(Daniel P. B. Smith) writes:
> I'm particular interested in pinning down current usage. I _believe_
> that it is very rare for restaurants, even diners, to offer blue-plate
> specials _under that name_ today. Is this right, or do they survive?

They do survive. I know of two fairly local places (White River
Junction, VT, and Concord, NH) that have "blue plate specials" by that
exact name, and have eaten at any number of small family-run
restaurants that have them. Some chains, too, seeing that for most of
1993 my entire office would go out every friday to eat at the Oak
Ridge, TN Quincy's Steakhouse[1] and get the Blue Plate Special. I've
been to quite a few cafeterias that have the same special (sometimes
just for kids or seniors, however). In all these cases, a blue plate
was used, too.

I've even seen a "Blue Plate Special" at the La Jolla, CA Hard Rock
Cafe, but nobody ordered it, so I don't know if the plate was blue.

> If so is it a true tradition or is it deliberately "retro?"

I think the former more than the latter.

[1] Now closed. Out of curiousity, are there any Quincy's still around?

--
Richard W Kaszeta

http://www.kaszeta.org/rich

In article >,
Richard Kaszeta > wrote:

> (Daniel P. B. Smith) writes:
> > I'm particular interested in pinning down current usage. I _believe_
> > that it is very rare for restaurants, even diners, to offer blue-plate
> > specials _under that name_ today. Is this right, or do they survive?
>
> They do survive. I know of two fairly local places (White River
> Junction, VT, and Concord, NH) that have "blue plate specials" by that
> exact name, and have eaten at any number of small family-run
> restaurants that have them. Some chains, too, seeing that for most of
> 1993 my entire office would go out every friday to eat at the Oak
> Ridge, TN Quincy's Steakhouse[1] and get the Blue Plate Special. I've
> been to quite a few cafeterias that have the same special (sometimes
> just for kids or seniors, however). In all these cases, a blue plate
> was used, too.

Solid blue? Or a blue pattern like Blue Willow? If solid blue, light or
dark? Plastic or china?

--
Daniel P. B. Smith, dpbsmith at world dot ess tee dee dot com
"Elinor Goulding Smith's Great Big Messy Book" is now back in print!
Sample chapter at http://world.std.com/~dpbsmith/messy.html
Buy it at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1403314063/

"Daniel P. B. Smith" > writes:
> > They do survive. I know of two fairly local places (White River
> > Junction, VT, and Concord, NH) that have "blue plate specials" by that
> > exact name, and have eaten at any number of small family-run
> > restaurants that have them. Some chains, too, seeing that for most of
> > 1993 my entire office would go out every friday to eat at the Oak
> > Ridge, TN Quincy's Steakhouse[1] and get the Blue Plate Special. I've
> > been to quite a few cafeterias that have the same special (sometimes
> > just for kids or seniors, however). In all these cases, a blue plate
> > was used, too.
>
> Solid blue? Or a blue pattern like Blue Willow? If solid blue, light or
> dark? Plastic or china?

In almost all cases it's been solid blue plastic plates, with the blue
being fairly dark. That's definitely the case of the TN Quincy's, and
the two local places. I can probably grab a picture in the next few
days if you want one for the page.

--
Richard W Kaszeta

http://www.kaszeta.org/rich

I've seen the blue plate special but the plate was white the stuff on the
plate was blue. YUK...





