may utilize in their own homes."
---"Cookery Class Studies Airline Cuisine Today," Los Angeles Times, February 19, 1941 (p. A7)

"Food by the mile! That's the result of the advancement of transportation. Fifteen miles for tomato bisque, 100 miles
for fried chicken, 15 miles for the salad, 20 miles for the dessert, and 10 miles for your coffee. That is the way a
160-mile dinner in the air may be eaten. It hasn't been so many years since cheese and ham sandwiches were served
for breakfast, lunch and dinner to air passengers by the co-pilot. But that type of service disappeared along with the
single-motored transports--now delicious, nutritious meals, "jsut like mother cooks," are regularly a part of air
service. It's fun to watch the stewardesses serve 21 dinners from her kitchenette in less than an hour, as you skim
past gorgeous scenery, and soft, billowy clouds. The dinners that are seved in the air are complete from soup to nuts,
including a large variety of food. The menus are carefully chosen--balanced and nutritious--with the idea of pleasing
most of the people most of the time. Food is not cooked on board, but kept hot by using thermos jugs and bottles.
All food is cooked and supervised at the airport commissaries. Some of these commissaries are owned and operated
by the airlines, others are operated by food caterers. On every ship's departure from the airport along goes some kind
of food, all the way from hot coffee, light and heavy breakfasts to fill dinners. Then there is the snack box for the in-
betweeners. The stewardess can soon assemble a delightful lunch from it--cold chicken, fancy cheese, olives,
crackers, cookies--anything to hit the spot, with milk, hot chocolate and coffee. And deveryting is on the house.
When the Post Food Editor delved into "sky eating" she learned there were several favorite foods of air-passengers.
One of these is Southern fried chicken. Ice cream leads in airway desserts."
---"160-Mile Airline Meals Good to the Last Mile," Martha Ellyn, Washington Post, July 25, 1941 (p. 12)

[1945] Jet travel & frozen foods

"Then, around 1945, Pan American worked together with Clarence Birdseye and Maxson Company to create the
convection oven, which would allow frozen foods to be heated on board the aircraft. Maxson called the first
convection oven it designed the Whirlwind Oven: it had a heating element in the fort of a fan and held six meals.
Soon afterward, the microwave oven was developed; it has since become the industry standard in aircraft food
service preparation. The first meal trays were served on pillows on passengers' laps, until trays have been developed
with lids that would serve to elevate the food in front of the passengers. Finally, foldout service trays were installed
in the seat backs. The three-course meal that has become the standard for airplane food trays grew out of the creation
by United Airlines in 1937 of the first functional airplane kitchen, conceived in an effort to improve the quality of
food offered during flight...The first successful frozen three-course meal fitting the tray's specifications--consisting
of meat, potatoes, and vegetables--was marketed by the Maxson Company; the meals were sold to Pan American
Airways in 1946." 
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New
York] 2004, Volume 1 (p. 28-9) 
TWA meals

[1948] Timing is everything!

"Although there has been some talk recently by airline heads of ending the custom of free meals on skyliners,
catering for air travlers is still a bustling branch of the aviation business at Logan International Airport. Those tasty
meals you eat on flights from Boston to points around the world have become so much a part of flying--an
anticipated treat by travelers taking the air route--that airline heads here see little danger of aeronauts having to bring
along their own victuals for a sky hop anytime in the near future. Hundreds of meals, ranging from short snacks for
"short hoppers" to full course meals for overseas and transcontent trips, are prepared by three catering houses at
Boston's big air terminal. At Sky Chefs, Boston unit of a nation-wide chain of airline caterers, cooks, salad makers
and bakers work almost around-the-clock to provide meals on some 50 flights a day...the Sky Chefs staff starts to
work at midnight to prepare meals for "breakfast flights" that leave Logan Airport between 6 and 8 a.m. The type of
meal served on thes flights depends upon the length of the trip...the free meal is considered part of the travel
ticket...Typical breakfast on a hour hop from Boston to New York offers fresh fruit, sweet rolls, hot drinks or milk,
but there's more substantial fare for the morning traveler who soars off for far points. Long trip breakfasts also
incldue scrambled eggs and ham. Dinner on a long flight like a jaunt from Boston to London includes soup, olives
and celery, filet mignon, fried chicken, or pork chops, vegetables and salad, hot rolls, hot drinks or milk. Hard part
of airline catering is timing the food preparation so the meals will be hot and tasty when the stewardess rings the
dinner bell aloft. This is accomplished at Sky Chefs by first cooking the foood as short a time as possible before the
flights leave; then placing the cooked meals in an electric oven till plane time, when the food is rushed to the
skyliner and given more electric heating at the same voltage used in the kitchen. As a result, sky meals do not suffer
from being dry, mushy, lukewarm or cold...Fogs and bad weather in the winter often "upset" the skyline carerer
when planes remain grounded and the food is unused...The caterer works on a deadline like a newspaper man, too,
for planes don't wait for tardy cooks and the caterer's men must stow their food aboard the liner 15 minutes before it
leaves...Food taken off a plane is never used again and the Sky Chef's staff of 18 often take home tasty steaks and
pastries that were cooked up for a flight which didn't go up. Faster airline speeds, incidentally, are greatly
complicating the caterer's problems. Where there was formerly time to serve a meal betwen New YOrk and Boston,
it's about all a stewardess can do now is just hand around cookies and a beverage."
---"The Log of Logan Airport," Christian Science Monitor, September 8, 1948 (p. 2)

[1950s] Technology marches on...

"The development of jet aircraft in the 1950s began a new era in inflight foodservice. Not only were the galleys in
the aircraft newly designed, but changes were required in the inflight kitchens...The end result was a near doubling
in size of inflight kitchens...In the early 1950s, hot food packaging was changed from the thermoses...to heated
ovens... Throughout this period, Pan American Airways continued its development of elegant service for its
transoceanic flights. An innovation developed by Bert Snowden was the precooked frozen entree, the forerunner of
today's pop-out meals. Its development of the convection oven in 1945 (termed the Maxson Oven...) led to Pan
American's increased usage of these frozen meals... The new precooked frozen entree was flexible item that could be
used in any system. In addition to being heated on board planes equipped with the new convection oven, it could
also be thawed, heated on the ground, and boarded as a hot casserole meal... the precooked frozen entree was very
controversial. Many chefs felt that it posed a threat to their security. Also... many of the early products that appeared
on the market were of inferior quality and gave the system a bad reputation...These concersn with meal quality
caused Pan American to seriously consider eliminating this frozen meal concept in 1948. However, to revert to
locally prepared meals at that time would have meant the development of flight kitchens in such areas as Damascus,
Suyria; New Delhi and Calcutta, India; Bangkok, Thailand; and Johannesburg, South Africa. At the same time, they
were in need of new aircracraft to expand their fleet; so funding and development of inflight kitchens in these rather
remote areas was not economically feasible....the problem was not the system, but the quality of food products being
prepared for the system...[Kenneth Parratt] installed equipment such as high-velocity blast freezers and low-
temperature storage freezers...Products produced in this faciltiy were shipped around the world to the Pan American
commissaries...TWA was also producing frozen entrees at its flight kitchens at Orly Field in Paris and at Laguardia
Airport in New York City...The 1950s was also the era for the development of many standardized products suitable
for use in inflight foodservices...The boarding of glass carbonated beverages bottles had been a major problem...The
new cans were not only lighter and disposable, but their flexibility helped alleviate the explosion problem...The
advent of the 707 jet aircracraft brought fine restaurant dining to first-class passengers in the late 1960s. Efforts were
made to adapt menus from well-known fine dining establishments to airline sevice...Pan American['s]...partner was
Maximes of Paris."
---Inflight Catering Management (p. 32-37)

[1951] Stewardess career guide describes food service protocol to prospective employees
"Dining service. One of the miracles of our modern flights is the airborne meal. What was once a haphazard system
of supplying a few sandwiches and coffee to air travelers, has now developed into a feat of engineering and planning
to rival the most complex chemical formula.. In 1950, approximately fifteen million meals were prepared and served
by the major airlines! Dining Service, one of the important divisions of Passenger Service, has truly found its
permanent place in modern air transportation, and is now an accepted part of every scheduled airline flight.

The operation of Dining Service is usually undertaken by the airline itself or by an outside agency such as Sky
Chefs, Inc. For the airline that maintains its own flight kitchens, the serving of thousands of meals and snacks a day
is an endless responsibility. But, with the detailed and advanced planning which has become an integral part of this
service, this operation runs smoothly and efficinetly. Considering the fact that most flights make only a few stops on
coast-to-coast runs, and that these stops are only from fifteen to thirty minutes, this business of keeping up with the
air traveler's appetite is quite a problem. On a flight from San Francisco to New York, for instance, with one stop at
Omaha, let's see what happens to the food situation. If the flight left at 6:00 p.M. PST, the passengers received a hot
full-course dinner about one hour out of San Francisco. Upon arriving at Omaha at 1:35 A.M. CST, while these
same passengers were comfortably dozing, the dinner meal service and used trays were quickly whisked off and a
hot full-course breakfast was placed on board. now it stands to reason that no person wants to sit down to breakfast
at the unholy jour of 2:00 A.M., even on an airline flight! So the food was packed in thermal heating units, for use
during the usual breakfast period. Leaving Omaha at 2:05 A.M., the stewardess turned on the heating unit, and
promptly ignored the fifty-off individual meals for a few hours. At 7 A.M. EST, she nonchalantly set up her buffet,
an, now east of Cleveland, awakened her passenters to a still piping hot meal of ham and eggs! Black magic? No,
just he result of the combined efforts of the Engineering and Dining Service divisions of the airline.

Each flight kitchen of an airline has been placed in charge of a competent manager and chef. the chef orderes
supplies for meals days in advance, and plans the menus to be served from his own kitchen. Once a week he submits
the advance menus to the home base of the airline for correlation, so that a passenger on a coast-to-caost flight will
not be served steak three times in a row! The menus submitted are also checked for digestibility and appeal. They
are well balanced, adnd provide the proper ratio of proteins and vitamins. Certaian foods are 'taboo' on an airline
menu. For instance, according to most of the airlines, highly spiced foods and foreign dishes are not universally
acceptable. Where the airline carries every possible type of traveler, a generally acceptable dish is mandatory. Even
that old stand-by, bread, comes in for consideration on an airline menu. Breads which have a high moisture content
are generally preferred, such as rye or raisin. Cookies are served instead of cake. Cake sometimes collapses at
certain heights, because of pressure changes due to altitude! Sandwiches are not too frequently seen nowadays,
because of their tendency to dry out. With all these factors to consider, it is to the great credit of the airlines that the
airline meal is not only well balanced and varied, but has received the acclaim of hundreds of thousands of happy air
travelers.

Working along with the chef, in these airline kitchens, are many assistant chefs, second cooks, pastry cooks, bakery
and pantry workers and other skilled helpers... The meals are planned with the assistance of a trained dietician, who
with the chief chef decides upon the menus about five weeks in advance of a scheduled flight! The number of meals
is important, also. It is difficult to plan, down to the last passenger, just how much food will be needed in five
weeks... Shortly before departure time, all th hot foods for the flight are prepared. Portions of meat, potato, and
vegetable are placed in individual casseroles. The casseroles are then garnished, covered with lids, and placed in
pre-heated insualted hot boxes, or in thermostatically controlled, electrically heated cartons. The boxes are later
plugged into the wired circuits in the buffet of the plane. Salads, desserts, and rolls are all prepared and placed in
containers on the tray beforehand, thus facilitating the work of the stewardess when she serves the meal. Iced
desserts and staples, such as butter and cream, which need refrigeration, are packed in insulated cartons. Dry ice is
used as the refrigerant. Every item whcih can be tray-packed is done in the flight kitchen, to save time during the
flight. As the trays are completed and packed in larger carriers, they are checked off by a kitchen steward. Once
released by the airline kitchen, the trays and supplies are turned over to the Supply Service divsion of the airline for
loading on the airplane...

"Now the stewardess comes into the picture. At mealtime, she has only to set up the buffet, remove the lids from the
food containers, place the hot and cold foods and beverage in their proper places, put the silver, napkin and souvenir
menu on the tray, and serve it to the waiting passenger. Each passenger is individually served. Some types of
airplanes now have individiual tables which are used during mealtine. Others use the passenger's pillow as the
serving table. With the smoothy working assistance of the Dining Division and the Supply Department of an airline,
the airline stewardess has gained the enviable reputation of being the finest hostess in the world."
---Skygirl; A Career Handbook for the Airline Stewardess, Mary F. Murray [Duell, Sloan and Pearce:New York]
1951 (p.132-136)

[1962] First class plates

"I have just discovered one of the world's really spectacular restaurants. Sort of out of this world. Well, almost, that
is. It's an intimate little place operated by Trans World Arilines at about 35,000 ft. over the Atlantic. There's just one
drawback, thoug: Passengers become so spoiled by the food and serve that occasionally someone refuses to deplane
when the jet lands. ..let me tell you about TWA's Royal Ambassador service...First off, TWA found out it was my
birthday and insisted on throwing a party (the reservations clerks check every passenger's passport for this very
reason). The stewardess brought a vanila-frosted two-layer cake that spelled out "Best Wishes."...As the movie
ended the three stewardesses and steward in the first class section began serving a feast unseen since the Beverly
Hills Food & Wine Society banded toghether last. Before leaving Los Angeles everyone was given a booklet which
explained: "A Royal Ambassador meal is a series of impressions...the soft clink of cocktail glasses...the crisp, frosty
tang of expertly mixed dirnks...tasty snacks..." There was a great deal of clinking all right; the beverage list alone
contained 36 drinks. At any rate, the booklet explained that this was merely the beginning--just a warm-up for dishes
to come, such as Beluga caviar, smoked Nova Scotia salmon and fresh lobster medallion. Among other selections
were just about anything you can name from chateaubriands to hot dogs and hamburgers. They even served malts to
those who asked for them. The list contained so many selections this column would run overtime telling about them.
But just to name a few: Le Canard a L'Orange Au Grand Mariner, or duckling with orange sauce; Les Filets de Sole
Ambassadeur--meaning filet of sole with truffles and mushrooms. Sirlion steak, roast filet of beef, double thick lamb
chops, etc. As for the salad, it was composed of hearts of palm imported from Argentina. Dawn was breaking as the
meal ended. Through a rent in the clouds I caught a glimpse of the River Seine twisting through Paris. It was like
coming home. Vive le TWA!"
---"Travelines: Airline Cuisine? Plane and Fancy," Jerry Hulse, Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1962 (p. G11)

[1965] Meal time roulette

"Airline meals prove one thing--you don't have to be hungry to eat! If the clock says it's time to eat, you eat. So,
you've just had breakfast on the way from Boston to Chicago. When you leave Chicago, the clock says it's time for
brunch. And brunch is served--for two hours and a thousand miles. (Why, on the way from New York to Honolulu,
you can have have three breakfasts, and no one blinks an eye!"
---"Eating away into the wild blue yonder," June Bibb, Christian Science Monitor, September 2, 1965 (p. 6)

[1973] Awful food??!

"'Welcome aboard,' said a steward to a coach passenger on American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York,
'We've got... a fantastic gourmet meal.'...The gourmet meal stunted the memory like a fishbone...flaccid
bacon...overcooked chicken leg...tasteless broccoli...and everything was jammed together...Over the past few
months...an airline that had overcome...the food problem...turned up only failures wrapped in plastic..."
---"That Airline Meal Was Awful? Blame the System, Not the Chef," Raymond A. Sokolov, New York Times, April
5, 1973 (p. 96)

[1977] Class differentials

"Sipping sake in happi coats as you wing your way toward the Far East...Butterscotch sundaes, hoagies, and deli
buffets at 30,000 feet. A rack of lamb, skewers of barbecued pork done Polynesian style. Salads with poi dressing
served in orchid-clad monkeypots...Hoisting up a few pub style in the clouds as you munch on pretzels and watch a
gem of Pong...Beautifully illustrated, glossy menus boasting both unusual and familiar fare. Long wine lists and
numerous liqueurs...As one radio commercial proclaimed about a flight to the Orient, "You will dine on lobster,
caviar, and exotic cuisine based on authentic, ancient recipes...You are our honored guest." And one might ad, a
captive one. The food gimmicks are many. The airlines will do just about anything to lure you aboard their planes.
And food is one of their major bargaining agents. Most airline food service personnel would agree that "the selling
of an airline" depends largely upon what goes into the mouths of its passeners. But let's face it, airline food is far
from being a gastronomic experience. An experience at times, yes, but not necessarily a gastronomic one. Several
reasons for this are cited by the airline caterers themselves. The time factor, costs, and the cramped quarters and
galleys on even the large, wide-body jets limit the possibilities of an airline ever being able to compete with the fare
served aboard a cruise ship, in a fine restaurant, or even the luxury dining cars of trains past. From the caterer's
viewpoint, the main purpose of an airline food service is "to serve a good, wholesome, nutritionally balanced meal
and be innovative about it...And what makes a "good" airline meal? According to Juegen Brinker, regional vice
president of Sky Chefs, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines, it's one that has eye appeal, that is
substantial enough to fit the time of day it's being served, and one that's being presented in a manner to be palatable
and enjoyable within the restriction of the airlines. As Michel J. Dick, international account manager for Marriot's
In-Flite Services at O'Hare, said "You start to eat with your eyes." Unfortunately, though, it's your stomach, and not
your eyes, that makes the final judgement. So who's to blame for a that wilted salad, cold dinner roll, burnt peas,
soggy desert, or tough piece of mystery meat drenched in a sauce that resembles Gravy Train? The obvious answer
would be the chef, of course. But with the airlines themselves "dictating" the menus and setting up very rigid
guidelines the role of the chef in airline catering is quite different from that of his counterpart in the restaurant
business...."Passengers expect too much,"...With air fares what they are, however, the passenger is inclined to
disagree...Looking at it economically, there is more money set aside by an airline for a first-class meal than a coach
one, which, of course, results in a more elaborate service. But "in terms of quality, a coach passenger is not treated
as a second class citizen," said R.J. Henely, manager of Continentals' flight kitchen at O'Hare. If you are dining first
class rather than coach, these will be the differences: larger portion sizes, more courses, more choices of entrees and
other items, higher priced cuts of meat, fancier salads and deserts, and free cocktails along with a greater selection or
wines and liqueurs. The meal's presentation is different, also, such as china versus plastic and linen opposed to
paper..."
---"O'Hare's flight caterers," Connie Coning, Chicago Tribune, March 27, 1977 (p. C3)

[2009] 
American Airlines, Continental Airlines & United Airlines

Need more information? We suggest:

 Airline Food/Barry Popik

 The History of Inflight Food Service/Philip J. Parrot
 ProQuest Historic Newspapers database identifies ads run by airlines promoting food. Menus are often
included.
 Inflight Inflight Food Service Association
 International Travel Catering Association
 Blimps & Zeppelins

Primary accounts confirm kitchen, commissary, and dining facilities on early airships were well planned and
technologically advanced. As airships transformed from military to commercial use, meals improved. Catering to the
wealthiest classes of society (early passengers were accustomed to premier dining facilities provided by cruise
liners) while juggling physical *lighter than air* requirements (food weights, kitchen facilities, dining room design)
must have taxed even the most creative minds to the max. Huzzah for lightweight aluminum! Passengers aboard the
ill-fated Hindenburg dined first class, all the way.

EARLY ZEPPELIN [aka DIRIGIBLE, AIRSHIP, BLIMP] CUISINE

"Sausage meat, more tightly compressed into the casings than ever before attempted, will form the main ration of the
German crew which takes the American Navy dirigible ZR-3 across the Atlantic to Lakehurst, N.J. Specially
prepared concentrated foods will make up the rest of the menu. For the Americans on board the aircraft there will be
some canned meats, but they will have at least one sausage ration daily. Coffee will be served in the mornings only,
provided the weather is fair. Hans von Schiller, who is in charge of the commissary of the airship, is planning to
serve cocoa chiefly as a drink, because of its nourishing qualities. There will be in the larder of the dirigible
hardtack, concentrated meat cubes and canned vegetables. Fruit will be served sparingly. Schiller will provide plenty
of drinking water, but persons may take aboard some "bottled goods" if they so desire. There is to be no smoking
tobacco allowed. All the food carried by the ZR-3 will be of German manufacture, no American firm having made
an offer to supply concentrated goods."
---"Sausage Chief Item For Crew of ZR-3," New York Times, September 1, 1924 (p. 2)

"The menu for the crew and passengers of the ZR-3 and the entertainment arrangements of the voyage were well
worked out before the dirigible set out for the transatlantic trp. Meals on board are being served regularly in
accordance with the schedule usually followed on ships at sea. Breakfast is served at 8 o'clock, dinner at 12, tea at 4
and supper at 8 o'clock, a phonograph playing American and German airs during the midday meal. There also are
biscuits at 4 o'clock each morning for those on watch. Today's breakfast menu includes coffee, zewiback, biscuits,
apple jelly and wienerwurst. For dinner there will be bouillon, ham with Madeira sauce, butter beans, pudding and
peach compote. For supper, the crew will have Hungarian goulash with rice, sausage, tea and biscuits. Sausage and
various forms of wurst will be served to the crew at tea time, midnight and 4 o'clock in the morning. The Americans
on board will have plenty of fruits, which will supplement the ship's menu. All of the cooking utensils as well as the
cups and sauces used at table are of aluminum."
---"Menu for the Air Voyage," New York Times, October 14, 1924 (p. 2)

"In order not to overload the dirigible and yet serve the passengers adequate meals, it was decided after careful
calculation to allow 7 1/2 pounds of victuals per capita daily, including food and drink, with an additional meal for
the night watch. Breakfast between 8:30 and 9:30 will consist of coffee, tea, bread, butter, eggs or sausage. For
dinner, form 1 to 2 P.M., there will be soup, vegetables, roast, compote, or desert, and for supper, from 7:30 to 8:30
P.M., coffee, tea, cold meats, bread and butter. The passengers are privileged to order drinks between meals. The
drinking water is shipped in the form of ice which is chopped off and melted as it is needed."
---"Zeppelin Books 18 for Passage Here," New York Times, October 7, 1928 (p. 1)

"One of the most interesting places in Friedrichshafen today was the butcher shop of Otto Manz, who will be chef of
the Graf Zeppelin. Manz is a butcher only because he had to take over his father's business. Rotund and jovial, he is
at heart a cook who dreams of some day getting back tinto his real life work. He has cooked in Belgium, Portugal,
Switzerland and aboard the liner Majestic and now he is going to cook over the Atlantic. 'I like cooking much better
than tending a butcher shop,' he said, 'and I hope that this Zeppelin voyage will be the first step in building up a
catering business.' Manz proudly showed his commissary department to visitors. Large, small and middle-size cans
lined the rooms of his shop and house. Into them all sorts of delicacies have ben placed and hermetically sealed, then
labeled by his sister. The Zeppelin chef is greatly chagrinned because newspapers say only canned goods are eaten
aboard the dirigible. 'Naturally people think only of canned meats and vegetables from factories,' said Manz. 'As a
matter of fact everything is fresh and is being put into cans now because of course, the food would not keep
throughout the voyage unless hermetically sealed. I do all my own canning and my sisters affix the labels. My father
way purveyor to the King of Wurttemberg, so we are used to supplying only the best.'"
---"Zeppelin Takes Off On Trip to America...," New York Times, August 1, 1929 (p. 1)

"It was luncheon hour when the R-101 was over London...At 2 o'clock, with London in the distance, Major Scott
turned the command over to Flight Lieutenant Irwin and joined the passengers dining in the saloon. Chief Steward
Savidge and Cook Meeghan had preapared a tasty hot meal, the menu consisting of soup, mutton, potatoes, cabbage,
fruit salad, cheese and coffee, accompanied by popping corks and a toast to the R-101."
---"London Hails R-101 On Her First Flight," New York Times, October 15, 1929 (p. 3)

"The British dirigible R-100 tonight is sailing over the tossing Atlantic...Those aboard are enjoying the flight. When
the breakfast of ham and eggs with coffee was served this morning, quite in hotel fashion, hardly a movement of the
ship could be felt...As darkness fell tongiht the electic lights were switched on and a bell summoned the hungry
passengers to dinner. Plates of hot soup awaited them in the dining room...The printed menu cards, the glitterign
silverware and spotless linen made the scene resemble Picadilly or Fifth Avenue rather than mid-Atlantic."
---"R-100 Sets Fast," Los Angeles Times, August 15, 1930 (p. 1)

"Everyone is up early to see the sun rise, to scan the skies and to peer at the world far below. Breakfasts start at 6
o'clock--eggs, meats if one wants them, fruits, coffee in quantity, cereals and, for luckless ones who desire a pick-
me-up, drinks...About mid-forenoon stewards serve sandwiches and hot soup. In the afternoon, after a bounteous
luncheon, tea is served, or cocktails if one prefers. Then there is dinner; before retiring there is more eating and a
glass of wine. Six times daily the passengers are provided with food, and plenty of it, aboard the Graf."
---"Voyaging on a Liner of the Air," Lauren D. Lyman, New York Times, April 29, 1934 (p. SM12)

HINDENBURG [aka LZ-129] FARE

"Much attention had been given to "Hindenburg's" public rooms, where Dr. Durr and the airship's designers had
excpected that the passengers would spend most of the daylight hours...To port, occupying an area measuring 15 X
50 feet, was the dining room. Here, with all the luxury and refinement of a small restaurant, were seats for 34
passengers--at four small tables for 2 person along the inboard wall, and at six larger tables outboard. The tables--
and chairs likewise--were of a special lighweight tubular aluminum design--'as light as possible, as stable as
possible'--created for the "Hindenburg" by Professor Breuhaus. In the dining room the chairs were upholstered in
red. The inner walls, covered with airship cotton fabric and off-white in color, bore 21 original paintings by
Professor Arpke...the colorful paintings in the dining room represented "Graf Zeppelin" on a South American
journey... Meals in these surroundings were an unforgettable experience. Passengers were assigned seats by the chief
steward (obviously there must have been two sittings)...The tables were laid with white linen napkins and
tablecloths, fresh-cut flowers, fine silver, and the special china service created for the "Hindenbug."...Exquisitely
confected of "Heinrich Ivory Porcelain," it is marked on the bottom "Property of the German Zeppelin Reederei,"
bears a chased gold and blue band around the rim, and exhibits the Reederei crest--a white Zeppelin, outlined in
gold, superimposed on a blue globe with meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude in gold. On dishes thus
decorated the chief steward and three waiters served meals prepared in German style. Breakfast appears to have
been a standard affair of rolls freshly baked in the ship's ovens, with butter, preserves or honey; eggs (served boiled
in the shell for German passengers, fried or poached for Americans); Frankfurt sausage, ham, salami, cheese, fruit,
coffee, tea, milk or cocoa. On Monday, August 17, 1936, "Hindenburg's" passengers ate for luncheon: Strong Broth
Theodor, Fattened Duckling, Bavarian Style with Champagne Cabbage, Savory Potatoes and Madiera Gravy, Pears
Convent Style, Mocha. For dinner there was: Cream Soup Hamilton, Grilled Sole With Parsley Butter, Venison
Cutlets Beauval with Berny Potatoes, Mushrooms and Cream Sauce, Mixed Cheese Plate. All this was served with
tall bottles of Rhine and Moselle wines--Deideshiemer Kranzler Riesling, Piesporter Goldtropfchen Spatlese,
Freiherr von Fahnenberg Spatlese, and others, as well as a few French red wines and an assortment of German
champagnes led by the Deinard Cabinett, Troken (some 250 bottles of wine were carried on each crossing)."
---LZ 129 "Hindenburg", Douglas H. Robinson, Famous Aircraft Series [Morgan Books:Dallas TX] 1964
[NOTES: (1) This booklet has no page numbers. (2) Black & white photos of the diningroom, lounge, galley, and
wine list (cover and list) included.]
"The new Zeppelin LZ-129 will start on her first South American flight March 30 or 31...This morning the new
Zeppelin, on her first passenger flight, demonstrated to fifty passengers, mostly newspaper men, the same comfort
and practicability she had previously manifested in private trial cruises...The luxurious accomodations and stability
in flight claimed as the main assets of the new dirigible were fully borne out during today's performance. Sitting in a
comfortable armchair beside a long, slanting observation window in the lounge, the passenger enjoys all the comfort
of a first-class movie house as he watches the everchanging colorful panorama of land and water below. An
excellent luncheon was served while the Zeppelin was flying at ninety knots and the tables, plates and glasses were
as free from vibration as they would have been on land...Cigar-loving Germans were a little disappointed when they
learned a temporary defect prohibited the use of the smoking room, an unprecedented feature in dirigible
construction. Their disappointment, however, was largely offset by the ingenuity of Hans, general factotum in
charge of the luxuruious Zeppelin bar, who had concocted for the occasion a stimulating LZ-129 cocktail."
---"New Zeppelin Set For Ocean Service," New York Times, March 24, 1936 (p. 7) [Cocktail recipe here.]

"I found the Hindenburg a scene of domestic activity that reminded me of the preparation for departure of an ocean
liner. The simple cabins and small saloon of the Graf Zeppelin in which I traveled more than 50,000 miles could be
quickly inspected. The Hindenburg, with its large dining room, reading room, writing room, smart bar, smoking
room, bathroom, twenty-five double passenger cabins, kitchen and pantry, officers' dining room and crew's mess, is
quite another matter."
---"Mass Will Be Said in the Hindenburg," Lady Drummond Hay, New York Times, May 6, 1936 (p. 16)

"Thrilled by their unique experience, all the passengers were still up shortly before midnight sitting in the dining
room and at the bar over sandwiches, champagne, wines and beer."
---"Hindenburg Begins First U.S. Flight," New York Times, May 7, 1936 (p. 1)

"The galley is like the kitchen of a modern small hotel, with many electrical appliances for labor saving. Next to it is
the domain of the chief steward, with cupboards full of china, glass and linen."
---"Airship Largest, Fastest of Kind," New York Times, May 9, 1936 (p. 2)

"Dr. Hugo Eckener had shouted: "Auf Schiff!" at Fredrichshafen at 9 p.m. An hour later practically all passengers
had tired of peering at the lights of Germany, adjourned to the bar...Next morning, after a breakfast of sausages, hot
rolls, honey and coffee, came a spasm of postcard-writing...At dinner, most of the women by only three men, put on
evening clothes to eat Black Forest Trout."
---"Luftschiff at Lakehurst," Time [magazine], May 18, 1936 (p. 66)

"...Lady Drummond-Hay...told us how they called her the 'Zeppelin cat' on the Hindenberg [sic], because she
crawled down to look at the engines. Her description of life on board the huge air liner was amusing--that piano, for
instance, which somebody would insist upon playing all the time......they had an electic oven and hot rolls for
breakfast."
---"Sugar and Spice," Alma Whitaker, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1936 (p. A6)

LZ-129 Cocktail

"According to airship historian, Douglas H. Robinson, a New Jersey psychatrist who visited the zeppelin works in
Germany before World War II, carousers in the Hindenberg's lounges and pressurized, fireproof smoking room paid
extra for drinks. These included the specialty of the ship, the 'LZ-129 Frosted Cocktail' (gin with a dash of orange
juice)....haute cuisine [was] served on blue and gold porcelain..." ---"Memories of Hindenburg Crash Are Still Vivid
50 Years Later," Malcom W. Browne, New York Times, May 6, 1987 (p. B1)

Related topic? Inflight catering (aka airline food)

Railroad dining
The earliest trains did not have dining facilities on board. Customers brought their own food or purchased before
boarding from local vendors. Before long, trackside eateries dotted the country. Fred Harvey'sHarvey Houses played
a key role in feeding America's rail passengers. Indeed, some folks view his establishments as the first American
"fast food" resaurants. Passengers only had a half hour or so at each stop! On-board dining was considered from the
start of the industry. It took time, however, to create a workable system capable of producing acceptable
(delicious??!) results.

