In article , Olivers
wrote:

The stories are too frequent, too reasonable and so well attuned to
observations of human nature today to have much deniability on the grounds
of "lack of evidence".

So do stories about the sun going round the earth. Any other theory
defies common sense and the evidence of my eyes.

Lazarus

--
Remover the rock from the email address

Lazarus Cooke muttered....

In article , Olivers
wrote:

The stories are too frequent, too reasonable and so well attuned to
observations of human nature today to have much deniability on the
grounds of "lack of evidence".

So do stories about the sun going round the earth. Any other theory
defies common sense and the evidence of my eyes.



You realize of course that it does. It's all a matter of perspective. Why
every noon I used to have to go out on the Bridge Wing with my sextant to
wait for it to reach its zenith and pass by on the way around, thus
signifying that local Noon had arrived. Of course, meanwhile the stars are
running their predictable courses around the earth so they can arrive at
the altitude necessary for dawn's fix.

Why would you disbelieve repeated and quite reasonbale anecdotes of groups
forced to dine repeatedly on foods unfamiliar to their childhood and
previous experiences and objecting to same? I suspect that an individual
raised in rural England, unlikely to have ever eaten fresh fish,
transported on a diet of salt meat and dried peas to cold new England and
forces to eat boiled salmon and lobster every day could be expected to
raise his/her voice in objection. Let's face it...caviar in your baked
potato goes well for the first week, but there comes a night when you'll
beg for bacon.

TMO

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 17:43:03 -0600, Olivers
wrote:


I suspect that an individual
raised in rural England, unlikely to have ever eaten fresh fish,
transported on a diet of salt meat and dried peas to cold new England and
forces to eat boiled salmon and lobster every day could be expected to
raise his/her voice in objection.

And how much more so when it's badly cooked, as it likely was...
--
rbc: vixen Fairly harmless

Hit reply to email. But strip out the 'invalid.'
Though I'm very slow to respond.
http://www.visi.com/~cyli

In article , Olivers
wrote:

Lazarus Cooke muttered....



So do stories about the sun going round the earth. Any other theory
defies common sense and the evidence of my eyes.


You realize of course that it does.

I do

Why would you disbelieve repeated and quite reasonbale anecdotes of groups
forced to dine repeatedly on foods unfamiliar to their childhood and
previous experiences and objecting to same?

I don't necessarily disbelieve them. I just become suspicious when the
same tale (which has a moral attached) pops up all over the place, and
yet I haven't seen a primary source.

When I see a primary source that I can check, I'll believe it. Until
then, I'll stay wary.
(I don't want to start talking about WMD...)

Lazarus

--
Remover the rock from the email address

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 10:37:47 +0000, Lazarus Cooke
wrote:

In article , Olivers
wrote:

Lazarus Cooke muttered....



So do stories about the sun going round the earth. Any other theory
defies common sense and the evidence of my eyes.


You realize of course that it does.

I do

Why would you disbelieve repeated and quite reasonbale anecdotes of groups
forced to dine repeatedly on foods unfamiliar to their childhood and
previous experiences and objecting to same?

I don't necessarily disbelieve them. I just become suspicious when the
same tale (which has a moral attached) pops up all over the place, and
yet I haven't seen a primary source.

Pops up all over the place? In northern colonies of a country that has
never been big on cooking prowess or known for lavishing unnecessary
expense on apprentices or indentured servants?

And just what is the moral? I missed that part. I thought it was about
people getting tired of the same food every day, even though it is now
expensive.


When I see a primary source that I can check, I'll believe it. Until
then, I'll stay wary.
(I don't want to start talking about WMD...)

Lazarus


Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Be careful. The toe you stepped on yesterday may be connected to the ass you have to kiss today." --Former mayor Ciancia

(ASmith1946) wrote in
:

TMO wrote:
...and then there were the servants of 18th century littoral New
England on several occasions revolting against the practice of
being fed on lobster, then the cheapest of seafood products.

I've read this for years in secondary sources. Anyone ever found a
primary source that said this?

The farmers of Prince Edward Island, well-known for its lobsters,
never ate them, but picked up beached ones and ground them into the
soil as fertilizer. Tourism made lobsters an industry commodity.

There's a related passage in the film Mystic Pizza where the daughter
of a lobster fisherman goes to dinner to the home of her new rich
boyfriend and lo and behold, they are serving a real treat...lobster.
When she sawthe rich people all agog over lobster, she burst out
laughing. The thing was, she ate lobster at home when there was no
real food because there was not enough money to buy food. To her, it
was poor people's food.

What is one man's meat...

--

"I'm the master of low expectations."