"Daniel P. B. Smith" > wrote in message
om...
> I'm working on a Wikipedia article on the phrase "blue-plate special."
> Current version is at
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-plate_special and current text is
> below.
>
> Any comments would be very welcome. (Or, of course, you can edit the
> article yourself at Wikipedia).
>
> I'm particular interested in pinning down current usage. I _believe_
> that it is very rare for restaurants, even diners, to offer blue-plate
> specials _under that name_ today. Is this right, or do they survive?
> If so is it a true tradition or is it deliberately "retro?"
>
> Here's the current article:
>
>
>
> Blue-plate special or blue plate special was a term used in the United
> States by restaurants, particularly (but not only) diners. It referred
> to a specially-low-priced meal, usually changing daily. It typically
> consisted of "meat-and-two-veg" presented on a single plate (rather
> than more elegantly on separate dishes). The term was very common in
> the 1920s through the 1950s. As of 2004 few restaurants actually offer
> blue-plate specials under that name, but is still a widely used
> colloquial English phrase.
>
> The origin and explanation of the phrase are not clear. Kevin Reed
> says that "during the Depression, a manufacturer started making plates
> with separate sections for each part of a meal-like a frozen dinner
> tray-it seems that for whatever reason they were only available in the
> color blue." Michael Quinion suggests that the the blue plates were,
> more specifically, inexpensive divided plates that were made in an
> imitation of the familiar Wedgwood "blue willow" pattern. One of his
> correspondents says that the first known use of the term is on a
> October 22, 1892 Fred Harvey restaurant menu, and implies that
> blue-plate specials were regular features at Harvey houses.
>
> The term became common starting in the late 1920s. A May 27, 1926
> advertisement in the New York Times for "The Famous Old Sea Grill
> Lobster and Chop House" at 141 West 45th Street promises "A La Carte
> All Hours," "Moderate Prices," and "Blue Plate Specials." A December
> 2, 1928 article, lamenting the rise in prices that has made it
> difficult to "dine on a dime," praises an Ann Street establishment
> where you can still get "a steak-and-lots-of-onion" sandwich for a
> dime and a "big blue-plate special, with meat course and three
> vegetables, is purchasable for a quarter, just as it has been for the
> last ten years." The first book publication of Damon Runyon's story,
> Little Miss Marker, was in a 1934 collection entitled "Damon Runyon's
> Blue Plate Special."
>
> A Hollywood columnist wrote in 1940, "Every time Spencer Tracy enters
> the Metro commissary, executives and minor geniuses look up from their
> blue plate specials to look at the actor and marvel."
>
> "No substitutions" was a common policy on blue-plate specials. One
> late-1940s Candid Microphone episode features Allen Funt ordering a
> blue-plate special and trying to talk the waiter into making various
> changes, such as replacing one of the vegetables with soup, while the
> polite but increasingly annoyed waiter trys in vain to explain to Funt
> that "no substitutions" means what it says.
>
> Road food experts Jane and Michael Stern entitled their 2001 guidebook
> "Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs: The Heart And Soul Of
> America's Great Roadside Restaurants."
>
> In contemporary use a "blue-plate special" can be any inexpensive full
> meal, any daily selection, or merely a whimsical phrasing. A travel
> columnist says that a Portland, Maine eatery offers "budget blue-plate
> specials along with more refined fare." The Turner South cable channel
> calls a daily movie selection, scheduled at lunchtime, its "blue-plate
> special." Mystery writer Abigail Padgett's second novel about amateur
> sleuth Blue McCarron is entitled The Last Blue Plate Special; no meals
> here, the blue plates are part of the decor at a clinic where patients
> are dying mysteriously. A reviewer uses the headline "The Red, White
> and Blue Plate Special" for a review of a book on "Diners, Bowling
> Alleys, and Trailer Parks." The Boston Childrens' Museum presents a
> participatory-theatre show, sponsored by health insurer Blue Cross,
> which teaches good nutrition; the show is called "Blue Plate Special."