In the beginning...

"Eatinghouses quickly sprang up at [railroad] junction points, and as traffic increased, dining stations or
refreshement saloons...were established by the railroads themselves at the towns along the line. A few were
excellent and their meals became famous, but most of them were second rate, and in a number the food was inedible.
The railroads made constant efforts to improve the poor ones, but many of them were let as concessions, and the
roads had little control over them...All through trains were delayed as much as an hour a day to allow time for meals
to be eaten, which took from ten to twenty minutes for each meal. In that limited time there was a wild scramble
among the passengers to get down at least part of a meal before the train pulled out. In winter or in stormy wather
many people were reluctant to leave the train, and the old and inform were barred from eating in such places at any
time. The meals were spaced to suit the schedule, and the passengers might get all three meals within a few hours on
one section of the road and fast for long period between meals on another. If the train was delayed, they would be
without food for hours except for such provender as the news butcher brought round. Each eating place usually had
its specialty, which was served every day. After the telepgraph came into use, it was the custom of the conductor to
go through the train some time before it was due at a dining station and ask all passengers who intended to eat there
to signify the fact. He would then telegraph ahead, so that the proper number of meals could be prepared."
---The Railroad Passenger Car, August Mencken [Johns Hopkins Press:Baltimore MD] 2000 (p. 26-27)

Alongside the railroad station, sometimes part of it, the Harvey House made its appearance--the first one in 1876, at
Topeka. Soon there was one at every larger railroad stop. Havery employed pretty, polite, white-aproned, and very
competent waitresses, who lived on the premsis, their virtue carefully guarded by chaperones...Guests are from clean
plages on spotless linen. The food was excellent because Harvey imported European chefs. It was also hot and
cheap. Harvey revolutionized western eating habits."
---Saloons of the Old West, Richard Erdoes [Alfred A. Knopf:New Yrok] 1979 (p. 114)

"Even in the United States the railroads had avoided looking for ways to better the lot of the hungry passenger.
American railroad managers thought of themselves as people movers, not caterers...The first coaches looked for all
the world like stagecoaches mounted on flanged wheels...The old coaching inn idea of meal stops continued to
dominate, although complaints about the food and service...flitted through newspaper and magazine accounts of
adventuresome trips on the new but perilous mode of transporation. Ocean liners, river steamers, and canal boats
were suggested as role models for food service... and a rail car built in 1835 for the Phildelphia and Columbia
Railroad boasted what must have been a food service counter at one end, an innovation that withered as railroad
executives concentrated their efforts on haulage to the exclusion of forage. In the early 1860s, cars that were used to
provide meals were nothing more than temporary expedients...Some coaches were only half-gutted and fitted out
with counters thus surveying as forerunners to the coffee shop/coach cars on the "milk stop" runs...As a result, little
thought as given to dining comfort or variety, and only patrons who could not wait for an end to their journeys, or
who did not expect anything better, patronized them."
---Dining Car Line to the Pacific, William A. McKenzie [Minnestoa Historical Society Press:St. Paul MN] 1990 (p.
25-25)

Self-contained dining cars made sense on many levels. They eliminated need for stops (faster transport), attracted
wealthier clientele (who demanded creature comforts while traveling) and inspired forward-thinking entrepreneurs
(George Pullman, for one).

"Dining cars had been proposed as early as 1838 and therafter, and in 1863 two restaurant cars were put into service
on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad and operated for several years. These were ordinary day
coaches with cross partitions at their centers. Half of the car was used for a smoker, and in the other half, from the
seats being removed, an eating bar, with a steam box, was installed. The food was cooked at the terminals and
carried in the steam box, and the bar was probably patronized by men only. It was not until 1867 when the first diner
was put into service. In that year George. M. Pullman introduced his first co-called hotel car on the Great Western
railroad of Canada. This was a sleeper with a small kitchen in one e3nd, and the meals were served on tables that
were set up, when needed, between the seats. There was an ample supply of elegant crockery and table linen, and the
passengers were given their choice of a number of dishes prepared by a professional cook. These comforts...were
reserved for the occupants of the car. The advantage of allowing the other passengers to eat aboard were apparent to
everyone, and in 1868 Pullman placed the first dining car open to all passengers in service on the Chicago & Alton."
---The Railroad Passenger Car, (p. 28-29)

"...the idea of eating on the train was introduced, however haltingly, almost immediately after the first trains started
running...The absence of any cooking faciltiies indicates the cars were catered at terminals...The first account of a
meal served on a train appeared in the Baltimore American of Saturday, November 5, 1842. The article described
the run of a special train on Novemer 3 which carried the President and Directors of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad,
"and a few gentlemen invited to accompany them," over the 178-mile mainline out of Baltimore to celebrate and
show off the completing of the new fifty-five-mile stretch connecting Hancock with Cumberland, Maryland. "As it
was not designed to stop on up the road, an elegant cold collation was prepared in one of the cars, fitted up for the
purpose, under the direction of Mr. Barnum of City Hotel, whose skill in such matters is too well known to need
commendation. The attention of the company was equally divided between the excellence of the fare and the novelty
of thirty or forty gentlemen comfortably enjoying a collation while traveling at the rapid rate of twenty-five or thirty
miles per hour." Called "refectory cars," these B & O creations and their imitators on other railroads served on
similar occasions for nearly twenty years, the pace of dining innovation apparently at rest. But even this earliest
account includes the mention of three elements that were to characterize dining-car service for the next 125 years.
The food, even in the remote and primitive "wild regions of the Allegheny hills," was termed "elegant." The creative
source of the food was the menu of an already-famous hotel, a practice many in railroad management realized
established instant credibiltiy among those who requested first-class intercity trains for their dining-car service. And
a renowned chef oversaw the operation...It wasn't until the Civil War period that food was systematically prepared
and served on trains. Then, boxcars containing straw mats and hammocks were used to carry wounded troops from
the battlefield to treatment facilties in the North and East. At first, food was prepared on primitive stoves in the
individual boxcars. But by 1863 full realized hospital trains were in operation and included a kitchen car containing
a range, cupboards and sink, a food storage compartment, and a dining area with a long table and benches. Food
could be eaten there or delivered to the soldiers lying in converted boxcars and coaches on either end. The first
dining cars to be called such and to be part of the established make-up of a scheduled train also appeared in war, in
1862 on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. H.F. Kenney, general superintendent of the PW&B
described these two cars as remodeled day coaches, each fifty feet in length and each fitted "with a partition running
through the center, crosswize, one end being for smokers, and the other as an eating bar, fitted with steam box and
other fixtures usually found in a first-class restaurant...The diner of 1862 was a baggage car, retired from heaavy
work on account of long service in the transportation of trunks, and bare as to the interior excerpt that it was
furnished in the middle with an oblong counter around the four sides of which the patrons ate while seated on high
stools...From the insides of the oblong viands were served by colored waiters in white jackets. If memory does not
betray me, the bill of fare of the diner on the Washington Express consisted chiefly of oyster stew, pie, crullers, and
coffee...The first primitive dining cars continued in operation for just three years, with no public note on the cause of
their demise...In 1867 a revolutionary turn in the way people ate while riding the train occurred. George Pullman
introduced his "hotel car." Named President, it was the first railroad car designed and built for the purpose of
preparing and serving meals on board and en route, and awakened travelers and railroadmen alike to the full
potential of eating on the train."
---Dining by Rail: The History and the Recipes of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine, James D. Porterfield
[St. Martin's Griffin:New York] 1993 (p. 29-38) [NOTE: This is the one of the bestbooks on American railroad fare.
It also includes sample popular [though undated] recipes for the major railroad lines.]

Selected primary accounts of early American railroad dining experiences

[1840]
"Of all traveling, I think that by railroad the most fatiguing...your only consolation is the speed with which you are
passing over the ground...At eery fifteen miles of the railroads there are refreshment-rooms. The cars stop, all the
doors are thrown open, and out rush all, the passengers are like boys out of school, and crowd round the tables to
solace themselves with pies, patties, cakes, hard-boiled eggs, hams, custards and a variety of railroad luxuries too
numerous to mention. The bell rings for departure, in they all hurry with their hands and mouths full, and off they go
again until the next stopping-place induces them to relieve the monotony of the journey by masticating without
being hungry."
---The Railroad Passenger Car, [quoted from A Diary in America, Captian Frederic Marryat (Philadelphia, 1849),
pp. 9-10]

[1854]
"The process of watering the passengers, as it is called, is another feature peculiar to American railway traveling. A
man or boy, often a Negro, carrying a tin can and tumblers in a frame passes frequently through the cars dispensing
iced water to the numerous applicants for that indispensible refreshment during an American Summer, which is
provided at the expense of the railway company."
---The Railroad Passenger Car, [quoted from A Vacation Tour in the United States and Canada, Charles Richard
Weld (London, 1855), p. 222,225,247)]

 Passenger travel and rest stops/Golden Spike National Historic Park, Promontory Point, Utah
 "Last Call to Dinner," John Kelly, Classic Trains Magazine:
 About George Pullman/Chicago Historical Society
 Dining Car/Car Builder's Dictionary [1884]
 Union Pacific 3669 Diner [1921--]

Sample historic American menus

 [1869] Central Pacific Railroad

 [1885] Rock Island Pullman Palace
 [1927] Baltimore & Ohio
 Railroad menus (for sale, but some let you look at the menu)
 Culinary Institute of America has uploaded several historic railroad menus.

Recommended reading & selected recipes:

 Chesapeake and Ohio: Dining Car Recipes/E. Sterling "Tod" Hanger Jr.
 Dining at Speed: A Celebration of 125 Years of Railway Catering/Chris De Winter Hebron (United
Kingdom railway dining)
 Dining Car Line to the Pacific/William A. McKenzie
 Dinner int eh Finer: 300 Recipes from America's Era of Great Trains/Will C, Hollister
 The Harvey Girls: Women Who Opened the West/Lesley Poling-Kempes
 The Harvey House Cookbook: Memories of Dining along the Santa Fe Railroad/George H. Foster & Peter
C. Weiglin
 The Railroad Passenger Car/August Mencken
 Restaurant Car: A Century of Railway Catering/Geoffrey Kichenside

Revolving restaurants

The world's first revolving restaurant, La Ronde, opened atop Hawaii's Ala Moana building in 1961. The visionary
architect was John Graham. Seattle's Eye of the [Space] Needle was Graham's second triumph. Before long,
revolving restaurants proliferated in trendy venues worldwide. "Revolutionary Restaurants," Charles E.
Ebeling, American Heritage provides an excellent discussion of the rise (and fall) of rotating rooftop dining. Mr.
Graham's patent was #3,125,189 "Restaurant with rotating floor," filed August 15, 1961; issued March 1964.
Why the 1960s?
We wonder if these futuristic skytop venues were inspired by president John F. Kennedy's committment to space
exploration. John Mariani, noted food historian offers a more practical explanation. Think: Disney.

"The creating of novel restaurant concepts was, by the mid-sixties, a booming business in the United States.
Americans had always loved theme restaurants whether it was a hamburger stand in the shape of a dragon, a
Hollywood nightclub done up with waterfalls and tropical rain forest, or a deluxe Manhattan dining room set with
Roman antiquities. Now the designs and concepts became more sophisticated and far more costly, though often the
themes were strained and mawkish...Then there was a whole genre of restaurants set atop a tall building or other
structure, like Seattle's Top of the Needle, which opened May 22, 1961, at Seattle's Century 21 Exposition. Set at the
500-foot level of a 600-foot totem called the Space Needle, the restaurant, designed by John Graham & Co., sat 260
people and revolved once an hour. What any of this had to do with good food was not of much concern to the
average customer..."
---America Eats Out, John Mariani [William Morrow:New York] 1991 (p. 193-194)

A select chronology of revolving restaurants 

(This is not a comprehensive catalog of all revolving restaurants. If you are looking for information on a specific
restaurant, city or country please let us know.)

[1930: an unrealized dream?]

"Erection of a steel tower 600 feet high, equipped with telescopes of a 200-mile range at the top and a revolving
restaurant seating 250 patrons half way up the structure, is planned for Los Angeles, according to an announcement
of the Los Angeles Tower Company yesterday...The tower is to be the feature attraction of an amusement park of
five acres, according to Henry Wacker, president, and John F. Wynne of the Wynne Investment Company, a
director. It is to be patterned after the famous steel tower of Leipsig, Germany, but is to be almost three times its
height."
---"High Tower of Steel Planned for This City," Los Angeles Times, May 30, 1930 (p. A3)
[NOTE: We find no evidence this restaurant ever opened; nor definition of the term "revolving" as it applies to this
dining venue. See next for possible explanation.]

[1937: stable restaurant; rotating food]

"'Build a better mousetrap--and the world will beat a pathway to your door.' This old proverb has been given a fresh
twist by G. W. Kramm of Los Angeles and his wife...The Kramms have done just this by forging a chain of Merry-
Go-Round restaurants in California. Eight years about the idea of a revolving table was brand new in the catering
business. Some laughed at it, others scorned it and still others said it was impractical. The Kramm's didn't think so.
Today they have a prosperous string of restaurants...In 1929 the Kramms were in the hotel business in Long
Beach...The cafe that the Kramms built in San Francisco is one of the real showplaces of the Bay City...If you've
never eaten in one of these revolving cafes, here's the way it works: Your soup and entree are served over the
counter by spick-and-span waitresses; but salads, desserts and bread and butter-- that's where the real fun comes!
Chocolate cake, blueberry pie, custard, cole slaw, nut cookies, hot cornbread come gliding by on an endless
conveyor. You simply lift a small glass door and take your pick!"
---"Odds and Ends of Life: An Idea That Bore Fruit, Arnold Jackson, Los Angeles Times, January 3, 1937 (p. H12)

[1961: stable building; rotating restaurant]

"Honolulu's tallest office building has a revolving restaurant perched on its roof. The saucer-shaped restaurant,
opened last week, offers diners a panoramic view of the city. A sixteen-foot-wide ring set into the floor of the
restaurant called La Ronde, makes one complete revolution every hour. Windows completely circle the restaurant
and are tilted outward to reduce glare. The dining facilities are on the roof of the twenty-two-story Ala Moana
Building. The office building, restaurant and an adjacent shopping center were designed by John Graham & Co.,
Seattle and New York architects. The restaurant seats 162 persons on the revolving floor. The seventy-two-food-
wide restaurant is cantilevered from a thirty-eight-foot-diameter concrete core which contains stairwells, elevators,
kitchen and other facilities for La Ronde. A three-horsepower motor moves the floor of the restaurant. Two
additional motors have been installed for emergency use...The dining facilities and the building are owned by the
Hawaiian Land Company, Ltd."
---"Restaurant Perches Atop Building," New York Times, November 26, 1961 (p. R1)
[NOTE: our newly admitted 50th state was recovering from catastrophic typhoons that year.]

[1962: Eye of the Needle @Seattle World's Fair]

"While undoubtedly one of the fair's great attractions, the [Space] Needle is also it biggest headache. Visitors queue
up for as long as two hours for the privilege of shelling out $6.75 for dinner in the revolving restaurant--not to
mention the $1 elevator ride...Reason for the jam is that the Needle Restaurant holds less than 250 diners at a time.
While expensive, the meal and spectacular looksee from 60 stories high are worth the drain on the wallet."
---"View of Seattle Through Needle's Eye," Jerry Hulse, Los Angeles Times, April 26, 1962 (p. 3)
[NOTES: (1) John Graham & Co. architects (1961: Honolulu) also designed the Space Needle. (2) Selected recipes
from this restaurant here. (3) The New York World's Fair [1964-65] did not offer a revolving restaurant; Top of the
Fair was owned by Port Authority, which chose to use the roof as a heliport.]

[1964: American hotel chain cashes in @Baltimore]

"The problem of finding a table with a view should not trouble diners at the Holiday Inn restaurant in Baltimore,
since the view is constantly changing. The restaurant, called La Ronde, is a circular structure atop the 13-story motor
inn in the downtown of the city. It is set on a friction-driven turntable powered by a one-horsepower motor. The
turntable can be stopped or started with a pushbutton. The doughnut-shaped dining area has an outside diameter of
84 feet and an inside diameter of 58 feet. It travels at a rate of one revolution an hour, giving diners a panoramic
view of the city. The kitchen and service facilities are situated in the core of the 'doughnut' and remain stationary.
This enable waitresses to serve the diners with a minimum of steps. The 243-seat restaurant was designed by
William W. Bond and Associates, architects, of Memphis, and Bacharack & Bacharack associate architects, of
Baltimore. The wood-platform turntable was designed and manufactured by the Macton Manchinery Company of
Stamford, Conn., which has also built turntables for showrooms, theatres, sports arenas and the Seattle and New
York World's Fairs. The company is also working on a turntable for a revolving restaurant on top of the 16-storey
Pier Tower in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which will completed in the spring."
---"Revolving Restaurant Varies Views," New York Times, July 26, 1964 (p. R7)

[1965: Memphis visionaries]

"A revolving restaurant being erected atop an office building in Memphis, Tenn., will get around on automobile
tires. The restaurant will make one revolution every 80 minutes, rolling slowly on 75 pneumatic tires mounted on
standard automobile wheels. The designer and builder, the Kemmons Wilson Construction of Memphis, chose
passenger-car tires rather than solid rubber rollers to achieve a smoother ride for diners atop the 15-story Mid-City
Building on Union Avenue. The revolving section of the eating place will seat 250 persons, with a stationary center
dance floor. At the restaurant's rate of speed--one mile a day--the designer estimates the 75 tires will last almost until
the year 2050. The tires will be accessible by a a crawl space, and in the event of a flat--considered highly unlikely
by the designer--spares will be available. The restaurant, near Methodist Hospital, wil also have a stationary section
seating 250 diners. Power will be supplied by a half-horsepower electric motor."
---"Memphis Restaurant to Revolve on Automobile Tires," New York Times, June 13, 1965 (p. R10)

[1965: California cool]

"With construction of the 39-story Long Beach Tower Building near completion, the circular apartment building's
million dollar 'revolving' restaurant on the 36th floor was unveiled Thursday to the press and civic dignitaries. It is
scheduled for completion by Jan. 1. The guests, using two high-speed elevators, were whisked to the 'Way Station'
on the 32nd floor, thence by a second elevator lift to the 36th restaurant floor. The 'Station' is designed for cocktails
and dancing. Terminal Enterprises, an affiliate of Specialty Restaurants Corp., will operate the orbital facility, which
will perform a 360 degree 'slow orbit' every hour, 350 feet above Long Beach with as many as 360 diners aboard.
David C. Tallichet Jr. is president of Specialty Restaurants Corp....Food preparation will be under the supervision of
Paul Peron, executive chef, and John Hogg, general manager."
---"Revolving Restaurant Unveiled in Long Beach," Los Angeles Times, July 18, 1965 (p. I6)

[1965: Chicago spins]

"Dining will take on a new twist with the opening of the new revolving Pinnacle restaurant at the top of the Lake
Shore Holiday Inn, 644 N. Lake Shore dr., in November. At one complete revolution an hour, diners on the 33rd
floor will be carried past a panoramic view of the lake and the Chicago skyline much like a revolving tray of hors
d'oeuvres. The decor of the Pinnacle will be 'formal roaring '20s,'' said John Bogardus, general manager. This means
there will be no flappers who want to 'shimmy like their sister Kate.' serving meals. Instead, waiters in double-
breasted tuxedos with wing collars will serve the setting for 200 diners. In the center of the restaurant will be a
circular bar and high above that will be a symbol of the Prohibition--a bathtub. In fact, it will be a jewel-studded
bathtub, held aloft by four gilded arms...It will be the first revolving restaurant in Holiday Inn's chain of more than
600 motels. The 33-story concrete structure--management calls it an inn not a motel--is expected to be opened Nov.
1. One other revolving restaurant is in Baltimore, and several in Europe...The only moving machinery in the
Pinnacle lounge in the southwest corner of the room will be a player piano. One problem to be resolved is the area
behind the circular bar. At present the bartender will ply his trade on a floor which is partly rotating and partly
stationary."
---"Revolving Restaurant to Top Holiday Inn on Lake Shore Dr., Diners Will Turn 360 degrees in Hour," Alvin
Nagelberg, Chicago Tribune, September 4, 1965 (p. 5)

[1965: spinning out of control?]

"Electrician Ed Wallace soon expects to have his restaurant going at a nice slow pace. In the meantime, the fastest
meals in town are being eaten there. The restaurant is The Pinnacle...and it's supposed to give diners a slow turn
once an hour... Unfortunately, The Pinnacle--which opened Nov. 10--is spinning around at twice its desired speed,
giving diners a side portion of giddiness...[Wallace]..points out the mechanism that controls the enormous
turntable--a tiny, three-quarter horsepower motor, hidden under one portion of the restaurant's red carpet. Wallace
can point it out, but he can't control it at the moment. This creates some interesting situations: veteran waiters like
George Bimbas, 50, come out to the kitchen to find their tables have disappeared. Bartender Jim Moran twirls
constantly, but the bottles behind him don't. 'You feel a little disoriented the first hour or so,' he says..."
---"Spins to Rapidly: Revolving Restaurant Requires Turn-iquet," Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1965 (p. A7)

[1967: India investigates]

"Can a country that worries about preventing famines need a revolving restaurant? The Government thinks it can. If
the revolving restaurant helps lure tourists to India and tempts them to part with their money. But in Parliament the
idea has been denounced as a 'perverse luxury.' The restaurant is to be on the top floor of a 230-foot tower that is
being built by the state-owned Ashoka Hotel here. It will have a Continental cuisine from another continent and
sweeping vistas of New Delhi...the restaurant will be made to turn one full circle every hour to insure that the
tourists dining there see all. The mechanism to make it revolve is expected to cost about 500,000 rupees
($67,000)...Ashoka's manager, George Verghese, defends the idea strictly in business terms. He says the revolving
restaurant is 'nothing more than a gimmick,' but it will pay. There are successful precedents in Seattle, Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., Frankfurt and Dusseldorf in Germany. According to the manager, the idea of the revolving
restaurant is proof if India's determination to attract tourists....Other observers associated with the tourist trade here
doubt that the revolving restaurant will help bring tourists to the country. They suspect that its real purpose will be to
lure tourists from the Ashoka's main competition, the Oberoi Intercontinental Hotel, a sleek, push-button
establishment that is not noticeably Indian in character, but is almost invariably full."
---"Revolving Tower Cafe in New Delhi Stirs Debate," New York Times, July 23, 1967 (p. 6)

[1985: Broadway's moving panorama]

"The Marriott [Marquis; 6th Ave. & Broadway] is topped by a three-story glass box containing a revolving
restaurant, which is billed as 'the first in New York.' This section is not quite finished; it is scheduled to open
sometime in November. Revolving restaurants, like most of this building, are a show that has been playing out of
town for a long time and has never much been missed on Broadway, but this will at least be a novelty. There is, after
all, no other place in New York from which you can see the old McGraw-Hill building on West 42nd Street and the
Coca-Cola sign in Times Square without ever changing your seat."
---"Marriott Marquis Hotel: An Edsel in Times Sq.?" Paul Goldberger, New York Times, August 31, 1985 (p. 25)
[Note: this revolving restaurant was named "The View."]

[1991: John Graham, architect credited for inventing revolving restaurants, passes on]
"John Graham, an architect whose designs included the Space Needle for the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, died
Tuesday...he...created the first revolving restaurant, in the Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu."
---"John Graham, Architect, 82, Dies; Designed Space Needle for Seattle," Glenn Fowler, New York Times,
February 1, 1991 (p. A19)
[1993: Vegas monolith rises] "The Stratosphere Corporation is building the tallest structure west of the Mississippi,
called Stratosphere Tower, with a 1,149 foot tower with a revolving restaurant at the top...The $300 million dollar
project...is scheduled to open in April."
---"A New, Dazzling Las Vegas Downtown," Verne G, Kopytoff, New York Times, January 26, 1993 (p. R9) ?

[1994: revolving restaurants are business deal destinations; sales industry publication reviews top 5
destinations]
"Sales professionals are constantly on the go. So it follows that they would enjoy having dinner or cocktails on the
move as well--at a revolving restaurant or lounge. Here is a selection of such motorized establishments: Seattle. The
Space Needle, built as a symbol for the 1962 World's Fair, houses two restaurants that revolve 500 feet above
Seattle. Diners can relax in the casual atmosphere of The Space Needle Restaurant or enjoy fine dining in the
Emerald Suite. The entire floor revolves, so both restaurants flaunt views of the entire Seattle area. The Space
Needle Lounge is located one floor up on the observation deck, at 520 feet. Both restaurants serve a selection of
northwestern seafood and "finer cuts" of beef. The Space Needle is most famous for its dessert, The Lunar Orbiter--
a delicious vanilla ice cream dish served over dry ice, so it smokes. inner entree prices for both restaurants range
from $19 to $31. Reservations are recommended. 219 Fourth Avenue. 206-443-2100. Dallas. Visitors can sip
cocktails at the Top of the Dome, 63 stories above downtown Dallas, or enjoy a meal at Antares, a floor below.
Located at the top of Reunion Tower, both venues revolve, giving patrons a "tour" of the entire metro area in 55
minutes. Antares offers an American-Continental menu, with dinner entree prices from $17 to $24. The Top of the
Dome's featured cocktail, the Electrical Storm, is a lethal mix of liquors, colored blue, and served with a little plastic
lightning bolt. 300 Reunion Boulevard. 214-651-1234. Ft. Lauderdale. The Pier Top Lounge, crowning the Pier 66
Resort & Marina, is more than a revolving bar, it's a theme. Created by Philips 66, the lounge takes 66 minutes to
rotate, and the elevator ride is 66 seconds long. The favorite drink is 66 Sunset Strip, and there used to be 66 tables
(but they've recently added a few). The catch: it's on the 18th floor. Ft. Lauderdale's flat landscape allows for endless
miles of views from the Pier Top: Customers can enjoy drinks and cold appetizers while watching the scenes change
from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Atlantic Ocean to Port Everglades to the Miami skyline. 2301 SE 17th Street
Causeway. 305-525-6666. New Orleans. The Top of the Mart, the largest revolving bar (or restaurant) in the United
States, sits 33 stories above the banks of the Mississippi River in the World Trade Center building. The Mart
overlooks the entire New Orleans metro area, so customers can sip cocktails while watching the Mississippi River's
traffic as far as 20 miles away. The Mart serves only drinks and light food. Its most popular drink is the Miss New
Orleans, a frozen peach colada that is a perfect compliment to the humid climate. Two Canal Street. 504-522-9795.
Atlanta. The Westin Peachtree Plaza, the tallest hotel in North America, is host to The Sundial Restaurant--71
stories above Atlanta--and the Sundial Lounge--at 73 stories. While viewing the Atlanta metro area, diners can enjoy
steaks and seafood in the restaurant, or if they're feeling daring, can venture to the lounge and order a Tweety, the
house specialty drink, served in a souvenir Tweety Bird glass. Three-course meals cost $22.50 to 5. Reservations are
recommended. 210 Peachtree Street. 404-659-1400."
---"Restaurants that put a spin on eating: Space Needle Restaurant / Antares Restaurant / and others," Trumfio,
Ginger. Sales and Marketing Management, Oct 1994, (p. 162)

[2003: cliche but still compelling]

"Today America has about 40 revolving restaurants... but as with many things from the space age, there's a tendency
to regard them as quaint or kitschy examples of retro-futurism. None have been built in the United States for nearly
a decade; among the most recent is the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas... Since I began my quests, I discovered
that the restaurant in Toronto that started everything is now a non-revolving Italian establishment called Toula
Ristorante. This, together with the closures at the Hyatt Regency and in Ventura, suggests that North America's love
affair with the revolving restaurant may be over. Fortunately, most of the rest of the world retains a passion. There
are about 200 revolving restaurants in the world,..But the holy grail of revolving restaurants is probably the one in
what used to be called the Saddam Tower in Baghdad. Before the regime change, it tended to be unwelcoming to
Westerners since it gave a terrific view of one of Saddam's palaces. It was damaged in the recent war but survived,
and in the rebuilt Iraq I would bet it will revolve again."
---"Done to a Turn at 360 Degrees," Geoff Nicholson, New York Times, July 13, 2003 (p. TR21)

[2010: India continues the tradition] "As one of the few revolving restaurants in India, Parikrama is among the most
sought after places to visit in Delhi. It's also best known for its Punjabi cuisine. Parikrama offers a range of other
regional delicacies as well. "Our prime concern is to offer personalised service to our guests," says Rajnesh Khanna,
the General Manager. He adds, "Punjabis are great meat-eaters and we have a range of delectable non-vegetarian
specialties for them." Like the rahra gosht, murgh lababdar, chicken curry, and mutton masala. While you're stuffing
your face here, you can also enjoy the view. Parikrama offers the best views during the night. A full revolution takes
90 minutes-time enough to focus on your meal as well. Enjoy, while you take in the panoramic view of
Delhi.Punjabi By Nature"
---"Eating out, Punjabi style; In Delhi and wondering where to eat? These Punjabi restaurants are sure to drive your
homesickness away," The Simply Team. India Today, New Delhi: Jun 7, 2010.

