“The world was my oyster but I used the wrong fork”
Oscar Wilde
Wilde is referring to the saying “the world’s mine oyster,” from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. In the story, the character Falstaff is haggling with another man over money. After Falstaff refuses to give him a single penny, the man replies “Why, then, the world’s mine oyster, which I with sword will open.” His meaning: I’ll get anything I want any way I can—i.e. stabbing with a sharp instrument as in shucking oysters to find the pearl. Over time, the phrase morphed to mean “You are in a position to take the opportunities that life has to offer.” (Oxford English Dictionary)
“An oyster, that marvel of delicacy, that concentration of sapid excellence, that mouthful before all other mouthfuls, who first had faith to believe it, and courage to execute? The exterior is not persuasive.”
(Henry Ward Beecher 1813-1887, brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe)
Even when induced to pry open the shell however, the creature inside was somewhat intimidating. As Jonathan Swift said, “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.”
No kidding! Just look at them:
Though it’s a little hard for some of us to see how anyone found them tempting, LOTS of people did. Oysters have been eaten for eons, but at the beginning of the 19th century in America only the wealthy could afford them. This changed by mid-century when improved harvesting techniques, canning, refrigeration, and railroad express delivery brought the price down substantially. The oyster craze swept the country; eventually even the ordinary working family could afford oysters. Oysters became cheaper than meat, fish, and poultry as a source of protein. By 1885, oysters cost $0.03 each (equivalent to $0.73 today) and dropped to $0.01 (equivalent to $0.25 today) each by 1889.
The oldest restaurant in Boston—the famous Union Oyster House—opened its doors in 1826 under the name Atwood & Bacon’s Oyster House on Union St. in Boston’s Haymarket. It is reputed that Daniel Webster ate there regularly, consuming six plates of oysters at a single sitting. Over the years it became known simply as the Union Oyster House:
Atwood was “Hawes” Atwood. Originally from Wellfleet, Mass., the Atwoods were active in the oyster business for generations and it is likely that S. C. Atwood in the Cambridge advertisement below was related in some way to Hawes. S. C. mentions his catering experience in Boston. Hawes’ son, Benjamin F. Atwood, also had an oyster house in Boston, and there is a David Atwood appearing in the Cambridge City Directory from 1872 as an oyster dealer living on Seaver Place, with his business at Fanueil Hall Sq.
The earliest reference to oysters in the Cambridge newspapers that have been digitized is the advertisement below for Benjamin Seaver’s Temperance Oyster Saloon. The influence of the Temperance Movement of the 1820’s and ‘30’s was increasing, and Seaver may have thought that providing a “dry” place to eat might lure more customers:
On the other hand, by a few months later, Seaver may have had a change of heart. His ads no longer mention the temperance angle.
George M. Teague, who owned several different eating establishments in Cambridge, did not mention temperance in the advert below, but the following article of the same date about the restaurant did:
Poor George Teague: his first wife died, and 12 years later in 1890 he married his second wife. Three years later (and four years before his own death) the notice below suggests that it was not a good match:
Teague had assumed ownership of the eatery from D. Stone, who in 1847 advertised “City Lunch,” at the same location, under Joseph A. Holmes Co. on Main St. This was in the same building as the Cambridge Chronicle.
Also, in 1851 Charles H. Foster advertises his Oyster Saloon under Lyceum Hall (built 1841) in Harvard Square. The Harvard Coop demolished the Hall in 1924, but the columns of the current façade are reminiscent of the original. Note the sign for “Restaurant” in the lower right. Over the years there were several iterations of restaurant at the location, including one run by Charles F. Belcher, who also briefly ran the concession at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery Reception House.
Close by, in at least 1848, John Goodridge had an “Oyster Saloon” on Brattle Street in Harvard Square several years before this advert below appeared in 1852 (Brighton St. was the current JFK Street):
HOW TO EAT OYSTERS
Oysters are an excellent source of vitamin B12 and are also rich in minerals, including selenium, zinc, and iron. The best way to get all of their nutritional benefit is to eat them raw. It was once thought that one should eat oysters only in months whose name contains an “R,” which excludes May, June, July and August. The theory was that one might avoid oysters during this time as there are bacteria levels in “red tides” in the summer months, or to give oysters a break while they spawn. Some claimed that summer oysters had a bad taste.
These days, oyster farming is highly regulated and these conventions no longer apply.
Oysters were eaten in pies, pickled, escalloped, stewed, fried, raw, or in soups. According to an article in the Salem Register in 1850 (March 11), “Stewed oysters and boiled eggs are digested in three hours and a half—an hour more than is required by the same articles raw.” Mmm…
Oysters were sold by the quart or gallon:
(Maybe this was the problem that befell this Maine lady after eating four quarts)
And eaten with style
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox. Check back soon to read part two!