(Daniel P. B. Smith) wrote in message . com>...
> I'm working on a Wikipedia article on the phrase "blue-plate special."
> Current version is at
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-plate_special and current text is
> below.
>
> Any comments would be very welcome. (Or, of course, you can edit the
> article yourself at Wikipedia).
>
> I'm particular interested in pinning down current usage. I _believe_
> that it is very rare for restaurants, even diners, to offer blue-plate
> specials _under that name_ today. Is this right, or do they survive?
> If so is it a true tradition or is it deliberately "retro?"
>
> Here's the current article:
>
>
>
> Blue-plate special or blue plate special was a term used in the United
> States by restaurants, particularly (but not only) diners. It referred
> to a specially-low-priced meal, usually changing daily. It typically
> consisted of "meat-and-two-veg" presented on a single plate (rather
> than more elegantly on separate dishes). The term was very common in
> the 1920s through the 1950s. As of 2004 few restaurants actually offer
> blue-plate specials under that name, but is still a widely used
> colloquial English phrase.
>
> The origin and explanation of the phrase are not clear. Kevin Reed
> says that "during the Depression, a manufacturer started making plates
> with separate sections for each part of a meal?like a frozen dinner
> tray?it seems that for whatever reason they were only available in the
> color blue." Michael Quinion suggests that the the blue plates were,
> more specifically, inexpensive divided plates that were made in an
> imitation of the familiar Wedgwood "blue willow" pattern. One of his
> correspondents says that the first known use of the term is on a
> October 22, 1892 Fred Harvey restaurant menu, and implies that
> blue-plate specials were regular features at Harvey houses.
>
> The term became common starting in the late 1920s. A May 27, 1926
> advertisement in the New York Times for "The Famous Old Sea Grill
> Lobster and Chop House" at 141 West 45th Street promises "A La Carte
> All Hours," "Moderate Prices," and "Blue Plate Specials." A December
> 2, 1928 article, lamenting the rise in prices that has made it
> difficult to "dine on a dime," praises an Ann Street establishment
> where you can still get "a steak-and-lots-of-onion" sandwich for a
> dime and a "big blue-plate special, with meat course and three
> vegetables, is purchasable for a quarter, just as it has been for the
> last ten years." The first book publication of Damon Runyon's story,
> Little Miss Marker, was in a 1934 collection entitled "Damon Runyon's
> Blue Plate Special."
>
> A Hollywood columnist wrote in 1940, "Every time Spencer Tracy enters
> the Metro commissary, executives and minor geniuses look up from their
> blue plate specials to look at the actor and marvel."
>
> "No substitutions" was a common policy on blue-plate specials. One
> late-1940s Candid Microphone episode features Allen Funt ordering a
> blue-plate special and trying to talk the waiter into making various
> changes, such as replacing one of the vegetables with soup, while the
> polite but increasingly annoyed waiter trys in vain to explain to Funt
> that "no substitutions" means what it says.
>
> Road food experts Jane and Michael Stern entitled their 2001 guidebook
> "Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs: The Heart And Soul Of
> America's Great Roadside Restaurants."
>
> In contemporary use a "blue-plate special" can be any inexpensive full
> meal, any daily selection, or merely a whimsical phrasing. A travel
> columnist says that a Portland, Maine eatery offers "budget blue-plate
> specials along with more refined fare." The Turner South cable channel
> calls a daily movie selection, scheduled at lunchtime, its "blue-plate
> special." Mystery writer Abigail Padgett's second novel about amateur
> sleuth Blue McCarron is entitled The Last Blue Plate Special; no meals
> here, the blue plates are part of the decor at a clinic where patients
> are dying mysteriously. A reviewer uses the headline "The Red, White
> and Blue Plate Special" for a review of a book on "Diners, Bowling
> Alleys, and Trailer Parks." The Boston Childrens' Museum presents a
> participatory-theatre show, sponsored by health insurer Blue Cross,
> which teaches good nutrition; the show is called "Blue Plate Special."

First of all, they do still exist but seem to be rare. In addition to
the VT and NH places mentioned in another post, there was a small
diner in an office building in downtown Chicago as recently as 8 years
ago that was serving up blue-plate specials at lunch (and describing
them as such on their menu) - I don't know if they are still there
(maybe someone else on this list can answer this).

Secondly, I'd recommend at least looking at Southern Food by John
Egerton before submitting your article. I don't have it in front of
me right now (I'll check it when I get a chance), but I seem to recall
that there is a section regarding the blue-plate special and
especially how it relates to the "meat-and-three" lunches still found
at many eateries throughout the South (the term "meat-and-three" is
still used regularly at several restaurants in the Nashville area).