MENU NOTES & RECIPES FROM THE EYE OF THE SPACE NEEDLE RESTAURANT [SEATTLE
WORLDS FAIR 1962]

"Despite the height, there'll be nothing astronomical about the cuisine served in the restaurant atop the Space Needle
at the Seattle World's Fair. Such is the promise of Rene Schless, Swiss-born specialist in gourmet cookery who has
been named the head chef for the revolving Eye of the Needle. He will offer he says, 'just top quality food at prices
comparable with other fine Seattle restaurants.' Schless (rhymes with lease) has no qualms about cooking at 550
feet. He has prepared palatists' delights at mile-high Swiss resorts without difficulty...Schless came to Seattle from
the Istanbul Hilton in Turkey and was sous-chef at the Olympic Hotel before being chosen to head the culinary staff
of 25 in the Eye of the Needle. He also has plied his craft in Sweden, Holland, Italy and aboard ocean liners. Schless'
high level cookery will be on natural gas stoves...Food is whisked up by elevator before 10 a.mm daily. After that
the elevator is reserved for passengers. Once a dish is exhausted, it is crossed off the men until the next day."
---"Space Needle Chef Promises Top Fair Cuisine," The Bakersfield Califorinian, May 2, 1965 (p. 15)

"From the Eye of the Space Needle Restaurant overlooking the World's Fair in Seattle comes a recipe by the
executive chef, Rene Schless, for Saute of Beef, Burgundy. The original recipe, a real favorite with the restaurant
visitors, starts with 40 pounds of beef; however, here the recipe has been reduced to serve a family of six. The
restaurant menu reads: 'Saute of Beef, Burgundy, This outstanding blend of tender cubes of choice beef and fine
aromatic sauce with mushrooms and pearl onion, is a delicacy not to be overlooked. Price $2.50.' If a trip to the
World's Fair is included in your schedule of events this recipe will be a permanent memento of your visit.
Otherwise, the recipe will bring a part of the fair to your family via the dinner table.
"Saute of Beef, Burgundy
(Serves 6)
2 lbs. beef for stew
3 T. shortening
1 onion, chopped
3 level T. flour
1 cup Burgundy
1 1/4 cups (1 10 1/2-oz.) can bouillon
1 (4-oz.) can mushrooms
2 T. chopped parsley
1 bay leaf, finely crushed
1/4 t. each powdered thyme, rosemary and marjoram
1/2 t. garlic salt
1/2 t. pepper
Pinch cloves
6 small white onions, parboiled
6 small carrots, parboiled
1 cup celery slices, parboiled
1 cup cooked peas (optional)
Cut beef into 1-inch cubes. Brown meat in heated shortening. Add chopped onion and cook until wilted. Sprinkle
four over meat, stirring until belnded. Add wine, bouillon. undrained mushrooms, parsely and seasonings. Cover
tightly and simmer until meat is almost tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Add parboiled onions, carrots and celery,
continue cooking until meat and vegetatables test done. Taste and add a little additional salt, if needed. Just before
serving, add the cooked peas. Use 1/2 cup additional froth or water and garnish beef when served, with 1 cup
sauteed fresh mushrooms instead of using canned mushrooms, if desired."
---"Space Needle Chef Has Saute of Beef Recipe," Janesville Daily Gazette>, June 14, 1962 (p. 25)
"The Seattle World's Fair and its famous revolving restaurant at the top of the 80-foot Space Needle sound like
exciting paces to visit this summer, be we can't all get there, of course. The next best thing is to plan an exciting
supper based on a typical menu from the 'Eye of the Needle.' Not only will the meal be tasty, but it will also mark
you as a thoughtful and imaginative hostess. Fresh salmon, pride of the Pacific Northwest, will be a featured item on
the restaurant's menu so it should be your main dish. A delicious Olympic Salmon Mold can be made easily with
canned salmon. Instant minced onion and prepared mustard add a superb, tangy touch. The creamy sour cream-and-
cucumber dressing is equally easy to prepare with new sour cream sauce mix...Start your World's Fair meal with
chilled apricot juice. Serve buttered green beans, sliced tomatoes, herb rolls and butter with the salmon. Finish with
Empire Date Squares with lemon sauce and coffee or tea, hot or iced."
---"Friends Going to World's Fair? Serve This At Going Away Dinner," Rocky Mount N.C. Telegram [North
Carolina], July 25, 1962 (p. 6A) 
[NOTE: article includes recipes for Olympic Salmon Mold, Sour Cream-Cucumber Dressing, Empire Date Square
and Lemon Sauce. We can send if you want.]

Salad bars

There is some controversy regarding the *invention* of the salad bar.

According to the New York Times, the modern salad bar (as we know it in the United States) first emerged in the late
1960s:

"Salad bars first appeared in the late 1960's in midprice restaurants like Steak and Brew, featuring bon fide salad
fixings to keep customers busy and happy until the real food came. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a group of 35
restuarants in Chicago and other cities with everything from retro diners to elegant hotel dining rooms, got its start--
and its peculiar name--with a salad bar. The company's founder and president, Rich Melman, began his career in
1971 in Chicago with R. J. Grunts, a place that featured an all-you-can-eat salad bar with more than 40 items--huge
in its day. Even in the early years, there were people who looked no further than the salad bar for dinner...Not long
after they opened, the Steak and Brew restaurants, which offered the salad bar free with the steak, found it necessary
to set a price for a meal consisting of items only from the salad bar. The sideshow had become the main event. It
was a cheap meal..."
---"Spiced-up salad bars, at $5.95 a pound," Florence Fabricant, New York Times, September 21, 1994, p. C1

Modern food historians readily credit Rich Melman with introducing the salad bar, citing RJ Grunt's opening in June
10, 1971 as the *birth date* for this dining phenomenon. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprisescontinues to flourish.

BUT THEN THERE'S THIS:

"As it turns out, there are a number of competing claims as to who came up with the first salad bar and when they
did it. The Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition, said the term originated in about 1973, and refers
to it as "a self-service counter (as in a restaurant) featuring an array of salad makings and dressings." The folks at
Merriam Webster's may have been taking there cue from the Wendy's chain of fast food restaurants, which began
featuring salad bars in the early 1970s. But even Wendy's doesn't claim to have developed the first salad bar, just the
first one in a fast food chain.

Many sources give credit for the first salad bar to RJ Grunts, a Chicago singles bar and restaurant that began
featuring a salad bar in 1971. That claim is trumped by a place called Chuck's Steak House, which advertises that it
had the first salad bar in its Waikiki, Hawaii, location in 1959, the same year Hawaii achieved statehood. Chuck's
opened a branch in Los Angeles in 1961, which also gives it a claim to having the first salad bar in the mainland
U.S.

So where does Springfield fit into this? 

That's where it gets interesting, because there is evidence that a Springfield restaurant called The Cliffs, at 1577 W.
Wabash Ave., may have had a salad bar up and running as much as a decade before even Chuck's Steak House in
Waikiki thought of the idea. The evidence includes a 1950 postcard put out by the restaurant that advertised it as the
"originators of the famous salad bar," and a 1951 Yellow Pages listing that said the same thing, this time referring to
the "salad bar buffet."

The Cliffs was operated from the late 1940s to the early 1960s by Sam and Viola Cliff, both dead now for more than
a quarter of a century. Maybe Sam and Viola had something else in mind when they coined the term "salad bar",
something different from the modern meaning of the term, but it's hard to imagine what, especially with the word
"buffet" used in the phone directory listing. So maybe it's time to set the record books straight, tell RJ Grunts and
Chuck's Steak House to forsake their claims and recognize The Cliffs, and the Cliffs, for the culinary innovators
they were."
---"Birth of the salad bar; Local restaurant owners may have invented the common buffet," The State Journal-
Register (Springfield, IL), December 28, 2001, Magazine section (p. 10A)

History of Chuck's Steak House

Related item? Surf & turf.

Steak houses

According to the food historians, steak houses originated in New York City. Why? New Yorkers could afford to
spend the most money and demanded the best cuts of beef.

"Americans had developed a great appetite for beef by the turn of the century, and after Detroit meat-packer G. H.
Hammond brought out the refrigerated railway car in 1871, chilled carcasses became readily available in the East,
though fresh beef was still not common in the outer reaches of the western frontier. Still, by the 1880s beef was
being shipped even to England, and "steakhouses" were among the most popular restaurants in large American
cities."
---American Encyclopedia of Food & Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 23)

"True, the Old Homestead in Manhattan opened in 1868, Keens Chop House in 1885, Brooklyn's Gage & Tollner
debuted in 1879, and Peter Luger in 1887, but those revered establishments drew more on English and German
models. Luger still features only one cut of steak--the sliced porterhouse, a term derived from English taverns
serving porter beer and popularized about 1814 as a steak in America by porterhouse proprietor Martin Morrison in
New York. The New York steakhouse--a term still used outside New York to draw customers in the same way ads
proclaim "London pub" or "Parisian bistro"--developed along lines drawn at Palm (1926) and Gallagher's (1927),
both of which originated as speakeasies during the Noble Experiment of Prohibition. Palm was run by two Italians,
John Ganzi and Pio Bozzi, on Second Avenue. (The name was supposed to be "Parma," after the owners' hometown,
but a city bureaucrat spelled it wrong on an official document, and so "Palm" it remained.) Gallagher's, on 52nd
Street off Broadway, was named after former Ziegfeld-girl-turned-speakeasy-owner, Helen Gallagher. Both places
democratically served a little beer, a little hooch and a little beefsteak to everyone from New York's politicians and
journalists to Caf‚ Society, who sometimes got their pictures or caricatures put up on the walls. Such places had a
swagger, a very masculine feel to them and a perception of exclusivity that made everyone want to go there. After
Prohibition ended in 1933, Palm, Gallagher's, Jack Lyons, Manny Wolf, Cavanaugh's, Christ Cella and Farrish's
flourished. New York steakhouses got the best meat because they paid the most and charged the highest prices. The
menu, rarely varied, became a formula for success: prime beef, lamb chops, lobsters, fried potatoes and cheesecake
were pretty much the whole shebang. Wine lists were unknown until the 1980s, when Sparks and Smith &
Wollensky invested heavily in wine cellars..."
---"Ready for Prime Time: A Good Steak is Hard to Find, John F. Mariani, Cigar Aficionado [magazine], Winter
1993 
[This article also outlines the history of steak in America. Ask your librarian can help you get a copy of this article]

"Steak, rather than hamburger or the hot dog, is probably the most typical American food. Steak (from Old Norse
steik, stick) has meant a strip of meat or fish cooked on a stick over a fire since the 15th century. From the earliest
colonial times until the 1860s what you and I call a steak was called a beef steak, to distinguish it from the often
more common venison steaks, buffalo steaks....By the 1760s some colonial inns and eating establishments were
billing themselves as beef steak houses. Then around 1866 the first Texas longhorns reached New York via the
Chisolm Trail and the railroads and soon the backyard cows, pigs, and chickens, and the wild deer and the buffalo,
had a competitor--beef raised solely for eating. Thus the modern steak and the cowboy were born together, and since
the mid 1860s steak has meant beefsteak. By the end of the 1860s the beef steak house was simply called a steak
house...Popular taste...demanded a thick sirloin, broiled over charcoal if possible. Thus in the late 1940s and 50s
restaurants often advertised the mouth-watering charcoal-broiled steaks."
---Listening to America, Stuart Berg Flexner [Simon & Schuster:New York] 1982 (p. 488-9)

"In the Sixties, American liked to eat steak when they went out to dinner, and they liked the exotic allure of
Japanese restaurants. Enter the Japanese steak house. There were several different "brands" of steak house, both here
and in Japan, but the best known of them all was Benihana. In 1964, the first Benihana of Tokyo restaurant in the
United States opened in New York..."
---Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads, Sylvia Lovegren [MacMillan:New York] 1995 (p. 289)

 1831: Delmonico steak--New York City

 1887: Peter Luger--New York City
 1926: The Palm--New York City
 1964: Benihana's Japanese steak house--New York City
 1971: Cattlemans Steak House--Indian Cliffs, TX
 1988: Outback Steakhouse--Tampa FL

If you need additional details... Ask your librarian how to access EBCSO and other magazine/business/newspaper
databases. These will provide the latest details on the steak house restaurant industry. You can use the Library of
Congress Catalog to identify books written on specific restaurants. Your local public librarian can arrange to borrow
them for you. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association provides the latest industry data on prices and
consumption.

If you need additional historic information on specific NYC steak houses you can contact these places:

 Museum of the City of New York

 New York Food Museum
 New York Public Library

Chinese restaurants

Food scholars generally cite 18th century Paris as the "birthplace of the modern restaurant". Really? Historians tell
us Marco Polo experienced full-service restaurants while traveling the Far East in the 13th century. Sung [Song]
dynasty-era restaurants were ubiquitious in capital cities. They were patronized by the wealthy for all sorts of
pleasurable experiences, including food. 19th century Chinese restaurants welcomed all classes of citizens. Seating,
service and dishes accomodated all purses. Citizens also enjoyed a variety of casual food service options: tea houses,
noodle bars, street vendors and such.

"Prepared food purchased either in one of many kinds of restaurants or from a vendor was, for people of Sung times,
part of an activity both casual and deeply felt that it brought them very close to what it meant to be a citizen of the
greatest city of the world...Scarcely a section in any of the well-known memoirs of life in the capitals fails to
mention some popular restaurants...Eating at restaurants was an inseperable part of being a city dweller. Restaurants
created a demimonde with its own delights, hazards, bywords, and peculiar flavor...Wine and tea houses in both
Kaifeng and Hangchow lured customers with...fine food. Most of our sources do not describe the wine or tea served
at various shops nearly so elaborately as they do the food, and they generally rank them on the quality of food rather
than their drink. A Southern Sung source gives a 'casual list' to two hundred and thirty-four famous dishes that such
places served, a list from the Northern Sung has fifty-one. Dinners probably startd with a soup or broth like 'hundred
flavors' soup, which heads both list. They coud then choose from dishes made from almost any variety of flesh,
fowl, or seafood--milk-steamed lamb, onion-strewn hare, fried clams or craqbs. Several kinds of 'variety meats.'
lungs, heart, kidneys, or caul were cooked in various manners. Some kinds of buns and cakes were also availablle,
though other kind of restaurants specialized in such things. 'Imitation' dishes comprised a relatively large part of the
menu--'imitation river globefish,' for example...Ordering was done in approximately the same way in Kaifeng and in
Hangchow, wehre all restaurants had menus. 'The men of Kaifeng were extravagant and indulgent. They would
shout their orders by the hundreds: some wanted items cooked and some chilled, some heated and some prepared,
and some iced or delicate or fat; each person ordered differently. The wiater then went to get the orders, which he
repeated and carried in his head, so that when he got into the kitchen he repeated them...restaurants came into and
went out of fashion regularly...A step down from the wine restaurants were those which specialized in a particular
food, a particular style of cooking, or, as with noodle shops, a category of food... For anyone wealthy enough,
Hangchow afforded an unusual service; 'tea and wine kitchens' furnished with everything necessary for a banquet:
they reserved the hall, arranged for the food, conveyances, dishes, and napery, and, if necessary, guided the
customer in the appropriate etiquette for his party."
---Food in Chinese Culture: Anthopological and Historical Perspectives, K. C. Chang, editor [Yale University
Press:New Haven] 1977 (p. 158-163)

"Restaurants have a very long history in China. At a time when fine food in western Europe was confined to a
handful of great monestaries, the Song Dynasty capital, Kaifeng, supported hundreds of commercial food businesses
and a rich gourmet culture... Some of the city's restaurants were so renowned that the emporer himself ordered out
for their specialties; they could also cater the most elaborate banquets, in their own halls or at the homes of the
wealthy. Kaifeng's many eateries also included teahouses where men could sip tea, gossip, and order snacks or full
meals, as well as wineshops, which ere more popular at night... China's vibran restaurant culture continued unabated
through the end of the Qing Dynasty. The English clergyman John Henry Gray, one of the few Europeans with a
serious interest in Chinese food, summed up the typical nineteenth-century urban eatery thus: 'The restaurants are
generally very large establishments, consisting of a public dining-room and several private rooms. Unlike most of he
buildings, they consist of two or three stories. The kitchen alone occupies the ground floor; the public hall, which is
the resort of persons in the humbler walks of life, is on the first floor, and the more select apartments are on the
second and third floors. They are, of course, resorted to by the wealthier citizens, but they are open to persons in all
classes of society, and it is not unusual to see in them persons of limited means. At the entrance-door there is a table
or counter at which the proprietor sits, and where each customer pays for his repast. The public room is immediately
at the head of the first staircase, and is resorted to by all who require a cheap meal. It is furnised, like a cafe, with
tables and chairs, a private room having only one table and a few chairs in it.'...All guests, rich and poor, entered the
restaurant through the ground-floor kitchen, where they could judge for themselves the skill of the chefs, the quality
of the roasted ducks, chickens, and pigs hanging from the ceiling...and the facility's cleanliness. When the Chinese
immigrated to the United States, they carried this style of restaurant intact to their new homeland."
---Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States, Andrew Coe [Oxford University Press:New
York] 2009 (p. 94-96)

"When mining and railroad work were no longer available and discrimination against the Chinese was at its peak,
many Chinese men found work as cooks and later opened restaurants. These eateries served primarily foods of their
native land to other Chinese patrons. Later they served much the same fare to those willing to try Chinese
food...Rare among those who opened these Chinese eateries was a trained cook. Even more rare was someone from
China who had a lot of experience eating fine food in restaurants. The immigrants were poor working-class men
who cooked and served the foods they remembered eating before they left southern China. At first, they cooked with
neither familiar ingredients nor any knowledge about the finer aspects of their own cuisine...Therefore, when they
cooked for others in the United States, they prepared improvisations of foods they remembered. But, for their non-
Chinese customers, they quickly learned that those in the United States liked beef, chicken, and other meats. So the
early Chinese restaurant cooks made southern Chinese food with more animal protien than they would eat
themselves. Chinese restaurants still emphasize meats and serve fewer vegetables than are commmonly served in
China."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New
York] 2004, Volume 1 (p. 235)

First Japanese, Thai & Vietnamese restaurants in the USA.

 Surf & turf

While meat and seafood have been served at the same meal since antiquity, food historians generally agree the
pairing of "surf and turf," as we know it today, is a modern American convention. Fine dining establishments
catering to elite diners craving both lobster and steak on the same plate were introduced in the last quarter of the
19th century. Think: Diamond Jim Brady.

According to our dictionaries, food reference books, and magazine/newspaper databases, the term "surf & turf"
belongs to the 20th century. More specifically, the 1960s-1970s. It appears to be connected with theme restaurants
targeting young, budget-conscious clientele. Salad bars have a similar history. To date, none of our sources reveal
the name of the person/place responsible for coining the phrase.

ABOUT SURF & TURF

"Surf'n'Turf. A term invented by American restauranteurs and their marketers for a dish that contains both seafood
ad meat--a concept that strikes terror into pendantic European gastronomes."
---An A to Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 330)

"Surf-n'turf. A dish of meat and seafood served on the same plate. The meat is usually beef, the seafood lobster. This
combination has led to several colloquial variants, including "pier-n'-steer," lobsteer," "beef-n'-reef," and others,
used as menu listings or restaurant names. These began to appear in the 1960s and 1970s."
---The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 317-8)

"Salad Bars, "Freshly Baked" Bread, and Surf & Turf...It was almost a given that a salad bar restaurant would be
"themed." Victoriana was particuarly popular, and countless restaurants strove for that olde-tyme atmosphere--while
serving completely modern food, of course. The Wall Street in Indianapolis featured surf and turf with a salad bar
and "turn-of-the-century stock market decor."...The patrons of these restaurants were usually young..."
---"The Seventies," Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads, Sylvia Lovegren [MacMillan:New York] 1995
(p. 222)

Our survey of ads published in USA newspapers confirm the term "surf & turf" begin surfacing in the mid-1960s.
Restaurant ads touted "Surf & Turf Combination" in papers across the country. The earliest print reference we have
(so far) was published in the Eureka Humboldt Standard [CA], August 14, 1964 (p. 2). This article suggests the
concept is relatively new: "An entree in restaurants in Portland [OR] is called surf and gurf--a combination of lobster
and steak."---"Food With a Foreign Flair," Chicago Daily Defender, May 4, 1967 (p. 22) The oldest printed
reference to "surf & turf" in The New York Times appeared in an advertisement for Chelsea Seafood Restaurants,
December 27, 1968 (p. 18).

A NYT restaurant review for The Harbor, Parsippany NJ printed October 14, 1972 (p. 71) states "The ubiquitous surf
and turf grill, which is America's favorite lobster and filet mignon combination, heads the list of main dishes." The
term "ubiquitous" confirms general acceptance/popularity in the 1970s. Please note: A truly thorough search for
"first mention" requires checking all variant spellings (surf and turf, surf'n'turf, surf-n-turf etc.).

Take out

The evolution of modern American take out (& take home foods is a fascinating convergence of social history and
packaging technology. A survey of articles in New York Times Historic confirms the 1950s as the "start date" for
modern take-home meals in the United States. This also coincides with the explosion of family restaurants,
mainstream "ethnic" and backyard barbeques. Why? Returning WWII GI's settled their families in the suburbs. And
then came television.
"The term "take-out" describes both a style of eating and a growing list of prepared foods that consumers purchase
from a restaurant or food stand and eat in another location. Delivery format, packaging, and types of food vary
greatly, ranging from hamburgers to expensive gourmet fare, but all may be categorized as takeout because of this
off-premise consumption. In the United States, take-out food is often viewed as synonymous with fast food...The
concept of take-out food and the pracatice of buying prepared foods for consumption elsewhere date to early
civilization. Roadside stands and food stalls in busy urban markets were commonplace in ancient Greece and
Rome...Almost every culture in every era has had its version of take-out foods...Urban industrial workers in
nineteeth-century America further popularized take-out foods. Food vendors sold various sausages and stews from
carts outside factory gates, catering to workers with little time or money...In many urban areas, ethnic Italian and
Chinese restaurants competed with early hamburger outlets for take-out customers. Small storefront pizzerias and
"chow chow houses" sold inexpensive pizzas and Americanized Chinese foods on a primarily take-out basis. Using
broad, flat white cardboard boxes for pizzas and small waxy paper cartons for chow mein and chop suey, these
ethnic restaurants standardized distinctive take-out packaging that became synonymous with their foods. Although
popular in city neighborhoods, ethnic restaurants long composed only a small share of the take-out industry.
Automobiles revolutionized the take-out food industry, requiring larger-volume production and specialized delivery
systems..."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New
York] 2004, Volume 2 (p. 526-7)

Pizza & Chinese: the "original" take out foods

The earliest print reference we find for Chinese food delivery is this ad from the Kin-Chu Cafe,Los Angeles, circa
1920s. The earliest reference for pizza delivery is Casa D'Amore, Los Angeles, circa 1950s.

A survey of historic New York Times articles indicates by the 1950s, pizza and Chinese were readily available. At
least in the city. They were packaged in cardboard containers.

"One of the most popular dishes in southern Italy, especially in the vicinity of Naples, is pizza--a pie made from a
yeast dough and filled with any number of different centers, each one containing tomatoes. Cheese, mushrooms,
anchovies, capers, onions and so on may be used. At 147 West Forty-eighth Street, a restaurant called Luigino's
Pizzeria Alla Napoletana prepares authentic pizza, which may be ordered to take home. They are packed, piping hot,
is special boxes for that purpose."
---"News of Food: Pizza, a Pie Popular in Southern Italy, is Offered Here from Home Consumption," Jane
Holt, New York Times, September 20, 1944 (p. 19)

"Hillside Inn [Richmond Hill, NY]...American & Chinese restaurant...Food Put up to Take Out."
---Christian Science Monitor, September 29, 1938 (p. 16)

"Those who wish a ready-prepared hot Chinese dinner may call on several different establishments. The Midtown
Chinese Rathskeller, 125 West Fifty-first Street, packs such well-known specialties of the Orient as chicken chow
mein, subgum chicken chop suey and lobster a la Canton. Deliveries are made on fairly large orders....Most pizzerias
have cardboard boxes large enough to hold even the hugest pizza so it may be carried home. But the Sorrento
Restaurant and Pizzeria, 216 Avenue A, delivers this and several other typically Italian dishes as far uptown as
Stuyvesant Town on the East Side. Assorted antipasto is 60 cents, manicotti 75 cents, chicken cacciatore with
spaghetti, $1.25. Desserts are also of an Italian flavor; spumoni (25 cents a serving) is one."
---"News of Food: Ready-prepared Meal Services Offer Post-Holiday Respite for Home Cooks," New York Times,
January 9, 1952 (p. 32)
[NOTE: This article also mentions take-out Chinese and Japanese food sold in little cardboard containers. Other
foods to go? Chicken dinners, casseroles, seafood and "TV suppers."]

What about cleverly crafted handled paper cartons used for Chinese take out?
They were "invented" in 1903 by Bloomer Brothers, a Rochester NY based paper company. The original intent?
Oyster pails.
"The white take-out carton is an amazingly elegant product. It is a simple design, yet it connotes so much:
Chineseness, harried lifestyles, working mothers, cheap yet filling, late night, eating together without dining
together, meal as afterthought... Pick up a white carton sometimes, and you'll likely see the name Fold-Pak inscribed
unobtrusively on the bottom; this is the company that makes some two-thirds of the take-out containers in the
country. The industry calls the cartons "food pails"... Tim Roach, a vice president...in the early twentieth century,
the cartons were used to hold shucked oysters...At various points... the carton was used to hold ice cream, deli
goods, and even goldfish at carnivals...Around World War II, the box found a different audience...Somehow...it
worked its way into Chinese restaurants as the take-out container and it became the dominant package for Chinese
takeout...Once it evolved into a container for Chinese food, the company put a generic Chinese design on it. The
Pagoda was it...The demand for take-out boxes across the country is considerable, so the factory operates three
shifts, twenty-four hours a day, nonstop."
---The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, Jennifer 8. Lee [Twelve:New York] 2008 (p. 139-140)

"Q. I've long admired the simple-yet-elegant cardboard cartons Chinese restaurants use to deliver takeout orders. Do
they come from China? A. Many come from Hazleton, Pa.,...about 100 miles from New York City. The cartons of
folded cardboard, coated on the inside, with the wire handles, veritable icons of economy, ingenuity and simplicity,
can hold everything from mu shu prk to won ton soup, retaining the dish's heat while releasing steam. The Fold-Pak
corporation, based in Newark, N.Y. is the nation's largest manufacture of cardboard food pails for the restaurant and
takeout food industry, and its Hazleton plant produces the majority of the containers used by New York City's
Chinese restaurants. Robert E. Mullally, senior vice president of sales at Fold-Pak estimates that his company ships
about 100 million of the cartons to New York City each year, where distributors sell them to restaurants. Fold-Pak
cartons are available in plan white, or with a festive pagoda design...The company, originally named Bloomer
Brothers, began manufacturing the containers shortly after 1900, when they were used as oyster pails...The
company...became the Reigel Paper Corporation in the 1960's, then the Fold-Pak Corporation in 1977."
---"What Takeout Comes In," New York Times, June 1, 1997 (p. CY2)[NOTE: Bloomer Brothers incorporation
notice was published in the New York Times April 19. 1903 (p. 18)

Original USA patent, #902,932, C.T. Bloomer, November 3, 1908

Take home meals

"Take home" differs from "take out" in that it is marketed as a home meal replacement rather than fast food or ethnic
fare. It is not necessarily cheaper nor is it always quickly prepared. What sells take home? Convenience and taste.
Like take out, this dining option was introduced after World War II. Why? Restaurant survival 101:
economics. Doggie bags, leftovers taken home from a restaurant meal, serve a different purpose.

"Restaurant Chains Open Up New Field. Schraft's, Childs, Bickford's Selling Take-Home Meals to Augment
Income. New Industry Trend Seen Prediction Made Housewife Soon Will Be Buying Family Dinners Like
Groceries.
Restaurant chains and independents here and throughout the rest of the country are building up new departments
which sell meals for home consumption. The three chains here which are entering this field in a big way are
Schraft's, Child's and Bickford's. In commenting on this development in the food field, Keith R. Mount, assistant
merchandising manager of the Lily Tulip Cup Corporation, the company which furnishes most of the containers in
which food for home consumption said yesterday: New Industry Trend "Restaurant sales of food for the home are
definately a new industry trend. It won't be long before the average housewife will be buying take-home foods like
groceries." Mr. Mount explained that the restaurant business was been sinking steadily the last few years. Operators
can't raise prices any more without scaring away what little business they have, he said, but operating costs such as
wages have continued to climb. Last year, he said, restaurant earned an average net profit of only about 2 per cent
throughout the country and many of these eating places lost money...The take-home trade has come as a solution to
the problem...restaurants which build up this type of trade can do so on exactly the same overhead and production
facilities they already have to serve patrons at the tables...Consequently [Mr. Mount] said take-home sales are all
plus business and should be sold at lower prices than regular restaurant meals because they eliminate waiters, dish
washers, table linen, plate breakage and loss of utensils. One of the reasons given for increased demand for prepared
meals was television in the home. Some restaurants in New York have regular television menus made up for take-
home orders. In stressing the importance of saving the restaurant business from slipping any further, Mr. Mount
estimated that the industry represents expenditures by the public of about $12,000,000 each year...take-home orders
can easily become the difference between success and failure. Prelimary reports received by his company from all
parts of the country show sales increases of 20 to 50 per cent in eating places which have installed take-home
departments..."
---"Restaurant Chains Open Up New Field," New York Times, July 5, 1952 (p. 18)

"Home Meal Replacement Finds its Place at the Table"/National Restaurant Association [1996]
"All Signs Point to Take Out Taking Off"/NRA [1999]

Research sources
Trade journals, consumer magazines and newspapers are excellent sources for constructing a timeline of this
industry. Ask your librarian how to access databases such as New York Times Historic, EBSCO (Masterfile,
Business Source), GALE (Business and Company Research), ProQuest (Newspapers & magazines) and others.
Some of these should be accessible from your own computer. All you need is a library card!

Industry experts/research firms

 The National Restaurant Assocation

 NPD
 Food Marketing Institute
 Leatherhead Food International

See also: fast food.

Doggie bags

Long before American restaurants offered "doggie bags," consumers welcomed the opportunity to take home surplus
foods from grand tables. From ancient times forward, wealthy diners entertaining at home took their pick from
opulent tables. It was common practice to distribute leftovers to less fortunate folks (vassals, slaves, servants,
workhouse poor, soup kitchens, &c.). A Second Harvest of historic proportions.

Modern western restaurants were founded on the concept of egalitarian dining. Ability to pay trumped socio-
economic privilege. Urban freestanding restaurants catered to a wide variety of clientele. 19th century NYC wealthy
dined at Delmonicos and the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Opulence, overabundance, & variety were the period's hallmarks
of fine dining establishments. In a time when excess was valued, the concept of taking some of that (paid for, well
cooked) excess home was eschewed. Gauche. Verboten. Medieval-style privilege social legacy still loomed large
centuries later.

This may account for the conflicted acceptance of the modern "doggie bag." Today (2011) this is an economic no-
brainer. In the 1960s this novel practice was a core of hot social debate. Primary sources confirm the practice of
taking the uneaten portion of one's meal home from a restaurant was not universally embraced.