GWB, aboard Air Force One, 04Jun2003

Olivers nattered on
:


The stories are too frequent, too reasonable and so well attuned to
observations of human nature today to have much deniability on the
grounds of "lack of evidence".

I suggest that you go look up what an "urban legend" is and how they are
propagated, no matter how false they actually are.

Michel Boucher nattered on
. 17:

(ASmith1946) wrote in
:

TMO wrote:
...and then there were the servants of 18th century littoral New
England on several occasions revolting against the practice of
being fed on lobster, then the cheapest of seafood products.

I've read this for years in secondary sources. Anyone ever found a
primary source that said this?

The farmers of Prince Edward Island, well-known for its lobsters,
never ate them, but picked up beached ones and ground them into the
soil as fertilizer. Tourism made lobsters an industry commodity.

And how often did they riot over being required to eat them?


There's a related passage in the film Mystic Pizza where the daughter

And this was a documentary, right?

primary source that said this?

The farmers of Prince Edward Island, well-known for its lobsters,
never ate them, but picked up beached ones and ground them into the
soil as fertilizer. Tourism made lobsters an industry commodity.

In Colonial America, the lobster was considered a hunger food. They were eaten
when necessary and were not considered a delicacy. BTW, there were early
reports of lobsters that were 6 feet in length, but one account claimed that
the smaller lobsters tasted better.

I have never understood why lobsters became so important during the 1950s in
America. They are essentially tasteless without sauces.

Oysters, on the other hand, were so common in New York during colonial times
that they were considered both a delicacy and food for the poor.

Andy Smith

Bryan J. Maloney muttered....

Olivers nattered on
:


The stories are too frequent, too reasonable and so well attuned to
observations of human nature today to have much deniability on the
grounds of "lack of evidence".

I suggest that you go look up what an "urban legend" is and how they are
propagated, no matter how false they actually are.




Since I remain a regular reader and contributor to the a.f.u ng (That
alt.folklore.urban), the home of urban legends, I suspect I'm quite well
attuned to the credible/incredible threshold of such legends. This is a
subject which googling may open entirely new and unconsidered vistas to you
about lobsters and other delicacies for the identured staff...

Hint: The literary references alone would serve to validate the "legend".

TMO

"ASmith1946" wrote

I have never understood why lobsters became so important during the 1950s
in
America. They are essentially tasteless without sauces.

Tasteless? I must demur. (Could the ability to taste the sublimity of
lobster be a genetic thing, perhaps?)

Oysters, on the other hand, were so common in New York during colonial
times
that they were considered both a delicacy and food for the poor.

Oysters in any form make me gag. As a kid I remember going to bed hungry one
night after refusing to eat an "oyster stew".

--
Bob
Kanyak's Doghouse
http://kanyak.com

"Bryan J. Maloney" wrote in
93.32:

The farmers of Prince Edward Island, well-known for its lobsters,
never ate them, but picked up beached ones and ground them into
the soil as fertilizer. Tourism made lobsters an industry
commodity.

And how often did they riot over being required to eat them?

They didn't. But then again, they considered the lobster to be
beneath the horizon of human consumption, as did many people in the
past, which may explain why the others rioted, if they felt they were
being fed with food they felt was not suitable. Like, get with the
program, already.

There's a related passage in the film Mystic Pizza where the
daughter

And this was a documentary, right?

Yes, if it makes you happy. It's what we call in the history biz an
allusion which is a literary device used by people who have a modicum
of culture to help illustrate points. It is least likely to be
understood by those lacking said modicum of culture, or humourless
buffoons. Take your pick.

--

"I'm the master of low expectations."

GWB, aboard Air Force One, 04Jun2003

(ASmith1946) wrote in
:

Oysters, on the other hand, were so common in New York during
colonial times that they were considered both a delicacy and food
for the poor.

The people living in the Sorel islands fished eels, not for local
consumption, because they thought it was a vile animal, but for sale to
the best restaurants of New York where it was considered a delicacy.
The railway linking New York to Montréal was built primarily to meet
the demand in eel flesh.

In the Sorel islands, the eel was only eaten by the poorest of the poor
when they had really hit rock bottom.

--

"I'm the master of low expectations."

GWB, aboard Air Force One, 04Jun2003

Hint: The literary references alone would serve to validate the "legend".

TMO
eh?

L

--
Remover the rock from the email address

And just what is the moral? I missed that part. I thought it was about
people getting tired of the same food every day, even though it is now
expensive.

The moral is that even the finest products provide no true comfort.
Compare the Princess and the pea, or most fairy stories.

L

--
Remover the rock from the email address