:-Dan

(Daniel P. B. Smith) wrote in message . com>...
> I'm working on a Wikipedia article on the phrase "blue-plate special."
> Current version is at
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-plate_special and current text is
> below.
>
> Any comments would be very welcome. (Or, of course, you can edit the
> article yourself at Wikipedia).
>
> I'm particular interested in pinning down current usage. I _believe_
> that it is very rare for restaurants, even diners, to offer blue-plate
> specials _under that name_ today. Is this right, or do they survive?
> If so is it a true tradition or is it deliberately "retro?"
>
> Here's the current article:
>
>
>
> Blue-plate special or blue plate special was a term used in the United
> States by restaurants, particularly (but not only) diners. It referred
> to a specially-low-priced meal, usually changing daily. It typically
> consisted of "meat-and-two-veg" presented on a single plate (rather
> than more elegantly on separate dishes). The term was very common in
> the 1920s through the 1950s. As of 2004 few restaurants actually offer
> blue-plate specials under that name, but is still a widely used
> colloquial English phrase.
>
> The origin and explanation of the phrase are not clear. Kevin Reed
> says that "during the Depression, a manufacturer started making plates
> with separate sections for each part of a meal?like a frozen dinner
> tray?it seems that for whatever reason they were only available in the
> color blue." Michael Quinion suggests that the the blue plates were,
> more specifically, inexpensive divided plates that were made in an
> imitation of the familiar Wedgwood "blue willow" pattern. One of his
> correspondents says that the first known use of the term is on a
> October 22, 1892 Fred Harvey restaurant menu, and implies that
> blue-plate specials were regular features at Harvey houses.
>
> The term became common starting in the late 1920s. A May 27, 1926
> advertisement in the New York Times for "The Famous Old Sea Grill
> Lobster and Chop House" at 141 West 45th Street promises "A La Carte
> All Hours," "Moderate Prices," and "Blue Plate Specials." A December
> 2, 1928 article, lamenting the rise in prices that has made it
> difficult to "dine on a dime," praises an Ann Street establishment
> where you can still get "a steak-and-lots-of-onion" sandwich for a
> dime and a "big blue-plate special, with meat course and three
> vegetables, is purchasable for a quarter, just as it has been for the
> last ten years." The first book publication of Damon Runyon's story,
> Little Miss Marker, was in a 1934 collection entitled "Damon Runyon's
> Blue Plate Special."
>
> A Hollywood columnist wrote in 1940, "Every time Spencer Tracy enters
> the Metro commissary, executives and minor geniuses look up from their
> blue plate specials to look at the actor and marvel."
>
> "No substitutions" was a common policy on blue-plate specials. One
> late-1940s Candid Microphone episode features Allen Funt ordering a
> blue-plate special and trying to talk the waiter into making various
> changes, such as replacing one of the vegetables with soup, while the
> polite but increasingly annoyed waiter trys in vain to explain to Funt
> that "no substitutions" means what it says.
>
> Road food experts Jane and Michael Stern entitled their 2001 guidebook
> "Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs: The Heart And Soul Of
> America's Great Roadside Restaurants."
>
> In contemporary use a "blue-plate special" can be any inexpensive full
> meal, any daily selection, or merely a whimsical phrasing. A travel
> columnist says that a Portland, Maine eatery offers "budget blue-plate
> specials along with more refined fare." The Turner South cable channel
> calls a daily movie selection, scheduled at lunchtime, its "blue-plate
> special." Mystery writer Abigail Padgett's second novel about amateur
> sleuth Blue McCarron is entitled The Last Blue Plate Special; no meals
> here, the blue plates are part of the decor at a clinic where patients
> are dying mysteriously. A reviewer uses the headline "The Red, White
> and Blue Plate Special" for a review of a book on "Diners, Bowling
> Alleys, and Trailer Parks." The Boston Childrens' Museum presents a
> participatory-theatre show, sponsored by health insurer Blue Cross,
> which teaches good nutrition; the show is called "Blue Plate Special."

First of all, they do still exist but seem to be rare. In addition to
the VT and NH places mentioned in another post, there was a small
diner in an office building in downtown Chicago as recently as 8 years
ago that was serving up blue-plate specials at lunch (and describing
them as such on their menu) - I don't know if they are still there
(maybe someone else on this list can answer this).