Our survey of primary historic American sources confirms the term "doggie bag" (aka bowser bag, bow wow bag,
doggy bag) dates to the early 1960s. One of earliest print reference [1963] might surprise you. If the article is
accurate, the some "doggie bags" were actually filled with leftovers from a dog's meal in a fine California restaurant.

The Oxford English Dictionary traces the term "doggie bag" in print to this 1964 reference: "More and more, the
food in U.S. restaurants seems to be going to the dogs--going there is papers sacks called Bowser Bags and Bow-
Wow Bags...diners-out have grown so insistent on taking home the leftovers on their plates that restaurant supply
houses now sell millions of special greaseproof containers for this purpose each year...All too frequently, complain
restaurant owners, guests use doggie bags to haul off pilfered ashtrays, pepper mills, and silverware." ---"In the
Bag," Time, September 4, 1964 (p. 53)."
"Doggie bag...Although leftovers have long been packed up for customers, the term "doggie bag" dates in print to
1963. Two claims have been made for the idea under that name, Lawry's Prime Rib, a Los Angeles restaurant that
dates it usage back to the 1930s, and the Old Homestead Steak House in New York City, whose owner, Harry
Sherry, also began to use the term in the 1930s."
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 113)
[NOTE: 1930s claims are referenced in 1988 (see below).]

"Doggy bag (or Doggie bag)...Early references are from the states of Washington and California in America during
the 1940s. They certainly presume the dog as beneficiary. The Pet Packit was a model of bag in San Francisco in
1943."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2nd edition, 2007 (p. 253)

Doggie bags in the news:

[1957]

"It was a pleasant surprise--in a small world department--when we strolled into Ralph Schafer's Steak House, The
Golden Spur to be greeted by two smiling faces...Ralph uses only Milsteads choice eastern beef that one can order
with confidence. Some of our 20 oz. went home in a bowswer bag!"
---"Golden Spur New & Food's Sensational," Norman Johnson, Independent Star-News [Pasadena CA], August 25,
1957 (p. 23)

"The practice of toting leftovers for the dogs from meals at psoh restaurants is widespread. The diner has only to ask
for a Pup Pouch, a Rover Sack, or a Fido Bag and the same is delivered with a smile, the theory being that the mutt
at home is entitled to a fair share of the goodies. But there some wrikles about theis custom that have been wrinkling
me in my puzzlement department. As a long-time friend of dogs, I am wondering what new breeds must have come
into being. Are there really dogs that eat head lettuce with Roquefort dressing, candied yams, poppyseed rolls,
grapes, assorted relishes and French fries? Steak bones and the tage engs of sirloin are easy to understand, as are the
framework of lamb chops. But what kind of dog is it that conshumes lobster shells, oyster shells and petit
fours?...Something is going on here. Someone is saving bargabe as a memento of a meal away from home. Food is
being toted away from restaurants to nonexistent dogs. I have seen sacks filled ot the to and packed in by restaurant
patrons who do not even like dogs. I have seen dog-despisers tote enough foodstuff away from a scrumptious meal
to keep a would at bay for a week. The nonor system has broken down. It is time for restaurant proprietors in
demand of dog tags of toter before giving them a sack. Or at the very least, it is time to check the pretense that all
food which leaves restaurants in waterproof bags purporting to be for the benefit of mutts really goes to the dogs.
What those sacks have been turned into is some cases is Snack Sacks, for taht empty feeling. And when you think of
what goes into then and gets all mixed up together, how hungry can a freelance garbage collector get?"
---"Going to the Dogs?" Truman Twill, Portsmout-Times [OH], October 10, 1057 (p. 6)

[1962]

"Everything about a good meal is good to the last bite, which is hearasy when we slow eaters dine away from home.
we neber get to the last bite. In the contest to determine who can ingest the most groceries in teh least time we aren't
entered. We're bystanders...As children, we were made to chew our food well...Besides a carryover from our early
training, many of us have carried away by the idea the table is an ideal place for converstaion; that this distinguishes
it from a feed trough...It is not pleasant to keep on chewing under these circumstances. The stomach contracts and
feels full. The mouth gets dry and the jaws grow tired. Sometimes the only way out is to ask for a bowser bag on the
pretexct of taking the uneaten part home to a friend. And all this discomfiture is caused by the food-wolfing that
goes on all about us for no reason, except that people never learned how much more fun it is to savor each bite on
the way down and to linger over it like a lover lingers over a kiss. People are not, after all, lions and tigers. They are
not even dogs, which still bolt their food because instinct warns them that if they dawdle over it another dog may get
it and them too."
---"The Last Man," Truman Twill, Steubenville Herald-Star [OH], December 19, 1962 (p. 6)
[1963]

"As you may or may not know, Fairchild's, the restaurant on La Ciegna, has very plush kennels where you can
leaver your dog while you are dining. What's more, they'll give the dog a fine dinner, too. When a couple left their
dog in there the other night, he didn't finish his dinner. So, they asked the waiter to put the remainder in a doggie
bag--to take home to the cat!"
---"Wry Thoughts About a Rim Go," Art Ryon, Los Angeles Times, December 12, 1963 (p. A6)
[NOTE: In the early 1960s, La Ciegna Blvd. Los Angeles enjoyed a national reputation as "restaurant row." Our
survey of period city newspapers confirms the popularity/commonality of doggie bags emanating from this dining
mecca 1964 forwards.]

[1964]

"My blond wifemate and I celebrated St. Patrick's Day by eating spaghettin at Dominicks' Spaghetti House on
Oxnard boulevard last night. Dominick gives you more than you could every possibly eat, and he has a clever little
gimmick to take care of the surplus. He stuffs the leftovers into a aluminum box, which you can hake home and toss
in the refrigerator. Then, when you next feel like spaghetti, all you have to do is place the whole git, box and all, into
the oven and heat it. And, it's quite good the second time around. This is a clever idea. Sort of an Italian bowser
bag."
---"St. Patrick's Day: will the Real Irish Stand Up?" Don W. O'Martin, Press-Courier [Oxnard CA], March 18, 1964
(p. 38)

"One of the best cuts of meat of meat is the Porterhouse. But, very few restaurants in town serve this delicious steak.
However, Ollie Hammond's Steak House on La Ciegna does...The thing measures about half an acre, is this thick
and is prepared with loving care...With a complete dinner...the tab,...was about $5.50. What I couldn't consume,
incidentally, really bulged the Bowser Bag."
---"Roundabout," Art Ryon, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1964 (p. C12)

[1967]

"Once upon a time when a restaurant patron asked for a doggie bag to take home an uneaten portion of steak there
was the pretense that it was really for the dog. Such nonsense has long been stopped. Restaurants now encourage
patrons to take home surplus meat and many have special doggie bags for it. And it is understood that the customer,
not a dog, will eat it."
---"This Bowser Bag Ting I Nearing the Outer Limits!," Matt Weinstock, Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1967 (p. A)

[1968]

"Dear Mrs. Post: I recently had dinner with my son and his family at a fine restaurant. Two small loaves of fresh
home-made bread were served at each table, of which we ate little. The children's plates contained large breasts of
chicken--which they left untouched. Prior to leaving, I requested the waitress to bring me--if available--a wax paper
bag. She brought me a bag with the name of the restaurant imprinted on it. I took the remainder of the uncut bread
and a large chicken breast an d placed them in the bag, which I took with me. Was this a breach of etiquette? I have
seen it done many times in good places. Sheila P...Dear Mrs. P.: I do not approve of taking leftover food such as
pieces of meat home from restaurants. A loaf of bread from which a slice or two has been cut with a knife, and
which has not been on a plate with other food, used utensils, gravy, etc., is another matter. Restaurants provide
'doggy bags' for bones to be taken to pets, and generally the bags should be restricted to that use."
---"Save Doggie Bag for Use of the Dog," Elizabeth L. Post, Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1968 (p. M4)

[1980]

"They may be doggy bags, poodle packs, bone bags, Fido bags, bow-wow bags, cat sacks, un-doggie bags or people
bags. Manufacturers such as Chicag's Bagcraft Corp. are turning them out by hundreds of millions...They come with
poetry, restaurant logs, art and doggy warnings...'Seventeen years ago, a doggy bag was unthinkable in our type of
restaurant,' said Louis Szathmary, chef and owner of the Bakery, Chicago. 'Ten years ago, they might think, but they
wouldn't ask. Lately, there are few nights when somebody does not ask for a piece of beef, duck, or pheasant to be
packed. Szathmary sees it as spinoff of the tightening economy, but elsewhere there are restaurants elevating the
idea to chic. At Boston's elegant Cafe Budapest, a matron looked at the Viennese sweets beckoning from the dessert
tray. Her eyes says 'yes!' Her conscience said, 'No!' Assistant maitre d'hotel Brian Angelo quietly and gracefully
suggested that 'perhaps later, madame might enjoy?' The pastries were delivered to her table in a white box. In
Washington D.C., at The Big Cheese, a place to see and be seen in Georgetown, a couple applauded when waiter
Peter White presented their doggy bag in the shape of a silvery swan...'They look more like party favors than
leftovers.' But one man's edible extra is another's garbage. There are believers and non-believers...Lois Lindauer,
international director of Diet Workshop is a believer: 'Doggy bags are great for dieters. Eye-measure the portion you
ought to eat and take the rest home. It makes good diet sense, as well as good dollar sense.' Jean Voltz, food editor
of Woman's Day is a believer. In fact, the contents of her bags are even tastier the second time in wok suppers,
omelets or soups...Paul Kovi, co-owner of New York City's Four Seasons, is staunchly against it...'I find the idea
offensive...'...Author Roy Andries de Groot thinks Alexandre Dumas might have been responsible for the doggy bag.
He cites a note Dumas wrote to his friend Jules Janin: 'I made a salad of foie gras which pleased my guests so well
that when Ronconi could not come, he sent for his share of the salad which was taken to him in a dish covered by a
bag under a great umbrella, so that the rain might not soak the bag and no foreign matter might spoil the dish. 'I am
an inveterate demander of doggy bags,' says De Groot. 'Even if the food is bad, I insist on taking it just to throw it
away. It is a small project against gross portions at gross prices.'...'It's become the thing to do,' says human-behavior
expert Dr. Richard Gelles...'When the economy goes berserk, behavior changes. In a double-digit-inflation time, the
rewards for asking for a doggy bag exceed the cost of losing fact...''Social status will have an effect. If you feel
superior to those who are serving you, you don't care about their opinion and will ask for the leftovers. If you feel
inferior, you will worry about losing face, perhaps leave an entire extra dinner on your plate.'...says Elizabeth Post,
author of 'The New Emily Post Etiquette.' 'Doggy bagging can be extremely gauche in a fine restaurant. But in a
place it does not matter, why not? You've paid for it.' It even happens at the White House, although executive chef
Henry Haller says 'Never!'"
---"Doggy Bags Come Out of the Doghouse," Barbara Burtoff, Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1980 (p. T99)

[1988]

"They come in a number of guises-including the plain white unlined variety, leaking meat juices. Others are
decorated with pictures of poodles and thoughtfully lined with plastic. There are undoubtedly people out there
who've never said the words, "Could I have a doggie bag?"-but their numbers are probably dwindling. At least 20
million people have walked out of just one family of restaurants, Lawry's the Prime Rib in Los Angeles, carrying a
telltale bag whose contents Lawry's, in fact, claims to have been the first restaurant in the country to supply its
customers with those little bags into which diners could stuff the last bits of their T-Bones and carry them home with
dignity. To date, Lawry's -celebrating its 50th year in business-has passed out some 20 million doggie bags since the
first one went out the door in the late 1940s. If the first doggie bags were plain paper affairs, they have improved
considerably over the years. Some restaurants provide foil-lined bags, to save your car seats."
---"Sorry Bowser the Doggie-Bag isn't Really For Your Pet," Karen Evans, Chicago Tribune, October 2, 1988
(Dining, p. 11) ?

The art of packaging leftovers/Restaurants USA

Concessions: sports & leisure

Modern concession stands and vending practices descend from ancient street vendors. These saavy caterers
capitalized on the empty stomaches convening at mass gatherings. Where there are people away from home, there is
food to be sold. Then, as today, some folks relish foods sold on site while others delight in supplying their edibles
and quaffables.

 Ancient Roman colesseum

  baseball stadiums
 boxing rings
 fair fare
 movie theaters
 Shakespeare's Globe Theater
 The DIY alternative: tailgate parties

BASEBALL CONCESSIONS
Most baseball history books skip the contributions made by caterers, vendors, and concessionaires who worked hard
to feed hungry fans. Presumably, the foods consumed by the earliest baseball fans in the late 19th century were
similar to those available in outdoor/sporting venues. Foods served at late 19th century American fairs, race tracks,
circuses, railroad stops, and such tended to be portable and simple. These included sandwiches, peanuts, ice cream,
soft drinks, beer, cotton candy, and yes, the ubiquitous hot dog. Foods sold in baseball stadiums vary according to
local place and taste. The menu selections at Fenway and Yankee Stadium are understandably different. Chowder in
Fenway; hot pretzels (with mustard) in Philadelphia; Nathan's Famous in New York. Then, as today, wealthy people
were generally accomodated with finer dining options: outdoor tea rooms and full-service restaurants. Foods served
to fans in the stands were typically hawked by young men who worked very hard for little money. Then, as
today, prices were high. Why? Captive audiences in hot outdoor venues have no other option. The history of
baseball concessions, as an industry, begins (according to some) with Harry M. Stevens. He is also credited for
introducing the hot dog to the American public. Notes here:

"Harry M. Stevens, formerly resident of this city [Toledo OH], and now manager of the catering privileges at both
the Polo Grounds, American League Grounds, and Madison Square Garden."
---"Cup for Bresnahan," New York Times, January 28, 1909 (p. 7)

Baseball & hot dogs

"Consider the plight of the hot dog. Here is an American institution that has quietly and modestly served the nation
for more than half a century with far too little recognition. Why has this gross injustice been perpetrated in a country
so proud of its record for fairness and equality? Because the hot dog has no know birthday...no one can point a
finger to any specific day and say "This was the start of the hot dog and shall be celebrated ever forevermore."
Historians admit that the hot dog was born on a cold day in the Eighteen Nineties, but even the exact year remains
obscure. The scene of the momentious event was the [New York] Polo Grounds. Cold winds whipped in off
Coogan's Bluff and the baseball fans shivered in the stands. A young English-born concessionaire named Harry M.
Stevens was purveying his peanuts and scorecards, but the weather spurred him to history-making action. He
recalled that a near-by butcher shop had an assortment of sausages hanging in the window, and he sent a boy to buy
ten dozens of them. Mr. Stevens dispatched another lad to purchase rolls from a bakery. He tossed the wieners into a
huge pot half-filled with water and boiled them on the clubhouse stove. He sliced the rolls and inserted the hot
wieners in them, then told his venders: "Those people are frozen. Go out there and yell, 'red hots, red hots.' The
people will buy these red hots if you yell loud enought. Within ten minutes, the red hots were sold, and Mr. Stevens,
who went on to become a famous caterer, had a new item for his concession. But the saga of the hot dog was not
without its moments of tribulation. T.A. (Tad) Dorgan, the cartoonist, began to characterize the "red hot" in his
sketches as a dachshund between an elongated bun, and he called it the "hot dog." This quite naturally started some
person wondering what went into the manufacture of the tasty product, and the hot dog business suffered a severe
recession about 1910. The hot dog had an indomitable spirit, though, and fought its way back to popularity."
---"Topics of the Times: An American Institution," New York Times, August 20, 1953 (p. 26)

[1924]
"The frankfurter world is agog. There is a profound stir to peanut circles. The possings of gingre ale, sarsaprilla, and
spruce-beer are heaving restlessly. Their big day is at hand--the opening of the baseball season in New York. It takes
place on Tuesday next at the Polo Grounds, with the Giants entertaining the Brookly Team. Out at the ballpark the
fan of today is not merely a spectator. He is a consumer, and a voracious one, at that. Refreshments are not
incidental with him. They are part of the game, as much as the seventh inning stretch or the scramble for balls hit
into his section of the stand. It will require more than 200 white-coated salesmen-waiters to serve him on Tuesday.
On some double-headers his appetite and thirst will keep as many as 250 energetic young men in constant motion.
Eating and drinking at the ball game had a modest beginning, according to Harry Stevens, who feeds the fans at the
Polo Grounds and at the Yankee Stadium, as well as at the homes of both the Boston teams. In 1894, when he took
up this work, the menus were confined to ham and cheese sandwiches, and the only number on the wine list was
beer, retailing at 5 cents, with no extra charge for the generous depth of foam...Foodless ball games. Fans weren't
particularly hungry in those days, Mr. Stevens reports. The 'hustlers' employed to circulate food were vigorous to a
point the uncouth at times, yet ball-game patrons seemed to prefer to do their eating in more conventional
environment. Attendances rarely exceeded 3,000, and few persons cared for even Mr. Stevens's nice sandwiches,
although the taste for beer on warm days did not disclose any incipient sentiment favoring prohibition. The peanut
quietly took its place onh the roster of things to eat at the ball park. It was considered somewhat of a stranger at first,
possibly being regarded as having lost its way while being shipped to some circus to join its fiancee, pink lemonade.
Take it from Mr. Stevens, there will never be a wedding between the goober and the crimson citrus concoction, so
far as being national-pastime provender is concerned. The New York fan has learned to love the peanut, but his
coldness toward lemonade rivals that of the wildly heralded frigidity of the drink itself. 'No,' said Mr. Stevens
discussing this matter 'for some reason or other the fans hearabout do not care much for lemonade. The day can be
as warm as toast and the lemonade as cold as ice, and still wouldn't mean anything to them. Even with their coats off
and their collars wilted, the fans do not heed the music of the ice clinking in the glass. 'For their thirst since beer has
departed, they choose ginger ale, sarsparilla, and near-beer. But it is comparatively recently that they have gotten
around to taking these soft drinks with any seriousness and in any great quantities. When beer was swept away the
fans had to train their palates to the taste of what the law allows; but trainig has been completed by this time. 'There
are some and refreshments that the New York fan doesn't care for at all. Popcorn was once in high favor at most
amusement places, and we thought we would introduce it to the fans in a big way. We bought a roaster, one of those
with a glass case showing the popcorn popping around like big snow flakes in a blizzard...'New Yorkers, contrary to
the report, are not cake-eaters. At least those who go to ball games are not. We made an attempt to market cakes
attractively put up, but the frankfurter devotees would not leave off their favorite viand long enough to give the
newcomers a chance to make good. 'Ham and cheese sandwiches had things to themselves for the first fifteen years
of my time in the ball parks. When frankfurters were introduced they were sold at the back of the grandstand. If I
were poetic I would say that one touch of the frankfurter made the whole world kin. At the counters at the rear of the
Polo Grounds you would find a prominent banker eating a frankfurter and drinking a glass of beer, and beside him
would be a truck driver doing precisely the same thing. Both had hurried out to the game, and this was their lunch.
'Coffee wasn't introduced until eight or nine years ago. It has become one of the most popular beverages at the ball
park. We always thought there wouldn't be any call for it, and we didn't handle it. On several chilly early season
days a baseball writer chided us for not having any hot coffee on sale. We decided to try it. Apparently it answered a
need. 'The excitment and the fresh air of the ball game appear to sharpen the appetites even of dyspeptics. When the
desire for refreshments meets up with a tempting-looking frankfurter, it is good-bye to the latter. The sale of
frankfurters was increased by several hundred percent when our boys began purveying them up and down the aisles.'
The taste of the Western fan differs somewhat from that of the Eastern. The Westerner is partial to lemon soda,
which receives scant attention from New Yorkers. Popcorn, which had so ignoble a career in this city, is a piece de
resistance at Toledo, where Mr. Stevens also had the commissary concession. The appeal of frankfurters and
peanuts, he declared, is national."
---"Ball Fans Must Eat," New York Times, April 13, 1924 (p. XX2)

[1955]
"The cry of "play ball" at today's opening game of the world series will find few happier or busier New York
business men than the four Stevens brothers. The reason? They hold the food and drink concessions at the Yankee
Stadium and Ebbetts Field, where all the series games will be played. Although the Yankees did not clinch a series
berth until last Friday, Harry M. Stevens, Inc., started ordering and preparing foodstuffs several weeks ago...Some
Stevens employees worked through last night, putting the finishing touches to the mountains of peanuts, hot dogs,
ice cream, soda pop, beer and sandwiches...More than 500 Stevens employees will report for work today, beginning
at 5AM. They include chefs, checkers, cashiers, countermen, accountants, bookeepers and vendors. The normal
complement of vendors is about 100, but more than 300 will be garbed in white uniforms for today's game...An
experienced vender can make about $25 on a good day...The Stevens company was founded at the turn of the
century by Harry M. Stevens. When he died in 1934, he was acclaimed for having parlayed a bag of peanuts into a
million dollars...Harry Stevens is credited with having popularized the frankfurter. It happeed at the Polo Grounds,
before World War 1, on a day when cold weather was curtailing sales. In desperation, the late Mr. Stevens hit upon
the idea of boiling dachshund sausages and serving the hot on rolls. Thomas A. Dorgan, the cartoonist known as
"Tad," heard about this new delight and shortened the name to hot-dog. Today, about six and one-half billion hot
dogs are sold annually in the United States. Although most storekeepers grill their frankfurters, the Stevens company
still boils them...The amount to food to be prepared each day depends upon the weather and event. Race track fans
are the biggest spenders, per person, but they do not buy peanuts. They're usually too busy with pencil and program
to take time to shell them. The poorest spenders are football fans. They are too bundled with clothing and gloves to
reach into their pockets for a coin. Locale is another factor that determines what sports fans will eat. In the Middle
West, fans prefer hamburgers to hot dogs. Western crowds will not buy popcorn, but it is a bigger seller than peanuts
in the Middle West. Fans in most parts of the nation rent seat cushions, but New Yorkers shun them."
---"Stevens Brothers Heavily Favored in Series," Carl Spielvogel, New York Times, September 28, 1955 (p. 43)

Who was Harry Stevens?

Tribute from a friend::

"The extraordinary career of an advenurous spirit drew to a quiet close the other evening when Harry Mozley
Stevens passed away. He was known best as the 'Hot Dog King' and the many who 'parlayed a peanut into a million
dollars.' But to those who had the pleasure of knowing him intimately, he was much more than that. His biography
would read like a romance. He came to this country practically peniless and piled up a fortune. He worked before an
open hearth in a steel mill in Niles, Ohio, until a strike closed the mill and put him on the roadside. For two years,
wiht a growing family, he couldn't pay his rent. The man who owned his house was an elderly German. The old
German didn't worry. 'You are hgones. You are a worker. You will succeed. And you will pay me when you can,'
said the landlord. It was all true, with something to spare. When Harry Stevens became a rich man he did not forget
the old German. In fact, he never forgot a friend. He worked with a pick and shovel on the county roads to pay off
his poll tax. He became an intinerate bookseller, a native of England peddling 'Irish Orators and Oratory' in the
United States...He enjoyed it... From bookselling, a field in which he gained many friends but little money, he turned
to take his first real step on the road to fame and fortune. He invaded the sports field, getting the score-card
concession at the ball park in Columbus, Ohio. From that start he went steadily ahead to become the caterer and
generaly concessoinaire at all the big race tracks in the East except Pimlico, five major league ball parks and smaller
amusement places galore...It was William C. Whitney who insisted that he run the restaurant at the Saratoga
track...It was August Belmont who called him in when he was getting ready to open Belmont Park and said: 'Name
your own terms. You've got to set the table here.'...[Stevens] did the catering at the big polo matches and the big auto
shows. He knew everybody in sports...He had friends who were powers in politics or finance...Caterer in the old
Madison Square Garden, he knew all the famous figures that dined in the roof restaurant there. He was talking with
Stanford White there one evening while a man paced up and down near by, waiting for Harry Stevens to leave the
architect's table. The impatient man was Harry K. Thaw. When Harry Stevens finished his conversation and walked
away Harry Thaw advanced on Stanford White and shot him. Harry Stevens was at the old Savoy hotel until it
closed. He was the last one to leave and the last meal was served in his room. He moved to the old Waldorf-Astoria
and once again hewas the last diner to eat and the last tenant to move...[Stevens] was a great one for going to the
theatres...He was fond of quoting, especially poetry...He worked hard and he waxed wealthy, he never forgot the
days when he pawned hes wife's wedding ring to buy food for the children...He was belligerantly proud of three
things: his English heritage, his United States Citizenship and the success he had bained by unswerving honesty,
undaunted courage and bulldog persistency."
---"Sports of the Times: Harry Mozley Stevens," John Kieran, New York Times, May 5, 1934 (p. 15)

"Peanuts have been associated with baseball almost from the beginning. This relationship had been immortalized by
the lyricist Jack Norworth and the composer Albert von Tilzer in their 1908 song 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game.'
However, the peanuts sold at baseball games were not freshly roasted and were frequently stale. Some attempts were
made to correct this. The Brooklyn Dodgers...recognized the problem and announced that all peanuts sold at the
ballpark would be roasted that same day. Vendors proudly announced, 'Jumbo peanuts, roasted on premises daily,
sold at Ebbetts Field, 10 cents.' Unshelled roasted peanuts continued to be sold a baseball stadiums until the owners
concluded that the cost of cleaning up the shells was far greater than the revenue generated by their sale." 
---Peanuts: The Illustrious History of the Goober Pea, Andrew F. Smith [University of Illinois Press:Urbana IL]
2002 (p. 48)
How much did it cost to eat at ball stadiums?
Then, as today, newspaper articles bemoan the high prices charged by park concessionaires. Through time, hungry
and thirsty captive sports fans shell out big bucks, accepting high prices as part of the "experience."

[1933]
"Put drinking fountains in all ball parks. Also reduce the war time prices asked for beverages, hot dogs, etc. If such
prices are necessary because of the high cost of the concession have ball clubs deal with the concessionaire on more
liberal terms."
---"What's Wrong With Baseball," Frederick G. Leib, Los Angeles Times, February 10, 1933 (p. A10)

[1956]
"The only beef we've got with [Stevens Brothers] is the outlandish price you have to pay for a two-swallow soft
drink, a cold hot dog or a warm beer...But, it's by the hip pocket they've got you and you either go thirsty or shell
out...But a lot of fans by the fifth inning are feeling no pain and they pay up without a gripe..."
---Lima News [OH], July 25, 1956 (p. 24)

We have no clue what prices were charged at the New York Polo Grounds in 1909. Our search through old
newspapers, baseball history books, and food history resources revealed neither prices nor photos. The research
experts at the Baseball Hall of Fame [Cooperstown NY] kindly supplied these programs from 1915, 1936, 1937 &
1958.

[2010]
Concession prices, Yankee Stadium, Bronx New York, July 4, 2010:
Hot dog (Hebrew National or Nathan's, standard 6" size), $5.50
Premio Sweet Sausage (with peppers & onions, on 12 inch roll), $8.00
USDA Steak (chopped with peppers & onions, 12 inch roll), $15.00
1/2 lb. Yankee Burger, $12.00
Chicken Kabobs, $6.00
Yankee Burrito, $10.00
Spanish Chicken & Rice, $10.00
French Fries (small), $5.00; (large), $6.00
French Fries with cheese (small) $6.50; (large), $8.50
Garlic Fries (small), $6.00; (large), $9.00
Popcorn, regular, (Jumbo), $8.00; (Large), $7.00; (souvenier bucket), $12.00
Corn on the Cob, $4.00
Popcorn (Indiana Gourmet Kettlecorn), $12.00
Popcorn (Indiana Gourmet Aged White Cheddar Kettlecorn), $6.00
Utz Potato Chips, $4.00
Bazzini Peanuts, in shells, $5.00
Cracker Jacks, $5.75
M&Ms (plain) $4.75; (peanut) $4.75
Twizzlers $4.75
Cotton Candy (blue) $4.50
Pepsi (& Diet Pepsi),$5.00
Poland Spring Water, $5.00
Lemonade (fresh squeezed), $5.25
Coffee, $4.00
Hot Chocolate, $4.00
Budweiser (Bud Light, Miller Light, 16 oz plastic bottles), $9.00
[NOTES: (1) These foods were sold in the upper deck, 400s level. It is not a complete list of every food. We did not
sample restaurant fare or "club" food. (2) Total calories, not product sizes, are listed next to the price on concession
menus. (3) These items can be purchased at standard concessions or from pushcarts. (4) Items hawked at upper
deck: Nathan's hot dogs, bottled beer, bottled soda & water, ice cream novelties, cotton candy, peanuts & Cracker
Jacks. (5) Most popular foods (we actually saw people eating): hot dogs, fries/cheese fries, sausages & ice cream.]
[2011]
In-seat service, Delta 360 suites, Yankee Stadium, Bronx New York, April 17, 2011:
Fresh popcorn, $7.00
Bazzini peanuts in the shell, $5.00
Cracker Jack, $5.75
Turkey Hill Premium Chocolate/Vanilla Bar, $5.00
Otis Spunkmeyer Fresh Baked Cookie, $4.00
candy (Plain M&Ms, Peanut M&Ms, Twizzlers), $4.75
Chicken Caesar Salad, $9.00
Fresh Fruit Salad, $9.00
French Fries, $6.50
Famous Famiglia Pizza, $8.00
Kids Meal (Hebrew National Kids Dog, Kozy Shack, Pudding & Juice Box), $7.00
Chicken Tenders, $11.00
Hebrew National Hot Dog, $7.50
Hebrew National Foot Long Hot Dog, $8.50
Premio Sweet Italian Sausage, $9.00
Veggie Burger, $7.00
1/2 lb. Brooklyn Burger, Hamburger/Cheeseburger, $12.00
Carl's Cheesesteak, $12.00
Brother Jimmy's Pulled Pork Sandwich, $12.00
Boar's Head Hot Pastrami, $12.00
Boar's Head Turkey Club with Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato, $12.00
Dunkin' Donuts Hot Coffee, $4.00
Hot Chocolate or Tea, $4.00
Yankees Sourvenir Hot Mug (Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate), $10.00
Poland Spring Bottled Water, $5.00
20 oz. Bottled Soft Drinks, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Sierra Mist, Brisk Lemonade, Brisk Ied Tea, $5.00
Woodbridge Wine by the Glass (Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Gritio, Cabernet Sauvignon), $9.00
Domestic Bottled Beer (16 oz Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Coors Light, Miller Lite), $9.50
Imported Draft Beer (16 oz Stella Artois, Beck's, Hoegaarden), $10.50
Spirits (Ketel One Vodka, Tanqueray Gin, Johnnie Walker Red Scotch, Crown Royal Whiskey, Bushmills Irish
Whiskey, Cuervo Especial Silver Tequila, Myers Platinum Rum, Jim Beam Black Bourbon, Bailey's Original Irish
Cream Cordial, Courvoisier VS Cognac), $12.00.