Secondly, I'd recommend at least looking at Southern Food by John
Egerton before submitting your article. I don't have it in front of
me right now (I'll check it when I get a chance), but I seem to recall
that there is a section regarding the blue-plate special and
especially how it relates to the "meat-and-three" lunches still found
at many eateries throughout the South (the term "meat-and-three" is
still used regularly at several restaurants in the Nashville area).

:-Dan

In article >,
Richard Kaszeta > wrote:

> "Daniel P. B. Smith" > writes:
> > > They do survive. I know of two fairly local places (White River
> > > Junction, VT, and Concord, NH) that have "blue plate specials" by that
> > > exact name, and have eaten at any number of small family-run
> > > restaurants that have them. Some chains, too, seeing that for most of
> > > 1993 my entire office would go out every friday to eat at the Oak
> > > Ridge, TN Quincy's Steakhouse[1] and get the Blue Plate Special. I've
> > > been to quite a few cafeterias that have the same special (sometimes
> > > just for kids or seniors, however). In all these cases, a blue plate
> > > was used, too.
> >
> > Solid blue? Or a blue pattern like Blue Willow? If solid blue, light or
> > dark? Plastic or china?
>
> In almost all cases it's been solid blue plastic plates, with the blue
> being fairly dark. That's definitely the case of the TN Quincy's, and
> the two local places. I can probably grab a picture in the next few
> days if you want one for the page.

Oh, yes. Please, please, pretty please. That would be _excellent_.

--
Daniel P. B. Smith, dpbsmith at world dot ess tee dee dot com
"Elinor Goulding Smith's Great Big Messy Book" is now back in print!
Sample chapter at http://world.std.com/~dpbsmith/messy.html
Buy it at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1403314063/