Inside concessions offer this NYC array of hot dogs, $10.00/each: Bronx (marinara), Manhattan (BBQ, onion &
relish), Brooklyn (chili & cheese), Queens (tzatski sauce) & Staten Island (chipotle & mayo).

BOXING CONCESSIONS
This passage describes the foods served at the famous fight between Dempsy and Carpentier [1921]. The fight was
catered by Stevens, and many of the foods he served at ball parks were also served here:

"Fight fans who crowd the big arena in Jersey on Satuday for the championship bout between Dempsey and
Carpentier may swelter or become drenched,...but there will be no need of their suffering from either hunger or
thirst. That part of the program has been carefully arranged by Harry M. Stevens, who is as well acquainted with the
appetite of a sport enthusiast as he is with his own son Frank, his partner in the business of satisfying the hungry and
thristy at ball parks, race tracks, boxing matches, horse shows, six-day races and sport events of every description.
The feeding arrangements are along the same extensive lines as prevail in every angle of the big contest. For the last
ten days Stevens's men have been getting things in readiness at the arena, and yesterday the work of stocking up
with provisions get under way. Hundreds of cases of beer, sarsparilla, ginger ale and mineral water were taken to
Jersey City in big trucks; but the preparation of the food will not be started until midnight Friday or later. Time has
no effect on the drinks, but the food must be positively fresh...Furthermore, he says with emphasis that he will have
enough for all and expects to bring back a few truckloads after a new record for the consumption of food and drink
at one sporting event has been established...One feature of the usual sport event bill of fare will be among the
mising. The Board of Fire Commissioners in Jersey City has passed a rule concerning the sale of food and drink
which may be called a "No Dogs Allowed" announcement. The succulent all-hot has been banned. fear of fire was
behind the order, and and Stevens has bowed gracefully to the edict, but he admits that he will feel lonesome
without the little towsers around...As complete last night the bill of fare will include ham, chicken, tongue and
cheese sandwiches and every known variety of pie. To wash this down or to quench the parched throat will be
ginger ale, "sas," mineral waters and the best that Jake Ruppert could brew after Volstead let him up. Peanuts will be
there in profusion...To the average person who yells to the boy and passes out his change for sandwich, drink or
smoke there is no thought of the time, energy and preparation it all entails...Trucks will be making their trips to the
arena to deposit something like 80,000 bricks of ice cream...There will be no cones on sale, as it would be difficult
to keep cones in proper condition, so brick swill be carried in cooled containers, to be served on small plates. More
than 50,000 bags of peanuts will be ready and the sandwiches will run close to the 100,000 mark. Many fans will
arrive late, some of the early comers will bring their lunch, but to offset this will be the patrons who arrive early and
who will trust to Stevens to see that they are supplied with whatever they eat and drink. Hundreds of cases of
beer...will be at Thirty Acres long before the eatables arrive. Getting the drinks to the arena is only one part of the
work. The fan insists on his liquids being ice cold and to chill them properly twenty tons of ice will be unloaded at
the arena tomorrow morning...On Saturday morning another twenty tons will be received. Again the vastness of the
enterprise stands out when forty tons of ice are needed for the ice cream and the soft drinks alone. That there may be
no gouging of the public by the vendors Stevens will follow the system in vogue at the ball parks. Every waiter will
carry on his hat a card showing the prices of everything he sells. Big posters around the arena will convey the same
information. The same prices as prevail at the ball parks and race tracks will be in effect at the fight and the signs
protect the public against gouging."
---"Food Consumption To Set New Mark," New York Times, June 30, 1921 (p. 21)

FAIR FARE

1876/Philadelphia...1893/Chicago...1901/Buffalo... 1904/St. Louis...1915/San Francisco

Fair food, as we Americans know it today, descends from street foods sold in ancient market stalls. Food vendors
were quite popular at Medieval fairs. Folks hawked foods from portable carts the Globe Theatre during
Shakespeare's time. On a related note? Military messes throughout time set up mobile feeding stations specializing
in portable foods. What is fair food? The answer depends upon the place and period. Some foods are contemporary
"staples," (cotton candy, waffle cones, corn dogs, mini-doughnuts, Karmel Korn); others are regional/local
specialties (maple fudge at the Eastern States Exposition; open pit whole pig barbecue in Arkansas).

World's Fairs (aka exhibitions/expositions) serve as national benchmarks for fair food introductions. Of these, the
1904 fair in St. Louis is perhaps the most famous. The Corporations used these venues to promote new products to
the general populace. 1964 New York City World's Fair put Belgian Waffles on our culinary map. Fair years/venues
are easy to identify. Some of the more popular fairs have entire books written about them. Beyond the Ice Cream
Cone: The Whole Scoop on Food at the 1904 World's Fair/Pamela J. Vaccaro profiles that famous exposition.

Local fairs (state, county, seasonal, product specific) reflect the heritage of the folks living in that area. Most major
fairs have Web sites. There you will find current information on food contests and vendor information. Some fairs
publish cookbooks containing recipes of contest winners. These do not reflect the vendors, corporate promotions or
other fair favorites (free milk at the New York States Fair). Most, though not all, states host annual fairs. Many local
fairs exist as well.

General link (current fairs only) here.

Your best bet for comparing/contrasting foods served at local fairs throughout the country is to select target areas
and contact the fair managers. Do they have scrapbooks or archives? The local library and/or historical society may
hold primary documents (old fair map maps, menus, promotional material &c.) Old newspapers often provide
accounts of the foods available at the fair; some aritcles include prices. This information helped visitors plan their
trip. Foods offered at local fairs generally featured local bounty. These fairs were held during harvest time, when
local produce was at its most bountiful. Pies, cookies, cakes, canned goods (jams, jellies, preserves, pickles, pickled
vegetables) were often sold for on-site consumption or bringing home.
General history notes on selected major American fairs

[1876] CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION--PHILADELPHIA 

1. One of the best collections of Centennial Exhibition materials is housed at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
(Search: food to find the appropriate buildings/companies; menus for restaurant selections)
2. The two most influencial 19th century Philly-area cookbook authors (cooking school teachers, lecturers, etc.)
were Miss Eliza Leslie and her student, Sarah Tyson Rorer. 1876 lies in the "cusp" of influence between these two.
We have a copy of Mrs. Rorer's Philadelphia Cook Book, 1886.

"The Centennial jarred Philadelphia sensibilities with a crazy-quilt of foreign cookeries--such an

ollapodiania!...being the old city dialect for hodgepodge or mixture. The chatter of culinary voices was parodies in
the press, and cleverly pictured in characatures, but many things were simply too good to let pass when the
Centennial closed. Among these were celery salt, the Viennese breads, hot dogs, Centennial Cake (now called Shoo-
fly Pie), the integrtrated diningrooms of Fleischmann's Restaurant-Cafe for ladies and gentlemen (this boing the
same Fleishmann who introduced yeast cakes at the fair, ice cream sodas, and the ubiquitous hokey-pokey man."
---The Larder Invaded: Reflections on Three Centuries of Philadelphia Food and Drink, Mary Anne Hines, Gordon
Marshall and William Woys Weaver, exhibition catalog published jointly by the Library Company of Philadelphia
and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania [1987] P. 38
[NOTE: Hokey-pokey men were ice cream vendors, the name derives from an Italian phrase.]

[1893] COLUMBIAN EXHIBITION--CHICAGO

"The great restaurant concession of the fair is held by A.S. Gage in the name of the Wellington Catering company
and covers 137,800 square feet of floor space. It also embraces privileges in all the buldings erected by the World's
Columbian Exposition, sixteen in number, as well as a supply depot to be erected by the company. The concession
provides for three clases of eating places. The first will include the finest restaurants, with service equal in
excellence to that maintianed in any hotel in this city. The second grade will be on an equality wiith the the style of
caravansary known as the popular restaurant, while the third takes in lunch-counters and the buffet system, where
cold meats sandwiches, hot coffee, pies, and cakes will be served. This class will be operated in the building where
the odors of a kitchen cannot be permitted to float around promiscuosly among the exhibits and sightseers. These
counters and buffets, whowever, says Mr. Gage, will be as fine and supplied with just as good food as can be found
anywhere. The total space involved in this concession will be allotted to the different classes in these proportions:
To the first 20 per cent, the second 40 per cent, and the third 40 per cent. Thes eating capacity at tables throughout
the different buildings is estimated at 12,000 and the lunch counters aggregating 7,500 feet, or one and one-half
miles in length, 4,000 person may dine at one time. On the supposition that this capacity can be changed five-times--
and that is a low calculation--the Wellington will feed 80,000 people a day. This number may be increased to
100,000 a day. The company will not only adopt its own standard, such as prevails now in the Wellington Hotel
cafes down-town, but proposes to serve the best of wholesome food at each and every one of its places...In the
general supply estimate something like fifty head of good-sized bullocks that will dress out 30,000 pounds of beef a
day,w ith two and a half tons of hame for sandwiches, will cover the meat demand. Sixty barrels of flour a day will
be consumed in bread, pies, and cakes, with potatoes and other vegetables of all kinds in proportion. The quantity of
milk that will be consumed is beyond the limit of advance figures. The very finest restaurant to be conducted by this
company will be located in the Administration building, and it is understood it will be the best place on the
grounds."
---"Catering Commpany's Plnas: Extent of the Eating Houses and the Supplies Which Will be Needed," Chicago
Daily Tribune, February 18, 1893 (p. 9)

"Restaurants and Dining-Rooms. Visitors who elect to stop at hotels and places in this vicinity of Jackson Park will
find accomodations provided to feed a multitude. Nearly all, if not all, of these hotels will be equipped with
restaurants or dining-rooms. To them must be added the restaurants in the Fair Grounds, those on the Midway
Plaisance, and the hundreds which will be opened in the district contiguous to Jackson Park. Visitors may have their
choice among thirty-five places to dine in the grounds. The concession held by the Wellington Catering company
provides for three classes of restaurants. The first will include restaurants of the highest rank, equal to any in the
city. The second grade provides for what may be called popular restaurants, with prices on a lower scale. The third
class takes in lunch counters and buffets where cold meats, sandwiches, pies, cakes and coffee will be served. There
will be one and one-half miles of lunch ounters. Among the larger restaurant are the Great White Horse Inn and the
Columbian Casino. The first occupies a building which is a reproduction of the hostelry made famous by Dickens. It
is located south of Machery Hall. The cooking will be strictly English. On the first floor of the inn anything from a
ham sandwich to a $2 porterhouse steak will be sold. The second floor will be given up to the finest trade, and will
be patterned after the best London clubs. The Columbian Casino will occupy the Casion, a three-story building at
the mouth of the lagoon. The first floor will be fitted up with parlors, reception rooms, lavatories, and smoking
rooms. On the second floor will be a public dining room, with tables and seats for 1,500 people...The "Clam Bake"
will be one of the novelties at the Fair. A three-story building in the northern part of the grounds is occupied for this
affair. Old-fashioned New England clam bake dinners, it is stated will be served, as well as all sorts of fish. There
will be room for 2,500 people at one sitting. Within the World's Fair ground 59,400 people can dine at one time next
summer. Counting six changes of plates for each place at table 356,400 meals may be served every day in the Fair
grounds. Dining places on the Midway Plaisance will have accomdations for 16,000 people at one time. A vistor,
among other places, may choose to dine in the natorium--or in cafes overlooking the animals in Hageabeek's
Zoological Garden, or in the Hungarian Orpheum, or in the Dutch settlemetn, the Polish cafe, or the Turkish village.
He may be served with familiar viandes or may taste the food of strange lands and be waited on by natives of these
countries. If he is particularly exclusive he will find a lunch-room 1,200 feet above the earth in the captive baloon."
---"Guide for Visitors," Chicago Daily, April 30, 1893 (p. 45)

If you want to recreate an authentic period dinner, we suggest you start by examining the recipes offered in Favorite
Dishes: A Columbian Autograph Souvenir Cookery Book, compiled by Carrie V. Schuman. This book is a collection
of recipes of Chicago's "leading ladies" in the early 1890s. The edition recently reprinted by the University Of
Illinois Press (2001) contains scholarly essays on both the fair and the book.

If you want to feature some popular foods introduced at the Exposition this book suggests: "Cracker Jack, Cream of
Wheat, Shredded Wheat, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer and Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum. Prominent, too, were Aunt
Jemima (wth Nancy Green playing the eponymous cook) and the H.J. Heinz Company's Sour Spiced Gherkins. It is
said that a million visitors flocked to Heinz's display, where they were given small "pickle pins." Conserves and
pickles were serious components of the American diet. Foods like these were industrial products made for mass
consumption. While some, such as Heinz pickles, were hand packed, foods were becoming entirely industrialized,
raised with farming machinery and artificial fertilizers and cooked and packed in factories." (p. xl)

If you are conducting an extensive research project we suggest you contact the following organizations:

 Chicago Public Library, Special Collections

 Chicago Historical Society, Archives and manuscripts
 Rumford Kitchen, Ellen Swallow Richards

[1901] PAN-AMERICAN EXHIBITION--BUFFALO NY

[1904] LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXHIBITION--ST. LOUIS

Americans are fascinated with fair food, especially the items attributed to the 1904 St. Louis Exposition. The truth?
Most of these popular foods existed before the fair, and many have several conflicting stories with regards to "true"
origin. This makes the lore even more intriguing. What these foods have in common is that they were mass marketed
at the St. Louis fair. That is why this year holds a special place in the American gastronomic chronology.

The best way to cull a comphensive list of foods served (or made popular) during the 1904 St. Louis Fair is to go
straight to the source. The St. Louis Public Library has uploaded a fabulous collection of primary fair documents,
photographs, and publications. Recommended reading: Beyond the Ice Cream Cone: The Whole Scoop on Food at
the 1904 World's Fair/Pamela J. Vaccaro.

[1915] PAN PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION--San Francisco CA

Laura Ingalls Wilder was one of the many famous people attending this fair. Her daughter Rose described their visits
in a series of letters published in book form, West From Home. One of the foods Rose told us her mother enjoyed
was "Pan-Pak." Surely, if this item was notable enough for Rose to record, print evidence/description exists. To
date, we have not discovered any other print reference to Pan-Pak. Perhaps this was a colloquial moniker familiar to
all fairgoers? We checked:

 The Panama-Pacific Cook Book (L.L. McLaren) does not contain any company/product ads or other
references to Pan-Pak. Nor do any of the ads/articles published in major USA newspapers regarding the
1915 San Francisco-based exposition (we checked ProQuest Historic, America's Historic Newspapers,
Newspaper Archive). Queries sent to the San Francisco Public Library and Museum of the City of San
Francisco were unanswered.
 ProQuest Historic, American Historical Newspapers
 Museum of the City of San Francisco was unresponsive.
 Offical Guide of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, 1915
 San Francisco Chronicle & San Francisco Examiner, October 1915 issues. (microfilm checked)

MOVIE THEATER CONCESSIONS

What kind of food was offered at movie theater concesssion stands in the 1920s? The answer is: nothing.

We seached dozens of interior shots of early 20th century theaters and found no references to concessions or any
other food-selling activities. The Great Depression changed that. Popcorn was grudgingly adopted by movie owners.
Theater concessions, we know them today, were introduced in the 1940s. No doubt, like today, some people snuck
food in.

"Because concession stands didn't exist until the 1940s, all around each theater there was a cluster of lunch counters,
ice cream parlors and candy stores a whole thriving ecosystem of urban gathering places, with the theater at its
heart," reported the [Boston] Globe." ---Tufts University ENews

Why were foods sold in theatres?

"Satisfying the sweet tooth of American moviegoers has zoomed into a multi-million dollar sideline business for
theatres, with sales of popcorn, candy, ice cream and soft drinks now totalling about $500,000,000 a year, according
to figures compiled by the concession commmittee of the Theatre Owners of America. Incidentally, the National
Theatres circuit...will sell $4,000,000 worth of popcorn this year."
---"Big Business," New York Times, October 2, 1949 (p. X5)

Drive-in theatres, doubling as amusement parks, sold foods similar to baseball stadiums.
"From its novelty state of just a few years ago the drive-in theatre has mushroomed into a multi-million dollar outlet
for the exhibition of motion pictures...But the convenience is beginning to take on other meanings too as the drive-in
operators step up public services...Nor have tose extra lures for the kiddie trade been overlooked. Pony rides and toy
train raides, swings, see-saws, carousels and other amusements are offered in a large number of drive-ins as before-
the-show attractions. These accomodations serve another purpose, too. By bringing the family groups out an hour or
so before showtime the candy, ice cream, popcorn, soda, coffee, hotdog and hamburger stands, among other
concessions, do a thriving business. According to reports, it is not unusual for receitps from these enterprises to
range in amount from 40 to 60 per cent of the gross box office revenues."
---"Movie Novelty Develops into Big Business," Thomas M. Pryor, New York Times, September 4, 1949 (p. 47)

Concessions are winners at double-features.

"The only one apparantly still profiting by the double reature is the exhibitor--he sells more popcorn, soda, candy
and ice cream via the double gill. It was brough out at the Senate Small Business Committee hearings in Washington
that the concession business done by theatres in 1951 resulted in gross sales of approximately $506,000,000."
---"Hollywood Augury, Production Switch Dooms Double Feature--Addenda," Thomas Pryor, New York Times,
May 31, 1953 (p. X3)
Food sales keep theaters open.
"At the trade show of the National Association of Theater Owners...there was also a choice of Odell's butter, Durkee
Pop-all, Super Gold, Bee-Hive, Flavacol and Pop-Top to pour over the popcorn...This trad show takes such products
very seriously. That's because approximately $750 million will be spent at movie-theater concession stands this
year...'Without concessions, no hteater could remain in business.'...Approximately 65 cents of every doall that comes
into the concession stand is profit...Because candy is a lower profit item than either drinks or popcorn, the space for
candy at concession stands is shrinking...The competition for the 19 percent reamining of concession-stand sales
includes candy, ice-cream, nachos, hot dogs, burritos, T-shirts, lobby video games and--the newest competitor--
framed paintings."
---"For Theater Owners, Many Flavors of Profit," Aljean Harmetz, New York Times, November 5, 1983 (p. 17)

Popcorn goes to the movies 

"An extraordinary influence on popcorn's history was its shotgun wedding to movie theaters...During the 1920s the
motion picture industry had emerged with large studios and chains of theatres...By 1930 movie attendance reached
90 million patrson per week. This huge audience was potentially a prime target for popcorn sales, but movie owners
refused to sell it. To some owners, vending all concessions was an unnecessary nuisance or "beneath their dignity."
In the rowdy burlesque days hawkers went through the aisles with baskets selling Cracker Jack and popcorn. Much
of the popcorn was tossed in the the air or strewn on the floors. In addition popcorn sellers were often slovenly
dressed and did not always follow the most hygienic practices preferred by the middle classes who frequented
theaters. These were not the images most owners wanted to cultivate for their upscale theaters. Other owners
considered the profits on concession sales to be negligible compared with the trouble and expense of cleaning up
spilled popcorn and scattered boxes and sacks. Many move theaters had carpeted their lobbies with valuable rugs to
emulate the grand theater lobbies. Operates were not interested in having their expensive carpets destroyed by
spilled popped kernels, soda pop, and other confections. Finally, most theaters did not have outside vents. Early
popcorn machines filled theaters with an unpleasant, penetrating smoky odor. Owners interested in selling popcorn
were required to construct vents, which ran up the expenses and reduced profits. Even when owners were willing to
do this, fire laws in some cities prevented the popping of corn without further extensive remodeling. Until the 1930s
most theater owners considered popcorn to be a liability rather than an asset. Theater owners shifted their
perspectives dramatically during the Depression. At five or ten cents a bag, popcorn was an affordable luxury for
most Americans. Unlike most other confections, popcorn sales increased throughout the Depression. A major reason
for this increase was the introduction of popcorn into movie theaters. At first independent concessionares leased
"lobby privileges" in theaters. Vendors paid about a dollar a day for the right to sell popcron. As many theaters did
not have lobby space and most did not want the popcorn or smoke inside, operators leased vendors space outside the
theaters. This suited the vendors for they were able to sell both to movie patrons and passersby on the street. This
was a lucrative business during the Depression. When an Oklahoma banker went bankrupt during the Depression, he
set himself up with a popcorn machine in the little store near a theater. He made enough money in a few years to buy
back three farms he had lost in the bank failure...Soon popcorn entered the theater. In part this change was effected
in a roundabout way by popcorn machine salesmen. As a matter of tactics, salesmen made special efforts to sell
poppers to stores near theaters. When theater owners saw their costomers entering with popcorn bags, they quickly
saw the light...Independent movie theaters were the first to capitulate to popcorn's financial allure...As soon as
machines were placed in the lobbies, business picked up."
---Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America, Andrew F. Smith [Smithsonian Press:Washington]
2001 (p. 99-102)

"Movies had prospered without popcorn until the Great Depression, when theater owners scrambled to make up for
reduced ticket prices by turning to "audible edibles." The appetite of moviegoers was so great that from 1934 to
1940, the nation's annual popcorn harvest grew from 5 million to 100 million pounds. Marty Winter...recalled that
Mr. Rubin was popcorn being made in Oklahoma City on a visit around 1930 and started selling it a concessions he
contrlled when he returned to New York. But Mr. Rubin's duaghter and a other longtime business colleague, Carl
Levine, said it was not unitl the early 1950's that Mr. Rubin began to sell popcorn in a major way. At the time, his
company...had the refreshments concessions for major movie chains in the New York metropolitan area, including
RKO, Brandt and Lowes. Andrew F. Smith, the author of "Popped Culture: The Social History of Popcorn in
America," said New York theaters were among the last to embrace popcorn, because it had a small profit margin,
popping machines were a fire hazard and the snack seemed a bit delcasse...Mr. Smith said that popcorn was being
sold in some New York 1940s...At [age] 12, [Mr. Rubin] went to work for Lazar, Stein & Landsman, ABC's
predecessor company, filling vending machines in movie theater, which did not yet have concession stands. When a
vending machine rolled and broke against the stage, he used it as a counter to sell candy, a precursor of the modern
movie concession stand. Over his conccession career, Mr. Rubin...developed movie-size candy bars and boxes,
which could be sold for $1.50 instead of 35 cents."
---"Samuel M. Rubin, 85, Vendor: Put Fresh Popcorn in Theaters," New York Times, February 9, 2004 (p. B8)

The earliest pictures we find of theater concession stands were taken (probably) in the 1940s:

  Fox Theatre, San Diego California (undated)

---theatre opened in 1929. From the woman's dress/hair style and inclusion of what looks like M&Ms
(introduced 1941) this picture was probably taken in the 1940s. Easter time.
 State Theatre, San Diego California (undated)
---Also decorated for Easter; similar items to above.

Ancient Roman Colosseum fare

What did the spectators munch while watching events (chariot races, sports contests, circus, etc.) in the Colosseum?

"The most varied and the most typically Roman of entertainments were the Games. These were at first presented in
the old Circuit Flaminius and the later Circus Maximus. Long and straight, these had been designed for the chariot
races that were a part of Roman life for hundreds of years...In due course, vast, circular open theatres were built
specifically for the Games. There was Nero's wooden Ampitheatrum of AD 57...so called because its oval shape
resembled a double theatre entirely surrounding the stage...The Emperor's box commanded the arena, and the front
rows reserved for upper ranks...had unrivaled views, but visibility was excellent even from the wedges of seats
rising skywards. Comfort was limited: you took your own cushion; in fact chopped reed was called tomentum
circense 'circus stuffing'. If you were wise, you took some refreshment too, like the eques, drinking during the show,
to whom Augustus sent down a message: "I go home when I want to have a meal." "Because you needn't worry
about losing your seat," said the eques'...The Games brought many citizens...together for a whole day or for days on
end, drunk with wine, sated with beauty, and with thrills and with blood, galvanized by the roars and applause that
could be heard all over the city and well beyond. With childlike enthusiasm Statius tells us of the Saturnalia
entertainment arranged for a temporarily grateful citizenry by Emperor Domitian:

"Off with you, father Phoebus, stern Pallas, and all the Muses: you're on holiday. We'll want you back on the first of
January. Saturn, loose your fetters. Come here you three, Drunk December, rude Fun, indecent Joke! Help me tell
about the fine day and the bibilous night that our cheerful Caesar arranged for us. Scarce had Dawn got out of bed
when sweets began to rain down on us, a rare dew distilled by the rising East Wind. The finest harvest of the hazel
orchards of the Pontus and of the fertile hills of Idume, all that devour Damascus grows on its boughs, all that thirsty
Cunus dries, all fell in profusion: there was a veritable shower of little cheeses and fritters, Amerines not too
smoked, must-cakes, and enormous caryotis dates form invisible palms...A second audience, at least as good-
looking and well-dressed as we who were sitting down, now threaded its way along every row. Some carried baskets
of bread and white napkins and more elaborate delicacies; others served languorous wine in brimming measure: you
would think each one a divine cupbearer from Mount Ida. The same table served every class alike, child, woman,
plebs, eques and senator: freedom had loosed the bonds of awe. You yourself--most gods could not have managed
this!--you, Caesar, condescended to share our feast.""
---Empire of Pleasures: Luxury and Indulgence in the Roman World, Andrew Dalby [Routledge:London] 2000 (p.
230-2)

"Just as sacrifical meat from the altar was in demand, the meat from circus sacrifices fetched a good price, because it
was meat from a holy sacrifice; because it was game--often exotic--that the Romans enjoyed; because it was
supposed to contain substantces that fortified them and because it was scarce. There was nowhere near enough to go
round the tens of thousands of greedy spectators."
---Around the Roman Table, Patrick Faas [Palgrave MacMillan:New York] 1994 (p. 282)

VENDING MACHINES
It is interesting how we Americans have has viewed these machines as "wave of the future," "better than personal
service," "hygenic," to "evil purveyors of junk food to our children." Vending machine manufacturers are truly an
inventive group.

"The first American vending machine appeared in 1888, when the Thomas Adams Gum Company (American
Chickle, Pfizer) placed a machine selling Tutti-Fruitti chewing gum on a platform of the elevated train in New York
City. The following year, a penny vending machine was developed that could dispense handfuls fo candy and
peanuts. Round, bubble-topped penny gumball machines were introduced in 1907. Because vending machines were
still quite unreliable, most sold only penny items until the 1920s. One exception was the Horn and Hardart Baking
Company, which opened the first coin-operated Automat restaurant in Philadelphia in 1902...In 1908 the Public Cup
Vendor Corporation (Dixi Cup Company), devised a machine that served cooled water in a paper cup for a
penny..."Sodamats," forerunners of the modern soda machine, were installed in amusement parks in 1926...In the
1930s vending machines began to offer a variety of candy bars. Movie theatres, popular sites for candy machines,
displayed large, ornately designed versions. In 1935 the first cup-type soft-drink vending machine was made by
Vendrink Corporation...and Coca-Cola introduced the first standardized coin-operated bottled soda machines selling
nickel Cokes...Refrigerated machines were perfected in the 1950s. The War Production Board stopped the
production of vending machines in 1942 because of the need for metal to support the war effort. Still, vending
machines sustained the war effort, feeding factory workers during their long shifts, which led to the later acceptance
of vending machines in the workplace. By 1960 some companies and schools and colleges abandoned their
cafeterias and replaced them with banks of less expensive vending machines. Sandwiches, desserts, hot coffee, and
soup created a growing market in factories and plants...The period also saw the introduction of machines that
exchanged coins for dollar bills...Hot coffee machines were invented in 1945 and remained unchanged until the
1980s, wehn new innovations allowed coffee beans to be ground within the machine, as needed. This innovation
produced the 1990s explosion of gourmet coffee and espresso machines." 
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford Univeristy Press:New
York] 2004, Volume 2 (p. 586-7)

Vending timeline/National Automatic Merchandizing Association

A selected survey of American vending machine developments:

[1891]
"The now popular on omnipresent "nickel-in-the-slot machine" has only come into practical use within the past four
years, although the idea is 2,000 years old. Four years ago this class of apparatus was entirely unckown as far as
commercial purposes were concerned. Up to the beginning of 1888 only forty patents had been issued in this country
governing such devices. The principal upon which the earlier machines were constructed is at least 2,000 years old.
The device was employed by the priests of Alexandria, Egypt, for selling 'lustral' or purifying water to their
parishioners. The apparatus was so arranged that upon the dropping of a coin into a slot it would fall on a lever
which would raise a valve and thus allow the water to flow out. As soon as the coin fell off the lever the valve would
reseat itself and the flow be stopped until another coin was deposited. The device was very simple, and if it worked
successfully it was a monument to the honesty and stupidity of the ancient Egyptians, as the average street urchin of
to-day would have found a way to "beat" this machine in five minutes. Since 1888 there have been about 4000
patents issued for these machines, which have been classed under the head of "coin-controlled apparatus," and this
class has been divided into twenty-four sub-classes. About the same number of patents have been issued in England
and a large number in Germany. Almost everything can now be obtained from these automatic clerks or, waiters. A
person can drop a coin, either a penny or a nickel, in a slot and procure a cigar, cigarette, or piece of candy, or have
his boots blacked, see a horse race, game of baseball, or get a glass of soda, lemonade, mineral water, a cup of tea, a
cup of coffee, or have a spray of perfume thrown over his handkerchief, and send a telephonic message, ascertain his
striking capacity, test his lungs, get a postal card, a postage stamp, a newspaper, borrow an opera glass, a fan, a
book, set a phonograph in motion and "hear the band play," and do a hundred other things "too numerous to
mention." The first patent of a machine bearing any similitude to those now in use was granted in England in 1839.
This device was intended to prevent the use of seats in public vehicles without paying fare...An English patent was
granted in 1870 entitled a "vending machine," which was intended to be used in selling various articles." 
---"A nickel in the slot: Ancient idea modernized for practical commercial purposes," Washington Post, April 19,
1891 (p. 15)
[1950]
"New Yorkers learned recently that they had put a total of eight million dollars into subway vending machines
during the last year, in exchange for candy, peanuts, chewing gum, cigarettes, carbonated drinks and a variety of
other edible, nonedible and inedible commodities. They have also put in a great deal of physical and mental effort
aimed at deceiving and punishing the machines, presumable in exhange for certain inner satisfactions...[Vending
machines] serve a substantial, though somewhat limited, workingman's lunch or snack in the form of soups,
sandwiches, cakes, pastry and hot and cold drinks. It also serves fare accepable to ducks, yaks, antelopes, chickens
and such simple forms of animal life; the Bronx Zoo, for example, has machines selling cellophane-wrapped
packages of bird-and-beast goodies, and ice-cream and pop corn machines are legion. A coin in a slot buys a tin of
snuff, a picket comb, a dosage of sun-tan lotion or a one-shop dental kit, including a disposable toothbrush, a vial of
toothpaste and a snack-sized length of dental floss...Recently, the robots have joined ranks and set out to conquer
new and broader commercial fields, replacing not only the man behind the shop counter but the counter itself, and
even the shop. Rows of monsterous, coin-operated refrigerators, combining the design of a restrained juke-box with
the architecture of a bank vault, have been installed in apartment houses to compete with the milkman and the
grocery store's dairy department...The late-mode vender is a dazzling thing of artfully chsen colors, sleek outlines,
and trimmings of illuminated glass and plastic. It looks neat, efficient, and sanitary enough to meet the requirements
of a hospital waiting room--qualities which have a decided attraction to almost anyone who has ever had to sort out
his morning cup of coffee from the elbow-deep litter of a midtown luncheonette counter. Consciously or not, the
public also has been influenced by the machine's ability to produce, at a price sometimes lower than that of a simlar
item sold over the conventional store counter, a product of uniform quality, not subject to the haste, whimsy,
fallibility or malice of a clerk or counterman." 
---"Coin-in-the-Slot: New Vending Machines are Harvesting Millions--and the end is not yet.," John Sharnik, New
York Times, December 3, 1950 (p. SM 30)