(Dan Checkman) wrote in message . com>...
> (Daniel P. B. Smith) wrote in message . com>...
> > I'm working on a Wikipedia article on the phrase "blue-plate special."
> > Current version is at
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-plate_special and current text is
> > below.
> >
> > Any comments would be very welcome. (Or, of course, you can edit the
> > article yourself at Wikipedia).
> >
> > I'm particular interested in pinning down current usage. I _believe_
> > that it is very rare for restaurants, even diners, to offer blue-plate
> > specials _under that name_ today. Is this right, or do they survive?
> > If so is it a true tradition or is it deliberately "retro?"
> >
> > Here's the current article:
> >
> >
> >
> > Blue-plate special or blue plate special was a term used in the United
> > States by restaurants, particularly (but not only) diners. It referred
> > to a specially-low-priced meal, usually changing daily. It typically
> > consisted of "meat-and-two-veg" presented on a single plate (rather
> > than more elegantly on separate dishes). The term was very common in
> > the 1920s through the 1950s. As of 2004 few restaurants actually offer
> > blue-plate specials under that name, but is still a widely used
> > colloquial English phrase.
> >
> > The origin and explanation of the phrase are not clear. Kevin Reed
> > says that "during the Depression, a manufacturer started making plates
> > with separate sections for each part of a meal?like a frozen dinner
> > tray?it seems that for whatever reason they were only available in the
> > color blue." Michael Quinion suggests that the the blue plates were,
> > more specifically, inexpensive divided plates that were made in an
> > imitation of the familiar Wedgwood "blue willow" pattern. One of his
> > correspondents says that the first known use of the term is on a
> > October 22, 1892 Fred Harvey restaurant menu, and implies that
> > blue-plate specials were regular features at Harvey houses.
> >
> > The term became common starting in the late 1920s. A May 27, 1926
> > advertisement in the New York Times for "The Famous Old Sea Grill
> > Lobster and Chop House" at 141 West 45th Street promises "A La Carte
> > All Hours," "Moderate Prices," and "Blue Plate Specials." A December
> > 2, 1928 article, lamenting the rise in prices that has made it
> > difficult to "dine on a dime," praises an Ann Street establishment
> > where you can still get "a steak-and-lots-of-onion" sandwich for a
> > dime and a "big blue-plate special, with meat course and three
> > vegetables, is purchasable for a quarter, just as it has been for the
> > last ten years." The first book publication of Damon Runyon's story,
> > Little Miss Marker, was in a 1934 collection entitled "Damon Runyon's
> > Blue Plate Special."
> >
> > A Hollywood columnist wrote in 1940, "Every time Spencer Tracy enters
> > the Metro commissary, executives and minor geniuses look up from their
> > blue plate specials to look at the actor and marvel."
> >
> > "No substitutions" was a common policy on blue-plate specials. One
> > late-1940s Candid Microphone episode features Allen Funt ordering a
> > blue-plate special and trying to talk the waiter into making various
> > changes, such as replacing one of the vegetables with soup, while the
> > polite but increasingly annoyed waiter trys in vain to explain to Funt
> > that "no substitutions" means what it says.
> >
> > Road food experts Jane and Michael Stern entitled their 2001 guidebook
> > "Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs: The Heart And Soul Of
> > America's Great Roadside Restaurants."
> >
> > In contemporary use a "blue-plate special" can be any inexpensive full
> > meal, any daily selection, or merely a whimsical phrasing. A travel
> > columnist says that a Portland, Maine eatery offers "budget blue-plate
> > specials along with more refined fare." The Turner South cable channel
> > calls a daily movie selection, scheduled at lunchtime, its "blue-plate
> > special." Mystery writer Abigail Padgett's second novel about amateur
> > sleuth Blue McCarron is entitled The Last Blue Plate Special; no meals
> > here, the blue plates are part of the decor at a clinic where patients
> > are dying mysteriously. A reviewer uses the headline "The Red, White
> > and Blue Plate Special" for a review of a book on "Diners, Bowling
> > Alleys, and Trailer Parks." The Boston Childrens' Museum presents a
> > participatory-theatre show, sponsored by health insurer Blue Cross,
> > which teaches good nutrition; the show is called "Blue Plate Special."
>
> First of all, they do still exist but seem to be rare. In addition to
> the VT and NH places mentioned in another post, there was a small
> diner in an office building in downtown Chicago as recently as 8 years
> ago that was serving up blue-plate specials at lunch (and describing
> them as such on their menu) - I don't know if they are still there
> (maybe someone else on this list can answer this).
>
> Secondly, I'd recommend at least looking at Southern Food by John
> Egerton before submitting your article. I don't have it in front of
> me right now (I'll check it when I get a chance), but I seem to recall
> that there is a section regarding the blue-plate special and
> especially how it relates to the "meat-and-three" lunches still found
> at many eateries throughout the South (the term "meat-and-three" is
> still used regularly at several restaurants in the Nashville area).
>
> :-Dan

Okay, I found the reference. It's on pages 67 and 68 of Southern Food
and pretty much starts out Egerton's section on lunch in the "Eating
Out" part of the book (even though this was written in 1983, I find
that it is still a great source for eating your way through the
South). Anyhow, in case you don't have a copy, I'll go ahead and cite
the relevant paragraphs here (without Mr. Egerton's permission and
leaving out the first 2, which are mostly biographical about Hap
Townes and son who both ran an eatery in Nashville):

"The genesis of plate-lunch dining in America can be traced to such
public eateries as Hap's. Back in the days when lunch was dinner and
dinner was supper, the midday meal generally was the main repast for
people of all classes. The food was hearty and substantial, and for
good reason; the time to eat heavily, most people agreed, was not in
the evening before bedtime but early in the day, when energy was
needed for the hard work at hand. As dinner for working people
gradually moved from home kitchens to cafes and restaurants of cities
and towns, the pattern of heavy dining at noon was continued."
"The plate lunch, a singularly American invention, became firmly fixed
in the restaurant trade early in this [last] century. Before long,
there was even a custom-made plate for it: a large, heavy china plate
in the popular and familiar blue willow pattern, with compartments to
divide the meat or other main dish from the vegetables. The
blue-plate special (or lunch, or supper, or dinner) was a quickly
understood term for a generously large and inexpensive meal that
commonly consisted of a main dish, three or four vegetables, some kind
of bread, and a drink."
"Southern cooking, with its emphasis on meats and gravies, vegetables,
hot breads, and desserts, was especially well suited to plate-lunch
dining. Restaurants featuring blue-plate specials came early to the
region, and many of the best of them have survived to this day,
withstanding the fast-food revolution and other modern gastronomic
upheavals. Hap Townes is [was?] such a place. In history, style, and
quality, the little cafe is a good and typical example of the
traditions associated with eating out for lunch in the South."