[1951]
"When Winnie the Welder on the "graveyard shift," or Tillie The Typist, late in the afternoon, gets that gone feeling,
she hastens to the nearest canteen, puts in her coin, and promptly becoems one of thousand of coast-to-coast
customers." 
---"White Collar Girl," Chicago Daily Tribune, December 3, 1951 (p. D2)

[1952]
"Retail selling without sales clerks is ringing up new gains. This year Americans will drop an expected $1.2 billion
into vending machines, double the amount of 1946...The coin-droppers are plunging more money into such
mechanical salesmen standbys as cigarettes, peanut and chewing gum machines. And they're also buying from
machines such varied merchandise as lighter fluid, postcards, hosiery, and magazines. Among the latest mechanical
salesmen is a machine that offers four kinds of refrigerated fresh fruit and can serve four customers at once. Then
there's the miniature version of the Automat, dubbed the Lunch-o-Mat. It sells the eater-on-the-run hot and cold
sandwiches, pie, pastry, milk, fruit juice and coffee...Besides the usual stress on things for on-the-spot consumption,
vending mahcines are making abigger play for the take-home market...Behind the rise of vending machines, of
course, is the rise in the cost of retail sales help. The average wage of the human salesperson climbed, by
Government calculation, from about $1 an hour, on the average in 1947, to $1.32 last July...The opening-up of new
markets in factories and on military posts has contributed heavily to the advance of the mechanical salseman." 
---"Mechanical Selling: Vending Machines Win a Rising Flood of Coin With New Merchandise," Thomas S.
Watts, Wall Street Journal, October 16, 1952 (p. 1)

[1953]
"This, we say, is going too far. How would you feel if a vending machine which has just pocketed your coin and--
with whirrings and bangs--delivered into your hand a candy bar, some peanuts, or a beverage in a paper cup should
conclude the deal by booming as you turn away, "Thank you!"? A "polite" vending machine which will do exactly
that has been announced by the National Automatic Merchandizing Association." 
---"'Dispens-able' Voice," Christian Science Monitor, September 8, 1853 (p. 16)

[1956]
"Robot salesmen are winning in ever-increasing covey of customers among factory workers, travelers and
housewives-but not without a few creaks and groans. Vending machines throughout the country are swallowing a
record $1.9 billion in small change this year. The people who make these automatic merchandisers and the operators
who keep them filled with food, drink, smokes, nail clippers, perfume, pills and other products share a firm belief
that this rain of coin is just the beginning. By 1960, they predict, another billion dollars...will be flowing into the
devices every year...The high cost and scarcity of labor, as well as the growth of public confidence in vending
machines, is helping swell the population of these robot sales clerks." 
---"Robot Salesmen: Vending Machines Offer Soup to Nuts Array, Even Cook the Stew," Jerry M. Flint, Wall Street
Journal, December 14, 1956 (p. 1)

[1957]
"In the rapid expansion of automatic merchandising, the dispensing of hot foods in plants, schools, and many other
areas of activity has been one of the major developments...The American fondness for snacks is responsible for the
largest segment of the automatic merchandising industry. Greatest growth has been in the hot food end of this phase
of merchandising. Much of the growth for the immediate future also hinges on further developments in machines to
dispense complete hot meals. First introduced in 1955, many have already been expanded into complete automatic
cafeterias...The impact has been felt throughout the food field. Candy manufacturers turn out a good share of their
production in special sizes, shapes, and packs for machines. Confectionery and pastry houses have developed special
nickel and dime pies, cakes, cookie and cracker packs, and other pastries. The packaging industry has been called on
for special wraps, boxes, and sacks that can be adapated to machines. There are hot meal vendors for foods such as
Swiss steak, chicken a la king, beef stew, spaghetti and meat balls, macaroni and cheese, meat and chicken pies, and
baked beans. One firm now has 27 hot foods which are sold from an automatic cafeteria that takes up little more
space than the average soft drink machine. There's the endless choice of soups from a soup bar. There are also
special vendors for fresh, crisp salads, multiselection machines for hot and cold beverages and hot soups, and for a
wide choice of sandwiches. There are special machines for parties and other desserts. It is possible to buy a freshly
roasted hot dog, served in a roll, complete with sealed portion of mustard...One of the newest and most complex
machines serves a complete meal from appetizer to dessert in a matter of seconds...Most of these hot food machines
are installed in factories, schools, and military establishments. Eight out of 10 manufacturing plants use vending
machines to help solve the problem of factory feeding...Such installations save capital investments, as well as the
cost of operating regular cafeterias...They also provide round-the-clock feeding to take care of night shifts. In many
plants, profits form the machiens are used for employee welfare and recreational funds. This encourages use of the
machines and discourages abuse and pilfering. One plant uses commissions to buy uniforms and equipemnt for
athletic teams...The RCA Victor TV division plant in Bloomington, Ind., uses automatic machines to feed 4,000
chips, pretzels, and other foods. Cooky sales have beenfound to increase reapidly when installed beside beverage
machines...The Pennsylvania Railroad has an automatic snack bar to supplement dining-car service in some
trains..." 
---"Flick Button: Hot or Cold Bite. Vending Robots Serve Snacks," Bernice Stevens Decker, Christian Science
Monitor, February 16, 1957 (p. 12)

[1960]
"Southern Californians clinked $40 million in nickels, dimes and quarters into gaudy machines to buy cigarettes,
pop, candy, coffee and 25 other lines of merchandise last hear. One out of every five candy bars and packs of
cigarettes is peddled through vending machines. There are 150 companies installing and servicing the automatic
merchandising equipment, but close to half of the business is in the hands of three giants, all with national
operations...It is an industry in revolution. There is the technological revolution, touched off a decade ago with
perfection of automtatic coffee-peddling machines. There is the financial revolution, as big firms get bigger and
small ones struggle for survival...And there is the revolution of service, as vending machines offer more and better
general food service to the point that automatic cafeterias are not far in the future." 
---"Vending Machines Become Big Business in Southland," Louis Fleming, Los Angeles Times, October 16, 1960
(p. h1)

[1960]
""We belive that there is a big future in the field of automatic merchandising and that this concern is in a position to
benefit form such developments," At a time when vending machine securities have become top speculative
favorites, this quotation from an investment advisory service sounds as contemporary as a Kennedy headline. And
yet it was written in 1920. The concern reviewed, Autosales Co., went out of business in the mid-1930s. It seves to
point up the classic differentiation betwen invention and innovation by Joseph Schumpeter, the late Harvard
economist, and the frequently great time lag between the two. Vending machines...are hardly new although the stock
market currently acts as though they were. The automatic merchandising industry is now celebrating its 75th
anniversary. The first patents were granted in 1886 and two years later machines were already installed in New
York's elebated train stations. Machines dispensing gum, candy, cigarettes--and more recently, soft drinks and
coffee--have become commonplace. And yet the automatic merchandising industry feels it has hardly begun to tap
its potential. Why has such a promising industry take to long to grow up?..For one thing, the early vending machines
were relatively simple devices, But only until recently has technology been able to broaden their applications to take
them out of the subway gum and candy rut....[the] vending equipemnt is essentialy labor-saving machinery. Scarcely
had an automatic merchandising boom gotten underway in the 1920s when the Great Depression turned a labor
shortage into a surplus, and "wage rates turned down, lessening the pressure to replace retail clerks with machines."
Thre wasn't much point in putting a nickel into a slot for an apple when one could be bought on any street corner.
Today, the trend has again been reversed. The labor supply has tightened and retail labor costs have
mounted...Hence the present drive to replace the retail clerk with a machine. Vending equipment has been developed
to recognize and change currency up to $20 bills, to handle race track bets, to dispence movie tickets, phonograph
records, ice cubes, hot meals and what have you. Since June...Macy's New York store has been testing a machine
which sells 36 different items of men's underwear ad shirts. The lease charge averages 20 cents an hour on a round-
the-clock basis against an average of well over $1 an hour for a sales clerk. Automation has already invaded in-plant
feeding, a $4 billion industry in itself. In Kansas City, a recently opened vending drive-in bult like a carport offers
prepared foods, beverages and staple grocery items 24 hours a day from 24 machines." 
---"75-Year-Old Prodigy Gorws Up," Frank C. Porter, Washington Post, December 2, 1960 (p. B8)

[1967]
"...children, if left to their their own devices, will buy what is at hand and is appealing. Vending machines,
drugstores and variety stores are at every corner. If you give your child 25 cents to buy his breakfast on the way to
school, it is likely that breakfast will be candy bars and pop--not a glass of milk and a bowl of cereal." 
---"Food and Your Health," F.J. Stare, Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1967 (p. G5)

[1968]
"Each day Americans drop and estimated 111 million coins into vending machines to buy such items as cigarettes,
candy, chewing gum, milk, soft drinks, nuts, ice cream and sandwiches. Last year the clinking of nickles, dimes and
quarters added up to a sales volume of more than $4.5 billion. This year the projected sales value is $4.9 billion, an
increase of 8 per cent. The American vending industry is expanding in what has been called its "third evolution"
since World War II by establishing itself as a significant retailing channel and providing service to such new outlets
as factories, offices and colletes. The "second evolution," in the priod between 1959 and 1961, led consolidations of
vending mahcine manufacturers and service companies. This resulted in the establishment of national service
concerns and public ownership of the largest service companies. The "third evolution" is palcing a majority of
vending machines into new avenues of operation...the extent of this change was disclosed in two surveys of the
industury, sponsored by the N.A.M.A...."An increasing variety of convenience foods will be available and purchased
by smaller service firms who can thus cut down on production costs,"...The application of computers will have an
important impact on the future of the vending business..." 
---"'Third Evolution' Seen In Vending Machines, New York Times, September 22, 1968 (p. 155)

[1972]
"Do you want your child lunching at school everyday on potato chips, soda pop, and candy instead of meat, milk,
and fruit? That might happen if a bill now in the final stages of congressional passage is approved without change.
And it probably will be--due to heavy lobbying pressure which has brought it almost unnoticed this far. This
pressure comes primarily from makers of snack foods with little or no nutritive value, show see school lunchrooms
as a marvelous place to increase sales and profit." 
---"Vending-machine school lunches?," Rober P. Hey, Christian Science Monitor, September 11, 1972 (p. 12)

[1974]
"When students at Cornell University want a quick snack, they buy an apple--from a vending machine! The robot
food dispensers are placed at strategic spots on campus and stocked with fresh, cool fruit. Despite competition from
candy and soft drink machines, the apple vendors "do a really big business," says Prof. Robert Smock, of Cornells'
Pomology Department...Of coruse the fruit business is just a drop in the bucket for an industry with total annual
sales of more than $4 billion. Sugar-laden snacks like candy bars, cookies, crackers, soda, and ice cream are where
the money is in automatic food vending. That's why Mrs. Jean Farmer of Bloomington, Ind. became so alarmed
when vending machines appeared at local schools....Vending machines are not evils, she says, nor are the people
who operate them. But especially in schools, they need to be stocked with wholesome foods..."The only profit we
should consider...is the lasting profit of good health and good habits." Concerned parents elsewhere are also resisting
the vending machine invasion."...Lets remember that automatic vendors are only machines. If we want them to
provide people with better nutrition, we'll just have to program them that way." 
---"Vending machines that dispense health," Robert Rodale, Chicago Tribune, August 5, 1974 (p. N5)

[1992]
"It is not hard to see the flaws in vending machines. They swallow money and never return it. They promise to drop
a package of candy but freeze in mid-moment, cruelly dangling something that cannot be reached. They offer food
that is appealing only to the desperate. But there are visions of what a vending machine can be: a quick, easy way to
get fresh, nutritious food, valued not as a last-ditch choice but as an appealing alternative. There is a growing belief
in the food industry that the next few years will witness the transformation of vending from a static, change-resistant
business into one that will provide food anywhere people happen to be...Some of ther first tentative signs of change
are already being spotted: vending machines that grind coffee from beans and brew a fresh cup...and systems that
use debit cards rather than coins that do not function or coins that mysteriously disappear...This fall E.C.C.
International Corporation...will begin selling vending machines that offer frozen foods that can be bought and then
heated in a microwave oven. And Ore-Ida Foods...plans to begin production soon of a manchine that cooks french
fries with hot air..."There are a lot of interesting machines coming,"...Although radical changes could take years to
establish, there are several reason to believe that they are likely to occur. Vending has long been a dormant area of
the food business which is constantly seeking new areas to exploit. Now, executives at large companies say vending
has become a priority...Changes in the economy are also creating a demand for better vending in more places. The
shrinking of large companies has led to the closing of many company cafeterias. They are being replaced with
vending areas...Vending has been slow to change partly because the business for years could depend on what it
called the four C's: cold drinks, candy, confections and cigarettes. Most of the items were small and and easy to buy
with a coin or two. Now, the smallest candy bar seems to take a pocketful of change, which discourages
purchases...It is not clear to all operators of vending machines...that their future lies in dispensing meals, rather than
snacks or candy...The perceptions affect what people are willing to pay and buy. "We are still looked at strictly as a
convenience and not as a food source,"..."People don't expect to go to a vending machine and buy steak and a baked
potato."...They expect to pay less than they would for the same item bought in a grocery store...Meeting the needs of
vending customers...is not easy. People are extremely impatient even in stores...They are at least as demanding when
it comes to being served by a machine...Mollie Little...is the kind of customer the vending industry is trying to lure.
She often takes her lunch to work, but said that she would buy from a machine if she could get good sandwiches,
salads or entrees from companies like Weight Watchers or Lean Cuisine. Now, though, she sticks to buing soda or
trail mix because she does not like the sandwiches from the machines...."the bread was soggy."" 
---"Vending Machines, the Next Generation in Dining," Trish Hall, New York Times, September 9., 1992 (p. C1)

RECOMMENDED READING: Vending Machines: An American Social History/Kerry Segrave

See also: Automats.

A la Carte, Prix-fixe & Table d'hote

The three primary modern Western restaurant menu options are "A la Carte," "Prix fixe," and "Table d'hote." The
Culinary Institute of America defines them this way: "A la carte: A menu in which the patron makes individual
selections from various menu categories; each item is priced separately."
---The Professional Chef, Culinary Institute of America, 8th edition [John Wiley & Sons:New York] 2006 (p. 1170)

"When traiteur in the 1780s added "restauranteur" to his sign, he probably began to serve some sort of bouillon, but
he also, if it all possible, made provisions for more particularized repasts, for service a la carte. The restaurant made
it possible, for the first time, to partake of a meal in the company of others without actually sharing provisions. In
1794, one would-be restauranteur identified serving single portions as a rare new talent, and thus advertised
specifically for a cook who know how to "carve dishes for a-la-carte service" and price single servings. Yet if
restauranteurs and their kitchen staffs knew that restaurant service was intended for individuals, their novice
customers might not, and so menus throughout the 1790s carried reminders in large and boldface type informing
eaters that prices listed were for single servings only. Restauranteurs had printed menus because the offered their
customers a choice of unseen dishes...the restauranteur's printed menu made standardized transactions possible in a
time when printed prices or fixed charges were still far from the norm in most shops or markets...While a
restaurant's fare might not be uniform...its monetary transactions were...the printed menu allowed restaurant patrons
to calculate costs 'before spending a penny... There in print, set and fixed before his or her very eyes, the [a la carte]
restaurant customer saw prices and dish names, concoctions and costs. No longer required to share each of the
dishes brought to a table d'hote, but permitted to concentrate on the ones he or she explicitly requested, the
restaurant patron could make a preference as much as a matter of finance as of taste......The rejection of the table-
d'hote tradition indicated far more than a move toward flexible mealtimes and away from shared provisions; the
restaurant also altered the relation between provider and customer...The table d'hote had literally been "the host's
table'...The restauranteur offered a different sort of hospitality: he promised to provide each customer, with his or
her or their...own table..."Restaurant" service--as unlike the cafe as it was distinct form the table d'hote--
characterized not commonwealth but compartmentalization, a world of dividing partitions and individual
isolation..." ---The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture, Rebecca L. Spang
[Harvard University Press:Cambridge MA] 2000 (p. 77-78)

Prix-fixe

Prix fixe dining, charging a set price for an entire meal, is not a new concept. Neither is all-you-can-eat. Colonial
taverns, grand passenger ships, free lunch saloons, college dining halls and Victorian eating clubs were founded on
these principles. Modern American (upscale) Prix Fixe began in the early 20th century. Prix-Fixe flourished during
the Great Depression, saving many a restaurant from shuttering its doors. The grand American Buffet was a natural
iteration on this foodservice theme.

"Have you noticed how many restaurants now offer prix-fixe menus? Although prix-fixe is being heralded as a new
approach to menu pricing, it is actually not new at all. In fact, its origin lies in the hotels of the early 1900s. Prix-fixe
is really nothing more than table d'hote, which means "table of the host." Table d'hote, or a complete meal at a fixed
price, was the only way people could order food in the early inn and tavern dining rooms 90 years ago. The early
inns and taverns did not give patrons a choice of menu items. The patrons ate whatever the innkeeper prepared that
day. The menus in the hotels in the early 1900s were just the opposite. Then the typical menu could contain more
than 400 different items. Even the smallest hotels offered guests a choice of two to three items over as many as
seven courses, including appetizers, soups, entrees, vegetables, salads, desserts and nonalcoholic beverages. Back in
those days, hoteliers never bothered to track food costs because meals were considered a loss leader. Money was not
made on rooms, as it is today, but from alcoholic-beverage sales in the saloons. That was the origin of the belief that
you had to sell liquor to make money in a restaurant. In time, some operators sought to plan and price items
separately, or A la carte. Still, they continued to offer table d'hote menus because some guests did not see the value
in paying more for separate courses. But when Prohibition killed the cash cow of alcohol sales, hotels converted
their bars to coffee shops and soda fountains. A la carte pricing became the preferred menu format. A la carte
portions were more substantial than the portions served on the table d'hote courses, which cost more when purchased
separately. Bundling the items and selling them for a lower price gave customers the incentive to buy a full meal.
Although the term table d'hote is not used much today, the bundling of courses at a set price is used in most table-
service restaurants and even fast-food operations. Fast food purveyors call them "value meals." Perhaps the most
enduring example of table d'hote is the club breakfast served in every coffee shop. Pancakes, eggs, grits, bacon and
toast are included in "hungry farmer breakfasts." Customers probably pay 10 percent to 20 percent less for prix-fixe
breakfasts than they would for each item a la carte. The term prix-fixe is more often associated with white-tablecloth
restaurants, however. And those restaurants are more readily adopting fixed-price menus. Back in the early 1900s,
menu prices were entirely driven by food cost. With the pricing restrictions brought about by World War I and the
Depression, prices reflected only a slight markup of cost. Food-cost percentages during those times averaged about
50 percent. Labor costs were very low, so food costs could be high and still result in a profit. No one thought of
adding a premium charge for service, amenities or demand. Except for elaborate private functions put on by very
wealthy industrialists, prices for food were marked up only two times cost. The old table d'hote menus, which
required advance preparation, had resulted in food sitting for long periods, resulting in poor food quality and much
waste. Cooking to order was seen as a way to offer adequate choices to guests during nontraditional meal periods
and to keep waste to a minimum. Because sugar, meats, coffee, butter and other ingredients were rationed during
World War I and World War II, anything that conserved supplies was lauded by operators and the public. The
elaborate table d'hote offerings were not appropriate during those times, and the media quickly pointed out such
extravagances when elaborate parties were thrown. A la carte pricing has several advantages over prix-fixe. It allows
the customer to spend only what he wants for a meal, and it allows the operator to price each course so that it pays
its proportion of overhead and returns a profit. Prix-fixe, on the other hand, requires the customer to eat what is
listed. Back in the early 1960s one of the better-known restaurants on Chicago's south side was Club El Bianco. It
was an Italian restaurant famous for its signature "fiesta dinners," which were really a novel way of presenting a
prix-fixe menu...The prix-fixe menu is not universally beneficial. The higher the prices, the smaller the customer
base. If your target markets are those customers who desire a unique dining experience, then it might work.
However, this is a very narrow customer niche that demands the very highest level of food, service and ambience.
One of the touted benefits of prix-fixe menus is the no-surprises pricing. Both the customer and the operator know
what the final bill will be. Another advantage of prix-fixe menus is that fewer ingredients are needed, and bulk
purchasing can lower costs.Yet prix-fixe may not be appropriate for every operator. On most menus the lowest- and
highest-priced items in a category are divisible by two and half. For example, if the lowest-priced entree is $10.95,
the highest priced will be $27.50. If you want an average check of $18 per person, most of your menu items should
be priced between $17.50 and $19.95. In addition, the menu should be designed so that items priced near the desired
check average are placed where they are most likely to be selected. Servers also should be trained in the suggestive
selling of these items. A regular analysis of your menu-sales mix will reveal the items that are helping or hindering
your cost, sales and profit objectives. While prix-fixe has its place in the high-end markets, the majority of markets
are more conservative and price-sensitive. More courses mean that customers take longer to eat, reducing table
turnover. Only certain markets can support that kind of service during the week. In addition, the prix-fixe menu is
restrictive, and some customers may be unhappy if they are limited in what they can order when they are asked to
pay between $38 and $80 per person."
---"History repeats itself as prix-fixe menus make a comeback in many restaurants," David V Pavesic, Nation's
Restaurant News, Nov 22, 1999. (p. 22)

Prix-fixe, Depression-era style

The phrase 'all you can eat' took on a special meaning during the Great Depression. Hungry consumers spent
their money wisely. Enter: the modern American Buffet.

"Is there is a real aristocracy--a food aristocracy--of the dinner table? Would baked beans be esteemed as
highly as turkey if both were the same price? And would caviar always be caviar to the general? As long as
the pate de foies gras is ranked on the menu at 70 cents, while pork with 'lovely rice pudding' is 35, never,
probably, shall we have a satisfactory answer to questions like these; we shall not know whether our present
food hierarchy is based merely upon rarity or upon true gustatory values. But, so far as the great middle class
of viands is concerned, we are beginning to have an inlking--at least as to what the average American rally
prefers when price is no object. For a hear now certain restaurants in various cities from New York to
California have been making the patron a quondam king. Up and down a fairly diversified menu he many
choose what he wants and all the wants at a fixed, and very moderate price. At an entrance fee set
customarily between 60 cents and $1 he may roam these particular gastronomic pastures fancy free. It has
been the small boy's dream come true--a kind of glorified and amplified table d'hote, with any unlucky choice
retrievable by another, and second, third and fourth helpings to the waistband capacity. And, like a small
boy's dream fulfillment, it has been greeted as a kind of horn of plenty in the midst of want. One restaurant
chain estimates that it has sold 1,000,000 more meals in a single month because of it. Another, with fewer
shops, has increased its patronage at the rate of 750,000 a month, and is more than tripling its business on
holidays. Thus, for the first time among the rank and file of foods, there has been a large-scale popularity
contest, with no price handicaps. And the early returns are in. During the war the army psychological tests
are siad to have disclosed our national mental age as about 14 years. Our gastronomic age on the new
restaurant tests would be similar. For the result of the wide-open menu has not been vast new inroads on the
roast beef and the mutton chops and other stalwar he-man viands. What we lean, dieting, strenuous go-
getters of Yankees really want--according to the past year's comprehsensive experiment--is more dessert!
Our esrtwhile suppressed desires have apparently been for ice cream on our apple pie, more peach shortcake
and another chocolate eclair...Whether the diner is actually tempted to eat more under this system than
under that of the merely printed choices, is a moot point. Possibly, it is believed, he does at first. But after
becoming acclimated, so to speak, to the fragrant wells and mounds of food, he gains a final immunity and
eclecticism similar to that induced by the old-fashioned church supper. Most people do, however--the flat-
priced restaurant heads agree--eat, or at least drink, a little more at any rate than when they have to count
the pennies for extra helpings...another cup of coffee, like the free lunch at the old-time saloon, is coming to
be looked upon as an inalienable American right...'Occasionally...a group of three or four persons will come
into one of these restaurants and indulge in an eating race.'...Whether the all-you-want plan is economically
sound is also still debated. ...'it would seem that this plan of liberality can scarcely be profitable to a small
organization'...Of course the fact is that the schjeme is essentially a pulmotor devised to keep the restaurant
business alive through the present crisis which has hit it particularly hard. As such...it has on the whole been
successful, enourmously increasing the volume of business..."
---"All You Can Eat--And wWhat is Chosen: The New Fixed-Price Paln at the Restaurants Revelas That the
American's Real Desire is More Dessert," Eunice Fuller Barnard, New York Times, February 28, 1932 (p.
SM11)

Table d'hote

"Table d'hote: A fixed-price menu with a single price for an entire meal based on entree selection."
---The Professional Chef (p. 1188)

"Whereas traditional table-d'hote service placed all comers at a single large table, restaurants were
innovative in the use of small tables and private rooms...The restaurant, unlike the table d'hote, presented its
patrons with at least the appearance of choice. Even when it served on 88 entrees, but bouillon's, vermicelli,
capons, waters, and rice pudding, the restaurant seemed--in comparison to the table d'hote's dependably
"overcooked beef, so-called stew, veal cutlets, and a few vegetables" --to offer an enormous range of options.
The restaurant allowed for variety...Furthermore, the [restaurant] eater could choose exactly what to eat...A
table d'hote had no menu; the eaters...and the food...arrived at the same moment.. a table d'hote offered little
individual choice."
---The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture, Rebecca L. Spang [Harvard
University Press:Cambridge MA] 2000 (p. 75-76)

Related topics? A la carte & Prixe-fixe.

"Changes resulting from social movements (such as the French and Industrial revolutions) and the need for
more efficient use of time have led to a reduction in the number of courses in modern menus...The table
d'hote menu...offers a complete multicourse meal for a set price and may offer a choice within each
category...The most common type of table d'hote is the prix fixe menu--a set meal at a set price, usually with
no additional choices...Since the meal is predetermined, the kitchen can operate more efficiently, and
therefore, offer the meal at a lower price."
---Remarkable Service: A Guide to Winning and Keeping Customers for Servers, Managers, and Restaurant
Owners, The Culinary Institute of America [John Wiley:New York] 2009, 2nd edition(p. 36)

Tasting menus

Our survey of articles published in the New York Times reveals Tasting Menus (aka Menus Degustation)
surfaced in the United States during the early 1980s. They were a practical byproduct of Nouvelle Cuisine.
On some level, the concept is related to the classic table d'hote and the modern chef's table.

"Some fine restaurants may offer a menu degustation ('tasting menu'), consisting of small portions of
numerous items to compose a five- to ten-course meal, sometimes accompanied by paired wines, following the
basic classical structure. The menu degustation allows chefs to exhibit their skills creating an extensive and
varied meal. This elaborate meal is served to everyone at the table, thereby eliminating a situation in which
some guests have to wait with no food in front of them while the other guests enjoy the multiple courses. The
meal follows classic guidelines, but provides small portions of each of the items the chef chooses."
---Remarkable Service: A Guide to Winning and Keeping Customers for Servers, Managers, and Restaurant
Owners, The Culinary Institute of America [John Wiley:New York] 2009, 2nd edition(p. 36)

"One byproduct of the nouvelle cuisine is the menu de degustation, or tasting menu, that is offered in many
restaurants here--including the Quilted Giraffe, Chanterelle, Claude's and Lutece--and in France and that is
perhaps being overworked. As this new cuisine became highly publicized, diners were eager to sample all of
the dishes they had read about, and so each person in a group ordered a different appetizer, main course and
dessert. Then all would taste everything. Although that custom existed before the nouvelle cuisine, its practice
was not nearly as widespread; indeed, it was considered declasse in more formal quarters. As the practice
became more frequent, kitchens began to feel the burden of preparing, for example, 12 different dishes
correctly timed for one table. Partly for that reason, and also because it gives diners the opportunity to
experience many dishes without the mess of back-and-forth tasting, the menu de degustation was born.
Usually consisting of a set menu with anywhere from six to eight course determined by the chef, it must be
taken by everyone within a party. Rules prohibit two people ordering that menu while two others choose
from the a la carte selections; that would not making things any easier for the kitchen and probably would
complicate the timing because usually those ordering a la carte would not have more than three or four
courses....But as with so many other good ideas, this one seems to be going bad, primarily because too many
restauranteurs push it for their own convenience but also because so many diners are insecure. Experienced
eaters value suggestions from chefs or captains...I have never had a menu de degustation when I have not
wished a few dishes had been dropped in favor of others, and, more important, I cannot remember a single
knockout dish eaten from such a menu--so small, it is hard to get a really solid impression of the dish. The
effect is somewhat like eating a variety of canapes at a cocktail party, with much the same overly complex
mixture of seasonings and sauces, and much the same running together of dishes, resulting in a nagging sense
of dissatisfaction and unease...The other negative effect of the overused menu is that the regular menu falls
out of use and one cannot develop longstanding favorites...In the final analysis, ordering the menu de
degustation becomes much like ordering a complete model room from a department store. You may not go
very wrong, but your own crotchets and preferences will not be there to give it character, and ultimately the
room--or the meal--will not really be yours at all."
---"De Gustibus: 'Tasting' Menu: A Good Idea Sours," Mimi Sheraton, New York Times, October 10, 1981 (p.
18)

Early bird special

This American restaurant option is popularly regarded as the senior citizen's meal of choice. Smaller portions
with pro-rated prices served in the lull between standard lunch and dinner (4-6PM). In sum: efficient,
economical, and intelligent for both diners and restauranteurs.

Our research indicates the "Early Bird Special" dining option was not invented by a particular restaurant,
chef or critique. Like many other tasty phrases, it evolved. While inexpensive dining options served during
non-peak periods have been offered for hundreds of years, the phrase appears to catch on in the early 20th
century. Quote books offer dozens of examples confirming the "early bird" has long been the symbol for wise
procurement.

The earliest print reference we find using the term "early bird" with regards to commercial sales date to the
early 20th century. Sometime in the 1950s the term begins to apply to dinners. By the 1960s, the term "early
bird special" was ubiquitious and understood by baby boomers to mean the supper your grandparents ate in
Florida. If you were visiting it also meant you had to leave the beach way too early to get washed and dressed.
And? no matter how small the portions, your grandmother always wrapped something up for later.
Sometimes she even brought her own baggies or re-used foil. What we could not really appreciate then was
that Grandmother lived through the Great Depression and WWII. Old habits die hard.
Today's restauranteurs are re-inventing the Early Bird Special. It is being pitched as both power meal for
busy executives and trendy option for pre-theatre diners. Once again, a Depression-era economy sparks
creative solutions in the restaurant industry. What goes around, comes around.

The Oxford English Dictionary (online edition, accessed 10.29.2009) confirms the term "early bird special,"
originated in the United States. The first print source cited dates to 1917. It refers to a railroad schedule.

"early bird n. orig. U.S. attrib. designating a product (esp. a meal) or service offered at a discount before the
usual or peak hours of purchase or use; (also) designating a discount so offered; cf. the early bird gets the
worm at sense A. 1a. 1917 Washington Post 12 Aug. 2/2 The following train schedule will be in effect: *Early
bird special, 9.15 a.m.; joy special, 10 a.m. 1976 J. LUKASIEWICZ Railway Game 275 An ‘early bird dinner’
was advertised for those who wanted to eat between four and six P.M. 1994 P. HOBBS & M. ALGAR Free to
Travel i. 3 Early bird discounts may motivate you to book well in advance of your vacation."
The economic model
"By offering different prices in different periods, sellers motivate consumers to space their purchases across
periods in a profitable manner. Thus, the demand and price in each time period is endogenously determined.
Consumers and sellers are fully informed and fully rational. This model can explain such phenomena as
''early-bird specials'' in restaurants and bars, off-season discounts by airlines and hotels, and preseason sales
by stores." 
---"Peak Load Pricing in Competitive Markets," Eitan Gerstner, Economic Inquiry, Apr 1986, Vol. 24, Iss. 2;
(p. 349+)

A survey of early bird (& early dining) articles from historic USA newspapers
Note:we consulted ProQuest Historic Newspapers, Factiva, EBSCO Newspaper Source &
NewspaperArchive.com. None of these provide archival deepfile coverage of the Miami Herald or other
Florida newspapers. This is critical, since Early Bird Special meals are iconically connected with this state.

[1901]
Early dining the "norm" in our nation's capitol; reflection of civil service work hours.

"The New Yorker who settles in Washington is likely to think he is in wonderland until he gets his bearing
and accustoms himself to the revolution in his ideas. To him everything seems topsy-turvy, and the very hours
of the day are all mixed up. It is all because Washington is the seat of the Federal Government. The
controlling influence in the life of the town is the Government clerk...industries dependent upon them close at
4 o'clock, and the clerks go home in that time...The dinner hour in boarding houses is from 4 to 6, instead of
beginning at 6, as in New York, so that Mr. and Mrs. Clerk can dine at any time after Mr. Clerk gets home.
The majority of the boarders may not be clerks, but that makes no difference. A man who wants to visit a
restaurant when it is not crowded will find himself in no way icommoded if he waits until 6 o'clock. The early
dinner hour causes the markets to close early, because almost all the shopping for a four-o'clock dinner has to
be done before 2...As the department clerk is supposed to finish his dinner at about 5 o'clock, a great many
people are in the habit of making evening calls earlier than is the fashion in New York."
---"Daily Life in Washington," New York Times, April 28, 1901 (p. 4)

[1900-1940s]
Several references to "early bird" and "early bird specials;" most posted by department stores promoting
product sales. Scattered references to Early Bird Dinners held in American Legion Halls seem to refer to
incentive events held for people who join/renew memberships early. No information provided regarding the
actual time of the dinner. "Early Birds" was also an elite organization of pioneer pilots. Amelia Earhart, etc.

[1950]
Retired folks in Florida demand inexpensive dining options. No time specified.
"Restaurant patronage. An interesting trend can be observed daily at the restaurants and cafeterias in Miami
Beach whose cafeterias rival in splendor the restaurants of Hollywood. At the dinner hour long queues from
at the doors of the cafeterias and inexpensive restaurants, while in the plushier restaurant guests can find
tables without waiting. The night clubs report the same situation."
---"Miami Trade Winds," Arthur L. Himbert, New York Times, Jaunary 15, 1950 (p. XX7)

[1952]
First print reference we find to "Early Bird Special" relating to an early dinner.

"...San Francisco...something new tonight. They call it the Early Bird Special..a dinner...The Early Bird idea
means you have to come before..." ---Oakland [CA] Tribune, November 25, 1952
[NOTE: this reference was retrieved through NewspaperArchive.com. The full-text of the page with the
actual article was not available, only this snippet.]

[1960s]
'Early Bird Special' dining ads begin to proliferate in Los Angeles newspapers.

"For Sale. Range. Will sacrifice. We won't be needing it since we discovered the Pepper Mill's 'Early Bird'
special dinners from 4:30 to 6 PM, Monday through Saturday, from just $1.95, complete with soup through
dessert, with a choice of entrees."
---display ad, Los Angeles Times, March 2, 1961 (p. F9)

"Early Bird Special: The Lark restaurant at 2624 W 3rd St. serves a lovely dinner from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. for
the unbeliveably low price of $1.75."
---"And Did Those Steaks Sing?" Joan Winchell, Los Angeles Times, January 26, 1962 (p. A8)

[1987]
Iconic senior dining repackaged as upscale dining option.

"Benjamin Franklin would be hard-pressed to predict that nowadays the early bird would get not only the
worm, but the pasta, the moo shu pork and the salmon with dill. Not to mention a sizable discount. Getting a
head start on eating out these days can reap some unexpected benefits, including slashed prices at everything
from homey ethnic storefront restaurants to simple diners, good old-fashioned delis and elegant cafes. With
choices like these, few early birds will settle for worms anymore.Early evening specials are offered in various
forms: prix fixe complete dinners, theater packages, discounts and a la carte items. Some have rigid hours,
others are more flexible, but almost all are good deals."
---"Flocking to early-Bird Specials," Soon-Har Tan, Chicago Tribune, Oct 9, 1987 (p. 39)

[1997]
The new power dinner???

"Forget the power breakfast. Who has time for lunch anymore? For Wall Street the business meal of choice
these days is dinner, and the earlier the better. In an industry where many arrive at their desks by 7:15 A.M.,
and a commute home to Westport looms at the end of the evening, 5:30 is just fine for entertaining, making
the early-bird seating at select Manhattan restaurants -- an hour that elsewhere belongs to children and
retirees -- today's real power meal."
---"Power Dinners: The Early Bird Special," Trip Gabriel, New York Times, May 11, 1997, (p.33)

[2000]
This is NOT your grandparent's meal any more. Pre-emptive dining, anyone?

"THE early-bird special. Is there a more mocked and maligned dining ritual? Who eats before 8 o'clock? It's
so Boca Raton, so AARP, so tacky as to be ripe for reinvention as New York's next big dining trend -- as long
as everyone agrees to call it something else. Pretheater, prix fixe and ''sunset menu'' are the preferred
euphemisms for cut-rate dinner specials between 5 and 7 p.m. The concept has trickled up from the all-you-
can-eat buffets that service Florida's gerontocracy to Manhattan's whitest tablecloths.Restaurants that once
might have shunned such vulgarity now have early-bird specials. Three courses for $46 at La Caravelle. Half-
price sushi at March. Pretheater prix fixes extend well beyond the theater district, from Avenue uptown at
85th Street down to Phebe's, on the Bowery, and sunset menus are promised in establishments where sun
seldom shines (like the subterranean Vice Versa in Midtown).Even buzzing places of the moment seem eager
to make arriving early seem less unfashionable...To see how New York's chronic late birds were reacting to
these efforts to get them to migrate to the early hours, I tried a week's worth of pre-emptive dining, from 3:30
-- yes, 3:30 -- to 7, but only at places offering the equivalent of early-bird bargains. A few times, I was even
able to persuade people to go with me.I like to think I was early on the early-bird trend. I was trained that
you ate 6:30, and in the company of Walter Cronkite. In adulthood, I was ridiculed for espousing the upsides
of early dining. Faster service. They're never out of the special entree. Finish at 8 and the whole evening
stretches before you: see a movie, read a book, shop. Burn calories!...One advantage of the 5 or 6 p.m. dinner
preached to me by a couple of restaurateurs is better service. The waiters are fresh, not yet beaten down by
demanding patrons. Our waiter at Avenue was, for the most part, attentive, though not all that attentive
considering he had no other customers. I had to wave him down at least once and remind him we had a movie
to catch. Getting out in time meant either coffee or dessert, but not both. We passed on the banana gateau
and, just as we were leaving, another couple arrived...Now, we were getting some of that wacky early-bird
ambience! Just as we made it out the door at 5:50. Enough time to make the movie, walk out after 20 minutes,
go to Cafe Luxembourg for a drink, then Coco Opera for another drink. Then go home and read...The
economics of the early-bird offering, for a higher-end place, are hard to work out. The kitchen is up and
running, the waiters standing around rehearsing their lines. As David Cunningham, the chef at the Lenox
Room, said of his Monday-to-Saturday, 5:30 to 6:30, $25 menu: ''We're open. We have the staff there and we
have the food there.'' Jimmy Bradley, the chef and a co-owner of Red Cat, in Chelsea, said ''There's no way
to make money off it.'' His $20 prix fixe, Monday to Friday from 5:30 to 6:30, has drawn in ''dribs and
drabs,'' he said, adding, ''Some people are like, 'Wow, that's a crazy value' or 'Wow, that's really
cheap!'...''The early bird suggests people who might not make it to nightfall,'' Mr. Batterberry said. ''It has
the aura of the excessively elderly.'' But hip foreign foods like tapas and sushi can get people used to dining
after work without feeling like grandparents."
---"Fashionably Early: New York Starts Buzzing Before Dusk," Rick Marin, New York Times, Feb 9, 2000
(p.F1)

Food Timeline>social history, manners & menus

USA culinary traditions & historic surveys

Meals, meal times & holiday fare
Restaurants, chefs & food service
Social customs & dining etiquette
---Food and Eating: An Anthropological Perspective, Robin Fox, Social Issues Research Centre
---Resources for the Anthropological Study of Food Habits (bibliography), Illinois State University
---History of Eating Utensils, from the Anthropology Dept. at the California Academy of Scientists
---  History of the Art of Table Setting, Claudia Quigley Murphy, c. 1921
---Table service (French, Russian, English, American
---Table Manners Became Polite, Christian Science Monitor
World surveys
---International cuisines, history and popular foods
---History of Vegetarianism, International Vegetarian Union
---Perhistory---How did humans know which foods were safe to eat?
---Prehistory---Why did humans begin cooking their food?
---Prehistory---Prehistoric Puzzle: Diet and Substinence [in Africa]
---10,000BC---Agriculture begins I & II 
---5th millenium BC, Egypt---culture & cuisine
---2,500BC, South America---Lost Crops of the Incas
---2300BC, Mesopotamia---Sumerian diet & first written recipes
---700BC, Phrygia---Funerary feast of King Midas, University of Pennsylvania
---450-350BC, Greece---Public (and Private) Eating in Greece & original Olympic fare
---1st century AD,Roman Empire---meals, dining, fast food & soldier mess
---4th Century BC, Etruscans---Etruscan origins of Tuscan Cuisine
---100-500AD, Egypt---Feeding Karanis
---200, Britain---Roman cuisine
---700, New Mexico---Pueblo Peoples, Crow Canyon
---400-1000, Britain--- Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon & Norman foodways
---700-1100, Europe---Viking foods: I, II & III
---900-1400, Europe---Medieval foods
---1000-1350, New Zealand---Maori foodways
---13th century Italy---Marco Polo & the Merchants of Venice
---13th century, Colorado--- Pueblo Peoples subsistence
---1253, Mongolia---Mongolian food, William of Rubruk. Compare with today's nomad cuisine.
---12th-14th centuries, Iceland---Food and Feud in Saga Iceland, Gary Martin
---1453, Turkey---Ottoman cuisine
---Renaissance Italy---Romeo & Juliet's food
---Renaissance Italy--- The Last Supper, as depicted by Leonardo Da Vinci
---Elizabethan England---Shakespeare's food
---1577, England---Of the Food and Diet of the English, Holinshed's Chronicles
---1585, North Carolina---Indian food and cooking in eastern North Carolina
---1588, England---Food & rations on Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind
---1588, Virginia---Thomas Hariot's A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia,
published in London
---17th century, Netherlands---Dinner at the Time of Peter Paul Rubens (with moderized recipes)
---17th century, New France---Food in the time of Champlain...compare with Habitant food & Bush food
---1610, Virginia---What did the colonists eat?
---1621, Plimoth---Pilgrim Thanksgiving
---1633, London---Herball or General Historie of Plantes, John Gerard: compare with King's American
Dispensatory [1898] & A Modern Herbal, M. Grieve [1931]
---1651, France---Modern French cuisine
---1660, London---Dining with Samuel Pepys, Essays on History of Nutrition and Dietetics, American
Dietetic Association
---1690, South Carolina---Rise of the Georgetown Rice Culture
---1690, Salem MA---Puritan cooking
---1691, England---Bill of Fare of Seventy-Five Noble Dishes of Excellent Food, Thomas Tryon (one of
the first vegetarian cookery books)
---1699, England---British military rations
---18th century, England---Cultural rules of dining, Types of foods & Dinner of the upper classes
---18th century, America---Colonial American fare & commerical bakeries
---18th century, New York City---Fraunces Tavern
---18th century, American south--- Slave subsistence
---1742, Virginia---First cookbook printed in America
---1744, Virginia---George Washington's Rules of Civility
---1756, Princeton College---Dining at Nassau Hall
---1766, Paris---Mathurin Roze de Chantoiseau opens the first restaurant...more info
---1772, UK Navy---Captain James Cook's rations & menus
---1772, Philadelphia---City Tavern, frequented by the signers of our Declaration of Independence
---1773, Boston---Boston Tea Party I & II 
---1775-1781, U.S.---Supplying Washington's Army
---1776, Royal Navy---Nelson and His Navy-Diet and Victualling, ship's biscuit & cheese
---1777, Pennsylvania---George Washington's Camp Chest (mess kit)
---1777, Pennsylvania---Valley Forge Commissariat
---1780s, Virginia---George Washington's Mount Vernon kitchens
---1782, Paris---restaurants & caterers
---1787, Virginia---Thomas Jefferson's pasta machine
---1782-1834, California---Agriculture, Drought & Chumash Congregation in the California Missions
---1789, France---French Revolution fare
---1794, U.S. Navy---First "official" rations
---1798, Montreal--- Food of the French fur traders, cooking techniques & wild plants
---19th century, United States---Early American & pioneer foodways
---19th century, Minnesota---Food and agriculture of the Voyageurs and Ojibwe peoples
---19th century, Indiana.---Condiments of the Early 19th Century, description & recipes
---19th century, Maine---Lobstering then and now
---19th century, Missouri---Frontier food & recipes
---19th century, Montana---Homestead History: Food on the Frontier
---19th century, England---Menus & cookbooks
---19th century, Russia---Samovars & tea
---1801, France---Napoleon's eating habits
---1803, United States---Monthly bills of Fare, Susannah Carter's Frugal Housewife
---1812, Canada---Messing arrangements of the British Army during the War of 1812 & food
---1814, Canada---The Pemmican War
---1815, Virginia---Breakfast & Dinner at Jefferson's Monticello
---1820, New Jersey--- Col. Johnson eats a tomato at the Salem Cty Courthouse...or did he?
---1820s, Rochester NY--- Public dining options on the Erie Canal
---1820s, Paris---Careme redefines the chef profession
---1826, Paris---Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin's Physiogie du Gout, full text here
---1826, Boston---Union Oyster House 
---1830, Indiana---Dietary patterns of the Early Midwest
---1830s, Massachusetts---Taverns, dining out, Asa Knight store & milk consumption, Old Sturbridge
Village
---1832, U.S. Army---Coffee replaced rum in soldier rations
---1834, NYC--- Delmonico's menu
---1837, South Hadley, MA--Deacon Porter's Hat and other food traditions from Mt. Holyoke Female
Seminary
---1840, USA--- Census of Agriculture
---1840s, England---Afternoon tea, custom attributed to Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford
---1840s, West U.S.--- Provisions for the Oregon Trail
---1840, South Carolina---Rice Planter Lifestyle, The Rice Museum
---1847, California---Chinese food in America
---1847, Washington D.C.---Brown's Hotel bill of fare I & II
---1848, Boston---Hotel Keepers, Head Waiters and Housekeeper's Guide, Tunis Canpbell
---1849, California---Gold rush fare
---1850, Iowa---Pioneer foodways and farm life
---1851, Nantucket, MA---Chowder, from Herman Melville's Moby Dick (Chapter 15)
---1855, Nebraska---What did Nebraska's school children eat for lunch? & frontier watermelons
---1856, San Francisco---Complimentary Dinner, Howard Engine Company No. 3
---1857, Kentucky---Louisville Hotel
---1857, Canada---The Emigrant Housekeeper's Guide to the Backwood of Canada
---1859, Walden Pond, Massachusetts---Wild Fruits, Henry David Thoreau
---1860, American West---Pony Express foods
---1860, South Carolina---Collapse of the Georgetown Rice Culture, The Rice Museum
---1860, Boston---Bill of Fare, Mrs. S. L. Skilton's Eating House
---1860s, London---Bills of Fare, Mrs. Beeton's Household management
---1860s, Wyoming---Charles Baker's provisions for the long trip out west
---1861-1865, Civil War---Civilian recipes, soldier rations & slave foods
---1861, London---Picnics
---1862, Civil War---Of Seders in the Civil War
---1862, Cariboo Gold Rush, British Columbia---General store 
---1862-1894, New York City--- Delmonico's menus (no prices)
---1865, Washington D.C.---Lincoln's second Inauguration Ball Bill of Fare
---1866, Washington D.C.---Ebbitt House Dinner menu, wine list & dining hours
---1866, Texas---Charles Goodnight's cowboy chuck wagons
---1866, Boston---Bill of Fare, Wells L. Egerton & Co. Ladies and gents dining rooms
---1867, New York City---Market Assistant, Containing a Brief Description of Every Article of Human
Food Sold in the Public Markets in the Cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Brooklyn
---1869, Boston---Knox & Co. Horticultural Dining Rooms, dinner menu
---1869, London--- Sainsbury's opens for business
---1870s, Coney Island NY---Feltman's, Stauch's & Nathan's
---1872, Providence, RI---The first diners I & II about NJ & VT diners
---1873---Grande Dictionnaire de Cuisine, Alexander Dumas (in French)
---1875---Complimentary Dinner Bill of Fare, Newton (NJ) Fire Company
---1876, New York---Menu for a 16 course meal, and other dinners, Practical Cooking and Dinner
Giving, Mary Henderson
---1876, Philadelphia--- Cafe Leland, Centennial Exhibition
---1876, Southwest U.S.---Fred Harvey Houses, the first U.S. fast food restaurants
---1876, Battle Creek MI---Dr. Kellogg & the origin of the breakfast cereal industry
---1877, Minneapolis---Entertaining etiquette & Bills of Fare, Buckeye Cookery
---1877, San Francisco---Russ House menu
---1880s, France---Claude Monet's cooking journals
---1880s, Promontory UT---Restaurants & boarding houses
---1885, California---Dinner menu, Associated Pioneers of the Territorial Days of California
---1886, U.S.---Rules of Etiquette and Home Culture
---1888, U.S.---Vending machines come to America
---1890s, London---Victorian Kitchen and Table Tools
---1890, U.S.---Menu for a Christmas Dinner, Godey's Ladies Book
---1892, Texas---Thanksgiving menu, Brackenridge Hall, University of Austin
---1892, Mitchell, South Dakota---The Corn Palace
---1892, Michigan---A Year's Breakfasts & Dinners, Ella Eaton Kellogg
---1893, Chicago---Columbian Exposition 
---1895, United Kingdom---Brunch
---1896, American dining customs and table manners, Youth's Educator for Home and Society
---1896, New York---Bills of Fare, Charles Ranhofer's Epicurean
---1896, U.S.---Fannie Farmer's Suitable combinations for serving, Boston Cooking-School Cook Book
---1898, Hamilton Ontario---  Public School Domestic Science, Mrs. J. Hoodless
---1900s, New York City---Ellis Island canteens
---1900, New York City---Menus from Louis Sherry, The Plaza Hotel, The Waldorf, Haan's, Child's
Lunchrooms, and The Cooper Lunch Counter
---1900, Russia---History of court dining, Alexandra's Names Day & Tatiana's birthday, Imperial
luncheon at the Alexander Palace
---1901-2, Buffalo NY---Food & drink at the Pan-American Exhibition, Pabst Restaurant menu
---1901-present, Stockholm---Nobel Prize banquet menus
---1902, Philadelphia PA---Horn & Hardart's first automat
---1902, London---Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine, C. Carew Hazlitt
---1903, New York City---Dinner at the Fifth Ave. Hotel I & II
---1904, St. Louis Exposition---Meals & menus
---1906, Japan---The Book of Tea, Kakuzo Okakura
---1906, Alaska---Menus from the Cecil Cafe (Fairbanks) & Royal Cafe (Cleary Creek)
---1906, Wilmington Delaware---Longwood Garden Parties hosted by Pierre S. duPont
---1906, New York City---New York pushcarts & Manufacturing of foods in tenements
---1909, U.S.---Advertisement for Deviled meats from the Wm. Underwood Company
---1909, London---Food prices/Mrs. Beeton's charts
---1910, Douglas Alaska---Grocery Dept., P.H. Fox's Store
---1910, Montana---Homesteader foodways
---1911, New York---The Grocer's Encyclopedia, Artemis Ward
---1912, United Kingdom---Titanic dinner menus, first and second class
---1913, San Francisco CA---Dinner at Hotel St. Francis...compare with 1915 menu
---1914, Alaska---Solstice dinner on the Steamer Yukon
---1914-1918, WWI--- Recipe for Victory: Food and Cooking in Wartime, University of Wisconsin
---1914-1918, WWI---British & German soldier rations & memoirs
---1916, Memphis TN---Piggly Wiggly, America's first self-service grocery store opens
---1916, U.S.---Baking bread in the WWI Army
---1916, U.S.---Elements and Theory and Practice of Cookery: A Textbook of Domestic Science for Use
in Schools, Mary Emma Williams
---1917, U.S.---Army Special Rations, WWI
---1918, U.S.---Wheatless Wednesdays
---WWI, North Carolina---What we are doing to conserve food and keep down waste, Food production
and conservation in North Carolina & Quest for food substitutes
---1929, U.S.---  Breakfasts, Luncheons and Dinners: How to Plan Them..., Mary D. Chambers
---1920s, U.S.---Picnic Time, Lydia Pinkham Co.
---1920s, New Zealand---Wellington Cafe Culture
---1920-1933, United States--- Prohibition: primary documents and food & drink
---1921, U.S.---Fine dining on the Union Pacific Railroad & photos from the 30's-60's
---1921, Dallas TX---The Pig Stand, America's first drive-in restaurant
---1922, Sacramento, CA---Oriental Grill Menu
---1922, New York---How to Prepare and Serve a Meal, Lillian B. Landsdown
---1922, U.S.--Good Housekeeping's Book of Menus, Recipes and Household Discoveries
---1923, Los Angeles, CA---Spanish-American dishes from El Cholo
---1925, New York---The Story of a Pantry Shelf, Butterick Publishing Co., popular American brands and
their histories.
---1926, New York---Steak houses in New York City
---1930-1939, United States---Depression-era foods: soup kitchens, WPA projects, family dining
---1930s, USA---Evolution of the Ice Cream Stand, National Park Service
---1930s-1960s USA---Roadside dining in America
---1930s, Maine---Moody's Diner menu
---1931, St. Louis---Irma S. Rombauer's Joy of Cooking, Joy of Cooking
---1934, New Haven CT---Yale Bowl tailgate parties
---1934, NYC---Rainbow Room, supper menu
---1935, New Jersey---Bahrs Landing Restaurant, Sandy Hook
---1936, New Jersey--- Dining on the Hindenburg
---1936, California---United Airlines launches inflight catering
---1937, Idaho---CCC Heyburn State Park Friday menu with unit quantities & costs
---1938, Wisconsin---Thanksgiving Menu, CCC Camp Sawyer, Hayward
---1938, London--- Cafe menu, F.F. Woolworth
---1939, New York City---World's Fair Dining options
---1939, United Kingdom---Rationing & at Sainsbury's 
---1939, United Kingdom---Meals on Wheels, a tradition of serving our seniors
---1940-1949, United States---Rationing, soldier foods, civilian fare
---WWII, Australia---Families and Food: Wartime Tucker
---1940s, San Diego---Theater concession stands: Fox & State Theatres
---1941, Las Vegas---Hotel El Rancho Vegas
---1941, U.S.---Gourmet (magazine) launches. Selected articles online (1943--present)
---1942, U.S.---Food rationing, NJ rationing book & nutritional guidelines
---1942, Puyallup, WA---What people ate at Camp Harmony, Japanese Relocation Center
---1942-1945, U.S.---USA canteen offerings
---1944, U.S.---Army kitchen trucks & Thanksgiving menu
---1945, United Nations---Food and Agriculture Organization is founded
---1946, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba---Ship's Service Restaurant menu, Naval Station
---1946, U.S.---Dinner on the Western Pacific Railroad
---1946, Las Vegas---All-you-can-eat buffet
---1947, U.S.---Microwave ovens (aka radar ranges)
---1947, U.S.---C.A.R.E. Packages
---1947, U.S.---Worthington Foods, manufactured soy products for American consumption
---1948, Germany---The Berlin Airlift & Operation Little Vittles
---1948, India---Key to Health, Mahatma K. Gandhi
---1950-1959, United States---Popular foods & family menus
---1950, U.S.---Diner's Club begins the credit card industry
---1950, U.S.---Salad bars
---1950s, U.S.---Tex-Mex goes mainstream America & seniors enjoy Early bird specials
---1951, U.S. Army---Field messing in forward areas
---1953, United Nations---U.N. soldier food service
---1953, U.S.---Doomsday Diet: Dining in Darkness compare with current FEMA food guidelines
---1953, U.S.--- Civil Defense survival rations (includes pictures)
---1956, Alcatraz---Dining room rules, inmate regulation #33
---1960s, U.S.---Popular American foods & pictures of our favorite food packages I, II & III
---1960s, U.S.---Surf & turf
---1960s, Anaheim---Tahitian Terrace Menu, Disneyland
---1960, British Columbia---Christmas menu, 918th Squadron, Baldy Hughes Air Station
---1961, Honolulu---World's first revolving restaurant
---1961, Massachusetts---Julia Child's Kitchen (now displayed at the Smithsonian)
---1963, U.S. Army---Operational Rations Current and Future
---1963, Los Angeles CA---Doggie bags
---1963, Portland OR---Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor menu
---1964, NYC World's Fair---Dining facilities in the Festival of Gas Pavillion
---1964, New York City---Japanese steak houses are introduced to America by Rocky Aoiki
---1964, United States---"Soul food"
---1967, United States---Super Bowl parties
---1970s, U.S.---Food of the Seventies, popular snack items
---1971, Chicago IL---Official Dinner Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Chicago Fire
---1976, New York City---Windows on the World
---1976, Washington D.C.---State Dinner for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip
---1979, U.S.---Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest
---1980s, U.S.---Popular dishes, menus & products
---1980s, U.S.---Personal chefs & amuse bouche
---1986, Italy---Slow Food Movement, dedicated to preserving foods from extinction
---1987, U.S.---Chefs tables
---1990s, U.S.---Popular dishes, menus and products
---1996, U.S.---What do Americans Eat?, U.S. Agriculture Fact Book 1998
---2000s, U.S.---Popular foods & consuming trends
---2000, U.S.---Americans' Dining-Out Habits, Restaurants USA
---2000, U.S.---Profiling Food Consumption in America, U.S. Agriculture Fact Book 2000-1
---2002, U.S.---Hot Menu Items & What's for Breakfast?, Restaurants USA
---2003, U.S.---DOD Combat Feeding Program, Group food & Submarine food. 
---2006, U.S.---America tailgates!
---2007, U.S.--- Baseball stadium concessions
---2007, U.S.---What's Hot & What's Not, Chef Survey, National Restaurant Association
---2008, U.S.---Economy's effect on consumers' meal strategies, NPD
---2008, Beijing--- Olympic Village dining & U.S. delegation foods
---2009, Washington D.C.---Barack Obama's Inaugural Luncheon Menu...with recipes!
---2009, U.S.--- Recessipes reflect the current economic situation
---2011, U.S.--- What's Hot in 2011/National Restaurant Association

water & ice----------------
salt----------------
oysters, shellfish & fish----------------
eggs & mushrooms----------------
insects ----------------
rice I, II & III----------------
millet----------------
emmer grain--17,000BC---
einkorn grain--16,000BC---
almonds--10,000BC--- ---10,000BC---Agriculture begins I & II 
cherries---10,000BC--- ---10,000BC---flour, bread & soup
sheep ---9,000BC---
wheat---8,000BC---
apples & lentils---8,000BC---
pork & pistachios ---7,000BC---
beans: old world & new---
7,000BC---
walnuts old & new---7,000BC---
cattle domestication---6,500BC---
wine & spelt ---6000BC---
maize & tortillas---6000BC--- 
dates & broccoli---6000BC---
 honey, chickpeas & lettuce ---
5500BC---
olives & olive oil & buckwheat---
5000BC---
cucumbers & squash I & II---
5000BC---
chili peppers, avocados & taro--- ---4000BC---yeast breads: pitta & focaccia 
5000BC---
potatoes I & II ---5000BC---
milk & yogurt, & sour cream---
5000BC---
grapes, watermelons & sorghum---
4000BC--- ---3000BC---ice cream 
citrus: oranges & citrons ---
4000BC---
popcorn---3600BC---
chicken domestication---3200BC---
butter & palm oil---3000BC---
barley, peas & carrots---3000BC---
onions & garlic---3000BC--- ---2300BC---Ancient Egypt
spices I, II & III & ---3000BC---
figs---2900BC---
soybeans I & II---2838BC---
tea---2737BC--- ---1700BC---Mesopotamia banquets & recipes
rhubarb---2700BC--- 
duck---2500BC---
muskmelon ---2400BC---
saffron & peach palm ---2300BC---
pasta & noodles---2000BC---
radishes, purslane & carob ---
2000BC---
marshmallows, liquorice & jujubes -
--2000BC---
---900BC---polenta
peanuts I & II ---1500BC---
chocolate & vanilla---1500BC---
horseradish---1500BC---
raisins---1490BC---
sugar---1200BC---
pickles & peaches---1000BC---
oats---1000BC---
pears---900BC---
tomatoes & tomatillos---900BC---
celery---850BC---
cinnamon---700BC--- ---350BC---dolma
cabbage ---600BC---  ---1st Century---Bible era foods
 Guinea fowl in Greece---500BC---
Italian sausages & artichokes---
500BC---
pastries & appetizers---400BC---
vinegar---400BC---
peppercorns & garden cress---
400BC---
beets & bananas---300BC---
turkeys & asparagus ---200BC---  ---3rd Century---Roman Britain's cuisine & recipes
quinces---65BC---
Devon cattle---55BC---
chestnuts & horehound---1st
Century---
lobster, crab & shrimp---1st
Century---
truffles ---1st Century---
strawberries & raspberries---1st
Century---
capers, turnips & kale---1st
Century---
lemons---3rd Century---
pretzels---5th Century---
eggplant---6th Century---
Spinach I & II---7th Century---
coffee & cod---9th century---
loquats---10th century---
corned beef & cider---11th
century---
lychees---11th century---
breadfruit & okra---12th century---
Walden saffron & Mexican limes---
---1st Century---Ancient Rome
---1st Century---fried chicken & foie gras
---1st Century--- French toast & omlettes 
---1st Century---Italian wedding soup & rice pudding
---1st Century---flan & cheesecake
---1st Century---The Haggis & pears in syrup 
---1st Century---challah & Parthian breads
---3rd Century---De Re Culinaria (in Latin) & De
Opsoniis et Condimentis, Apicius
---4th century---Byzantine bread
---5th-9th century---Anglo-Saxon foods
---7th century---kimchi
---8th century---Ancient Maya
---8th-12th century---Viking era food I, II, III & IV
---9th century---halva & goulash
---10th-15th century---Medieval food & menus 
---10th century---Peking duck
---11th century---baklava & filo 
---13th Century---ravioli & lasagne
---13th Century---pancakes & waffles
---13th century---couscous
---14th century---scrambled eggs
---14th century---guacamole & kolache
---14th century---pie
---14th century---humble pie history & recipe
---14th century---Viandier de Taillevent 
---14th century---Le Menagier de Paris
---1381---apple pie & crumpets
---1386---Chaucerian Cookery, feasts!
---1390--- The Forme of Cury
---1390---applesauce
---1393---fried cheese sticks
---1395---gingerbread
---15th century---Italian risotto & English marzipan
---15th century--- borshch
---15th century, Netherlands Wel Ende Edelike Spijse
---1487--- hot dogs 
---1492---Christopher Columbus old world cuisine 
 14th century---
kebabs & moon cakes---14th
century---
jelly, jams & preserves---15th
century---
coconuts---15th century---
Japanese sushi & sashimi---15th
century---  ---1597---potato salad
pork & beans---1475---
pineapples I & II---1493---
Cows in America I & II---1493---
marmelade ---1495---
pecans-16th century---
papayas---16th century---
turkeys in Europe---16th century---
cashews in the Old World---16th
century---
Japanese tempura---16th century---
Texas Longhorns---16th century---
sweet potatoes in Europe---1517---
vanilla in Europe---1529---
tomatoes in Europe---1544---
Camembert cheese---1554---
fruit leather---1587---
Brussels sprouts & kohlrabi---
1587---
skim milk---1596---
doughnuts in America---17th
Century---
treacle---17th Century---
pralines & coffee cake---17th
Century---
cream puffs & eclairs---17th
Century---
maple syrup I & II---17th Century---
modern ice cream---17th Century---
---16th century---sweetbreads & salsa
---16th century---quiche & puff paste
---16th century---teriyaki chicken & Cornish pastys 
---1514---Een Notabel Boecxken Van Cokeryen, in
Dutch
---1520---Libre...de coch, Robert de Nola (Catalan)
& English
---1545---A Proper newe Booke of Cokerye
---1590---Shakepeare's food
---1593---Cocboeck, Carolus Battus (in Dutch)
---1596---English trifle
---1598---cock-a-leekie
---1599---hasty pudding
---17th Century--- corn bread, hoe cakes, spoonbread &
hominy
---17th Century---chess pie & shortbread
---17th Century---authentic recipes, transcribed
---17th Century---French onion soup 
---17th century--- Salad I & II
---1604---Raspberry jelly & modern version
---1605--- Guy Fawkes' menus
---1607---Jamestown settlers ate pottage (p. 20)
---1610---bagels 
---1612---Koocboec oft familieren keukenboec, Magirus
(in Dutch)
---1615---A New booke of cookerie
---1616---Koge-Bog (first printed Nordic cookbook)
---1621---Pilgrim Thanksgiving
---1651---Le Cuisinier Francois, La Varenne
---1653---pumpkin pie & lemonade
---1662---Boston brown bread (aka Ryaninjun)
---1669---De Verstandige Kock, in Dutch
---1672---Queen-Like Closet, Hannah Wooley
---1683---De Verstandige Kock, colonial Dutch recipes
---1686---croissants
---1691---lemon meringue pie
---1691---Bill of Fare of Seventy-Five Noble Dishes of
Excellent Food, Thomas Tryon
---1699---John Evelyn's Acetaria: Discourse of Sallets
---18th century America---Colonial & Early American
 cranberries in America---17th
Century---
Jerusalem artichokes---1605---
coffee in Europe---1615---
rum---1650--- 
Kosher food in the U.S.---1654---
cowpeas in America---1675---
cranberries in New Jersey---1680---
grapefruit in Barbados---1683---
rice in South Carolina---1690---
coffee in America---18th Century---
root beer & tapioca ---18th
Century---
French fries & ketchup ---18th
century---
Montelimar nougat---1701---
casseroles---1708---
Stilton cheese---1722---
Hereford cows---1742---
sugar beets---1747---
grapefruit---1750---  ---1775---Dried apples from Paul Revere's kitchen
commercial gelatin---1754---
Newtown Pippin apples---1755---
mayonnaise & Tartar sauce---
1756---
Baker's chocolate---1764---
fare 
---18th century America---crab cakes
---18th Century--- muffins & crackers
---18th century---English muffins & chowder
---18th century---sticky buns (aka cinnamon buns) 
---18th century Canada--- French Canadian fare I & II,
& III, Fortress of Louisbourg
---18th century South Africa---Dutch cuisine
---1706---croquettes
---1720---Receipts of Pastry and Cookery for the Use of
his Scholars, Ed. Kidder
---1725---Welsh Rabbit
---1727---Hasty pudding, The Compleat Housewife E.
Smith
---1728--- mushroom ketchup
---1736---Scottish tablet
---1740---pound cake & cupcakes
---1747---Yorkshire pudding & sweet potato pie
---1747--- Salmagundi & mashed potatoes
---1754---Colonial Williamsburg food
---1754--- Swedish meatballs 
---1762---sandwiches 
---1764---English Houswifery, Elizabeth Moxon
---1765---apple butter 
---1769---ice cream & beef a la mode , Experienced
English Housekeeper
---1769---Eccles cakes
---1770---Colonial wedding cakes
---1771--- Election Cake
---1771---Colonial Day Menu, Turkey Run VA
---1777---Firecakes & pepper pot from Valley Forge
---1780s---Martha Washington's Great Cake 
---1780s---Thomas Jefferson's ice
cream (manuscript) & muffins 
---1780s---Martha Jefferson's cream cheese
---1782---souffle
---1785---Kokebok, from Norway
---1786---deviled eggs
 ---1787---toad-in-a-hole
soda water---1767--- ---1789---aspic & Moravian sugar cakes
---1790---pasta & tomato sauce
Tofu in America---1769--- ---1790s---Missions atole & pozole
---1792---English Art of Cookery, Richard Briggs
Jersey cows---1771--- ---1796---pompkin pudding & federal pancakes,
New Zealand spinach---1771--- Amelia Simmon's American Cookery
---1796---Charlotte & Charlotte Russe
---1796---Jumbles, Fort York Ontario
---1798---Voyageurs ate pemmican
---1798---American Cookery, Amelia Simmons
---1798---turnovers 
tomatoes in America---1781--- ---19th Century---Frontier American fare 
---19th Century---Victorian era foodways
lollipops---1784--- ---19th Century---New England seafood  &  Chile con
carne
---19th Century--wedding cake & Sally Lunn
---19th Century--Napoleons & Linzertortes
potash---1790--- ---19th Century--ammonia cookies & Cape Breton
pork pies
squirrel---1800's-- ---19th Century-- shepherd's pie & pickled peppers
---19th Century-- canapes & hamburgers 
---1800---Regency English  recipes [Jane Austen]
---1800---Napoleon's Chicken Marengo
---1803---Gumbo
---1803---Frugal Housewife, Susannah Carter
---1805---Charbonneau's "white pudding"  recipe
---1807---A New System of Domestic Cookery, Mrs.
Rundell
---1808---Lucy Emerson's New England Cookery
---1810---Brunswick stew & Kentucky burgoo
---1817---Remoulade, Le Cuisinier Royal  (en
Francais)

---1821---Tomata catsup & orange marmelade,

Mandarin oranges/Europe---1805---
ice cream cones & sandwich
bread---1807---
corn syrup & McIntosh apples---
1811---
taffy, toffee & butterscotch---
1817---
lady fingers---1820---
Frederick Accum's Culinary Chemistry
---1824---chicken-fried steak & gazpacho in America
---1826---fondue
---1826---Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin's Physiologie
du Gout
---1826---  Cook and Housewife's Manual, Margaret
Dods (Scotland)
---1828---Duck a l'Orange & Brunswick stew
---1828--- Vermont common crackers & Philadelphia
Apee cookies
---1828---Allemande sauce
 A1 Steak Sauce---1824---
Macadamia nuts---1828---
soft drinks in America---1830---
Turkish delight---1830s---
Worcestershire Sauce I & II ---
1835---
Michigan mint---1835---
Idaho potatoes & custard powder---
1837---
Key limes---1839---
corn starch---1842---
Poland Spring water---1845---
Chinese food in America---1847---
Necco Wafers & vanilla extract---
1847---
Concord grapes---1849---
berries in Oregon---1850---
modern marshmallows --1850---
cherries in Michigan---1852---
potato chips I & II---1853---
Condensed milk ---1856---
---1830---Frugal Housewife, Lydia Maria Child
---1830---Washington Cake & other recipes, Old
Sturbridge Village
---1830---Reform Club chef Alex Soyer's Dessert
gelatin
---1830---Mrs. Isaac Cocks' Long Island corn bread
---1830s--Hopping John & Cornmeal mush
---1830s--bouillabaisse 
---1831---  The Cook Not Mad, Watertown NY
---1832---Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes and
Sweetmeats, Eliza Leslie
---1832---The Cook's Own Book, N.K.M. Lee
---1836---Wedding menu, from America's heartland
---1837---Sylvester Graham's Treatise on Bread and
Bread Baking
---1838---The Virginia Housewife, Mary Randolph
---1839---The Good Housekeeper, Sarah Josepha Hale
---1839---cobbler
---1840---La Cuisiniere Canadienne (en Francais)
---1840---Frugal Housewife's Manual [Toronto]
---1840---Directions for Cookery, Eliza Leslie
---1840s---Oregon trail foods & Sam Houston's recipes
---1840s--Irish soda bread & French Savarin
---1844--- Cornish pastys in UP
---1845---roly-poly pudding  &  tipsy parson
---1846---Jewish Manual, Judith Montefiore
---1847---Utah bound!
---1847---peanut brittle
---1848---  Skilful Housewife's Guide, Montreal
---1848---pesto
---1849---Eliza cookees, Mrs. Hubbell
---1849---California sourdough bread 
---1850s--Western sandwiches
---1850s--Eliza Leslie's Strawberry shortcake 
---1850---anadama bread
---1851---Great Western Cook Book, Anna Collins
---1853---Maryland beaten biscuits
---1855---Boston cream pie
---1856---Navy bean soup
---1857---Hanna Winsnes' cookbook (in Norwegian)
---1857---Country captain chicken
---1857---Eliza Acton's English Bread Book
---1860---Cakes  &  plum puddings, Godey's Lady's
Book
---1860s---Baked Alaska  &  ice tea
 Peek Freans---1857---
fish & chips---1860---
cranberries in Wisconsin---1860---
Vernor's Ginger Ale & Gulden's
mustard---1862---
breakfast cereal---1863---
Conversation Hearts---1866---
synthetic baby food---1867---
Tabasco sauce---1868---
Fleischmann's Yeast & Kobe beef---
1868---
margarine---1870---
Paragon tomatoes---1870---
California raisins---1870s--
Philadelphia cream
cheese & Graham crackers---
1872---  Mary Ann Mason
Long Island duck---1873---
summer pudding---1875---
Heinz Ketchup---1876---
fondant---1877---
blood oranges in USA---1878---
Wheatena & Saccharin---1879---
passion fruit---1880s--
salt water taffy & French dressing---
1880s--
---1861---Charles Elme Francatelli's Baked Goose
---1861---Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household
Management
---1861---Beef Stroganoff & popcorn balls 
---1861-1865---hardtack
---1863---Confederate Receipt Book, Richmond VA
---1863---fruit salad & Mock apple pie
---1864---Sanderson's Complete
Confectioner & Complete Cook
---1864---Apple Crisp & Apple Brown Betty
---1865---Mrs. Goodfellow's Cookery as it should be
---1866---The National Cookbook, Hannah Peterson
---1868---The Dominion Home Cookbook, Toronto
---1869---parfait & Chateaubriand
---1869---Pickled limes,  Little Women
---1869---Wright's book of 3000 practical receipts
---1869---  Carrie Watkins Cook Book, Missouri
---1870s---Parker House rolls
---1870---Jennie June's American Cookbook, Jane
Cunningham Croly
---1870---New Orlean's King cakes
---1870s--Neapolitan ice cream
---1871---groom's cake & marble cake
---1871--- Wild Turkey & cheese straws
---1873---American cuisine, from  Miss Beecher's
Housekeeper and Healthkeeper cookbook
---1875---Breakfast, Luncheon, and Tea, Marion
Harland
---1875---Young Housewife's Counsellor and Friend,
---1876---Practical Cooking and Dinner Giving,
Henderson 
---1876---popovers & ground nut cakes
---1876---Lobster Newburg
---1877--- ambrosia & vinegar pie
---1877---Buckeye Cookery, Estelle Woods Wilcox
---1877---Cowboy cooking
---1878---Army bread from  Ft. Laramie, WY
---1878---Directions Diverses, Montreal
---1879---funnel cakes
---1880---Miss Parloa's New Cookbook, Maria Parloa
---1880s---angel food & meatloaf
---1881---What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern
Cooking, Abby Fisher
---1882---Chicken tartare
---1883---Christmas pudding

milk shakes & Dr Pepper---1885---
Educator crackers & evaporated
milk---1885---
Coca Cola---1886---
malted milk & Georgia pecans---
1887---
Barbados cherries---1887---  ---1887---White House Cook Book, F.L. Gillette
pizza---1889---
Fig Newtons ---1891---
Cracker Jacks---1893---
fudge & Good and Plenty---1893---
Hershey bars & Sen-Sen---1894---
peanut butter & Salisbury steak---
1895---
Chop suey---1896---
Corsicana fruitcake---1896---
oatmeal cookies---1896---
Jell-O & tangelos---1897---
1000 Island dressing ---1897---
cotton candy& Melba toast---1897---
jelly beans & candy corn ---1898---
Pepsi & Texas sweet onions ---
1898---
Cottolene---1900---
peanut butter & jelly---1901---
Nabisco's Animal Crackers---
1902---
---1884---Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook Book
---1884---porcupines  &  Angels on horseback
---1885---La Cuisine Creole, Lafcadio Hearn
---1886---Woman's Suffrage Cook Book, Mrs. Hattie A.
Burr
---1886---Miss Corson's Practical American Cookery,
Juliet Corson
---1886---pecan pie
---1887---Cherries jubilee
---1889---Aunt Babette's Cook Book: Foreign and
Domestic Receipts
---1889---bundt cake
---1890---Corn oysters 
---1890s---ice cream sundaes 
---1890s---Gems of Fancy Cookery, Ontario Canada
---1892---Science in the Kitchen, Ella Eaton Kellogg
---1893---Art of Living in Australia, Philip Muskett
---1893---La Cuisine Francaise: French Cooking for
Every Home... 
---1893---Favorite Dishes, Carrie V. Shuman
---1893---a la mode (topped with ice cream)
---1894---Ranhofer's The Epicurean
---1894---Terrapin, from Delmonico's in NYC
---1894---Eggs Benedict 
---1894---Recipes Tried and True, Marion Ohio
---1896---Waldorf salad
---1896---Boston Cooking School Cook Book, Fannie
Merritt Farmer
---1896---  The Cook Book, Oscar Tschirky (of the
Waldorf)
---1896---Military field bread, U.S. Manual for Army
Cooks
---1896---Henriette Davidis' Practical Cookbook, 35th
German edition (in English)
---1897---Swedish-American Cookbook (Swedish and
English)
---1897---Sweet potato croquettes, Practical
Vegetarian Cookery
---1897---Steiger's Deutsch-Amerikaniches
Kochbuch (in German)
---1898---New Galt Cook Book, Ontario Canada
---1898---Lane Cake & Shrimp wiggle
---1899---Oysters Rockefeller
---1900s---Popular USA foods & menus
---1900s---cioppino & Oysters Kirkpatrick
 Karo syrup---1902--- ---1900's---Culinary Wrinkles, or how to use Armour's
Mt. Clemens Flakes--1902--- extract of beef
canned tuna---1903--- ---1900---Morristown Cook Book (NJ)
---1900---My Pet Recipes..., St. Andrews Church,
banana splits & Ovaltine---1904--- Quebec
New Zealand kiwi ---1904---  ---1900---Pensacola Souvenier Cook Book
---1900---Banbury tarts, The Stonington Cookbook, CT
New York pizza ---1905--- ---1900---Enterprising Housekeeper, Pan-American
Exhibition
---1900---  Food for the Sick and How to Prepare It,
Edwin French
Kellogg's Corn Flakes & Taylor ---1901---Pan American Cookbook
Pork Roll---1906--- ---1901---Settlement Cook Book, Mrs. Simon Kander
Muffoletta sandwiches---1906--- ---1902---Devil's food cake
---1902---Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book, Sarah Tyson
Rorer
---1903---cranberry bread
---1903---U.S. Senate Bean Soup  &  Club sandwiches
---1904---Dr. Price's Delicious Desserts
---1904---Cooking in Old Creole Days, Celestine Eustis
---1904---Blue Grass Cook Book, Minnie Fox
[Kentucky cookery] 
---1905---  Los Angeles Times Cook Book
---1905---Lady Baltimore & Checkerboard  cakes
---1905---submarine sandwiches
---1905---Tomato gravy & Tamale pie
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) --- ---1905---  Finnish-American Cookbook, Kaleva
1909--- Michigan (with English translation)
---1906---brownies & banana cream pie 
Crisco & Junket---1911--- ---1906---Harvard beets
Olivenaise---1911--- ---1906---Inglenook Cook Book, Elgin IL
---1906---Refugee's Cook Book, (San Francisco
earthquake)
Oreos & maraschino cherries --- ---1906---One Hundred and One Mexican Dishes, May
1912--- E. Southworth
fortune cookies ---1912---  ---1907---Le Guide Culinaire/Escoffer (English)
---1907--- Divinity fudge & aioli 
---1908---Steak Diane & Lobster fra diavolo
---1909---Good Housekeeping Woman's Home
Cookbook, Isabel Gordon Curtis
Mallomars---1913--- ---1909---Washington Woman's Cook Book (Seattle)
---1909---Reform Cookery Book, Mrs. Mill
---1909---shrimp cocktail
---1910s---Popular U.S. foods & menus
---1910s---Jell-O: America's most famous dessert
---1910---Home Helps: A Pure Food Cook Book
 Pan-Pak---1915---
Moon pies & Marshmallow Fluff---
1917---
Chase's Cherry Mash---1918---
Hostess cup cakes---1919---
Eskimo Pie & Good Humor---
1920---
Yoo-hoo---1920s--
Wonder
Bread, Wheaties & zucchini ---
1921---
Gummi Bears & Clark Bars---
1922---
Vegemite---1922---
Girl Scout Cookies---1922---
popsicles ---1923---
Orange Julius ---1926---
frozen foods & Texas hot weiners---
1924---
pineapple upside-down
cake & chocolate covered potato
chips---1924---
Jujyfruit candy---1925---
ice cream sandwich---1926---
Kool-Aid & Pez---1927---
Gerber's baby food---1928---
It's It---1928---
Twizzlers & Karmelkorn---1929---
Po'Boy & hot Italian sandwiches--
1929---
Twinkies & Jiffy biscuit mix--
1930---
---1910---Chipped beef, Manual for Army Cooks
---1910---Charles Fellows' Menu Maker
---1911---Good Things to Eat, Rufus Estes
---1911---  Paper Bag Cook Book
---1911---Catering for Special Occasions, Fannie
Merritt Farmer
---1911---Kitchen Encyclopedia, Swift & Company
---1912---Chicken a la King
---1912---Thousand Island dressing
---1912---Mary Frances Cook Book, Jane Eayre Fryer
---1912---Standard Paper-bag Cookery, Emma
Paddock Telford
---1912---War Time Cooking, Lydia E. Pinkham
---1912---  Dromedary Cook Book
---1913---Apple sauce cake
---1913---Chinese Cook Book, Chong Jan Co.
& Japanese Fruitcake
---1913---Choice Recipes: Chocolate and Cocoa,
Walter Baker & Co.
---1913---Dishes and Beverages of the Old South,
Martha Williams
---1913---Coq au vin & Italian cream cake
---1914---Chinese-Japanese Cook Book, Sara Bosse
---1914---Chicken fried steak
---1914---Neighborhood Cook Book, Council of Jewish
Women
---1914---ANZAC biscuits I, II & III
---1914---Fruit recipes, Encyclopedia of Practical
Horticulture
---1914---Celery Victor & Fettuccine Alfredo 
---1915---hush puppies
---1915---Dainty Desserts for Dainty People, Knox
Gelatin Co.
---1915---Healthy Life Cook Book, Florence Daniel
---1915---Pan-Pacific Cookbook, Exposition fare
---1916---Field bread, Manual for Army Bakers
---1916---  Allied Cookery, Grace Clergue Harrison
---1917---Icebox Cake& Chinese Chews 
---1917---Donuts from the Salvation Army
---1917---Vichyssoise, Louis Diat
---1917---55 Ways to Save Eggs & Best War Time
Recipes
---1918---World War I recipes from the Doughboy
Cookbook
---1918---Foods That Will Win the War, Goudiss &
Goudiss
 dry soup mix---1930s---
Vidalia onions---1931---
tacos in LA & London Broil---
1931---
refrigerator biscuits---1931---
Fritos & ---1932---
Marshmallow Sandwich cookies---
1932---  ---1919---chocolate truffles
chocolate covered pretzels ---
1933--- Hawaiian Punch & Rutgers
tomatoes ---1934---
Nabisco's Ritz
crackers & Campbell's cream of
mushroom soup---1934---
sloppy joes---1935---  William McKinney
Py-O-My & Dagwood sandwichs---
1936---
SPAM & Krispy Kreme---1937---
canned soda---1938---
chicken & waffles---1938---
Cho cho ice cream treats---1939---
Spiedies & Ugli fruit---1939---
York Peppermint Patties---1940---
M & Ms & Cheerios ---1941---
Corn dogs & Pronto pups---1942---
Irish coffee & nachos---1943---
Chicago-style pizza---1943---
Nutella---1946---
Betty Crocker's cake mix---1947---
frozen french fries & Sau Sea
shrimp cocktail--1948---
ready-to-spread frostings---1948---
seedless watermelon---1949---
Jolly Ranchers & Whoppers---
1949---
instant pudding & high altitude cake
mix---1949---
Friday Franks & Loco moco---
1949---
American Tex-Mex---1950s--
smoothies---1950s--
frozen pizza---1950---
chickenfurters---1951---
diet soda ---1952---
Duncan Hines cake mixes---1952---
---1918---Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking School
Cook Book
---1919---International Jewish Cook Book, Florence
Kreisler Greenbaum
---1919---The Hotel St. Francis Cookbook, Victor
Hirtzler
---1919---Italian Cook Book, Maria Gentile
---1920s---Popular U.S. foods & menus
---1920s---egg creams
---1920---Fleischmann's recipes
---1920---School and Home Cooking, Carlotta C. Greer
---1921---Chiffon pie & Candle salad
---1922---  Aunt Caroline's Dixieland Recipes, Emma &
---1922---Jell-O recipes
---1923---  Food for the Diabetic, Mary Huddleson
---1923---Svensk-Amerikansk Kokbok (Wisconsin)
---1924---  Mrs. Allen on Cooking, Menus, Service, Mrs.
Ida C. Bailey Allen
---1924---Caesar salad
---1925---George Washington Carver's peanut recipes
---1925---Lemon sponge cake from 800 Proved Pecan
Recipes
---1927---Electric Refrigerator Recipes, General
Electric 
---1927---s'mores & mayonnaise cake
---1928---Horseshoe sandwiches & Black bottom pie 
---1928---cold shape
---1930s---Popular U.S. foods & menus
---1930s---Lady Baltimore & Pavlova cakes
---1930s---Philly cheese steak & Pigs in blankets
---1930s---banana bread & Tomato Soup cake
---1930s---Cajun fried turkey & Purple Cows
---1931---souffle, Joy of Cooking
---1931--- refrigerator pie
---1932---Billy Goat cookies
---1933---Ruth Wakefield's Toll House cookies
---1933---peanut butter cookies
---1936--- Chef's salad & Chinese Chicken salad
---1936--- no-bake cookies
---1936---Dr. George Washington Carver's 115 tomato
recipes
---1937---Dr. Carver's sweet potato recipes
---1937---Reubens & Chicken Kiev 
---1937---Specialita Culinarie Italiane, Boston MA
 Maypo---1953---
Marshmallow Peeps ---1953---
TV Dinners I & II ---1953---
ranch dressing---1954---
Broasted chicken---1954---  ---1940's---Popular U.S. foods & menus
frozen pie crust---1955---
chocolate covered ants & Oregon
Marionberries---1956---
Tang, Beefalo & Pam---1957---
Rice-A-Roni & instant ramen
noodles ---1958---
brown rice in USA---1960s---
Life cereal---1961---
instant mashed potatoes---1962---
Buffalo Wings & Pop Tarts---
1964---
chicken sandwiches (fast food)---
1964---
Gatorade & Slurpees---1965---
high fructose corn syrup---1967---  ---1950's--- Mexican wedding cakes & Nesselrode pie
Ramapo tomatoes---1968---
Snack Pack & Space Food Sticks ---
1968---
Lactaid---1974--- 
Pop Rocks & Jelly Bellies---1976---
pulled pork---1977---
panko & portobello mushrooms---
1980s---
Yukon gold potatoes---1980---
Gardenburgers---1982---
Red Bull energy drink---1984---
Orangetti spaghetti squash---1986---  World's Fair
everything bagel---1988--- artisan
breads & greenhouse tomatoes---
1990s---
---1937---Old Dutch Recipes, Pella IA
---1937---Green goddess dressing, Palace Hotel
---1937---Cobb salad, Brown Derby 
---1939---Colonel Sanders' secret recipe
---1940---Recipes, Britain's Ministry of Food
---1941---Lord Woolton Pie & sugarless sponge cake 
---1941---Rice Krispies treats & Monte Cristo
sandwiches
---1941---carpetbag steak
---1942---MFK Fisher's Tomato & War cakes
---1943---99 ways to share the Meat, USDA
---1945---chicken Francese & monkey bread
---1946---city chicken & potato chip cookies
---1948---chiffon cake & chicken vesuvio
---1948---Mr. Truman's recipes I, II, & III
---1949---Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest Theodora
Smafield's  No-Knead Water-Rising Twists 
---1949---Wacky cake
---1950's---Popular U.S. foods & menus
---1950's--- Chicken Parm
 
---1951---Bananas Foster
---1953---President Eisenhower's favorite foods
---1954---California onion dip & Nanaimo bars
---1955---Chex mix & green bean casserole 
---1956---Panini & Rolled Fondant
---1957---Poutine from Quebec
---1957---German's Sweet Chocolate cake
---1960's---Popular foods & menus
---1960's--Beef Wellington & Grasshopper pie
---1960s---Digger bread, San Francisco
---1960---Green Eggs and Ham
---1962---Red Velvet Cake
---1963---Black Forest cake
---1963---Texas sheet cake & lemon bars
---1963--- Ladybird Johnson's recipes
---1964---Ants on a log
---1964---Hot Dutch Tuna Buns & pita bread, NYC
---1966---Tunnel of Fudge Cake & King Ranch
Chicken
---1968---Taco salad
 turkey bacon---1991--- ---1969---Creamed ground beef, Armed Forces Recipe
broccolini---1993--- Service
Flavr Savr tomatoes---1994--- ---1969---Flower Pot Bread & Hummingbird Cake
Tofurkey---1995--- ---1970's---Popular U.S. foods & menus
grape tomatoes---1998--- ---1970's---California rolls, gyros & Tiramisu
Omega 3 Eggs---2001--- ---1972---General Tso's chicken
Flat iron steak & tear-free onions--- ---1973---Zucchini bread
2002--- ---1975---Pasta primavera
Grapples---2004---
Deep fried Coca Cola---2006--- ---1980's--Popular U.S. foods & menus
trendy foods & deep fried latte--- ---1980s--Mud pie & Dirt cake
2007--- ---1980s--Panzanella & pasta salad & oriental noodle
What's hot?---2009--- salad
food on a stick Iowa ---2009--- ---1980---Turducken
What's hot & New food products--- ---1981---Watergate salad & cake (pistachio)
2010--- ---1983---Penne alla vodka& Harvard Beet Cake

---1987---banh mi & tortilla pinwheels

---1990's--Popular U.S. foods & menus
---1990s---stromboli

---1991---chocolate molten lava cake & earthquake

cake

---2000s---popular U.S. foods & trends

---2007---Kool-Aid pickles

---2009---Barack Obama's Inaugural Luncheon

---2009--- Twecipes & Recessipes 
---2009---Chicken in a sleeping bag