So, there you have it. The concept of the blue-plate special
definitely still exists, but I doubt you're going to find too many (if
any) that still use the china, and particularly a blue willow pattern.
China dishes used in a restaurant setting, especially a casual lunch,
are more prone to breakage. Anyhow, I hope you find this useful -
best of luck with your article; it looks good.

:-Dan

(Dan Checkman) wrote in message . com>...
> (Daniel P. B. Smith) wrote in message . com>...
> > I'm working on a Wikipedia article on the phrase "blue-plate special."
> > Current version is at
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-plate_special and current text is
> > below.
> >
> > Any comments would be very welcome. (Or, of course, you can edit the
> > article yourself at Wikipedia).
> >
> > I'm particular interested in pinning down current usage. I _believe_
> > that it is very rare for restaurants, even diners, to offer blue-plate
> > specials _under that name_ today. Is this right, or do they survive?
> > If so is it a true tradition or is it deliberately "retro?"
> >
> > Here's the current article:
> >
> >
> >
> > Blue-plate special or blue plate special was a term used in the United
> > States by restaurants, particularly (but not only) diners. It referred
> > to a specially-low-priced meal, usually changing daily. It typically
> > consisted of "meat-and-two-veg" presented on a single plate (rather
> > than more elegantly on separate dishes). The term was very common in
> > the 1920s through the 1950s. As of 2004 few restaurants actually offer
> > blue-plate specials under that name, but is still a widely used
> > colloquial English phrase.
> >
> > The origin and explanation of the phrase are not clear. Kevin Reed
> > says that "during the Depression, a manufacturer started making plates
> > with separate sections for each part of a meal?like a frozen dinner
> > tray?it seems that for whatever reason they were only available in the
> > color blue." Michael Quinion suggests that the the blue plates were,
> > more specifically, inexpensive divided plates that were made in an
> > imitation of the familiar Wedgwood "blue willow" pattern. One of his
> > correspondents says that the first known use of the term is on a
> > October 22, 1892 Fred Harvey restaurant menu, and implies that
> > blue-plate specials were regular features at Harvey houses.
> >
> > The term became common starting in the late 1920s. A May 27, 1926
> > advertisement in the New York Times for "The Famous Old Sea Grill
> > Lobster and Chop House" at 141 West 45th Street promises "A La Carte
> > All Hours," "Moderate Prices," and "Blue Plate Specials." A December
> > 2, 1928 article, lamenting the rise in prices that has made it
> > difficult to "dine on a dime," praises an Ann Street establishment
> > where you can still get "a steak-and-lots-of-onion" sandwich for a
> > dime and a "big blue-plate special, with meat course and three
> > vegetables, is purchasable for a quarter, just as it has been for the
> > last ten years." The first book publication of Damon Runyon's story,
> > Little Miss Marker, was in a 1934 collection entitled "Damon Runyon's
> > Blue Plate Special."
> >
> > A Hollywood columnist wrote in 1940, "Every time Spencer Tracy enters
> > the Metro commissary, executives and minor geniuses look up from their
> > blue plate specials to look at the actor and marvel."
> >
> > "No substitutions" was a common policy on blue-plate specials. One
> > late-1940s Candid Microphone episode features Allen Funt ordering a
> > blue-plate special and trying to talk the waiter into making various
> > changes, such as replacing one of the vegetables with soup, while the
> > polite but increasingly annoyed waiter trys in vain to explain to Funt
> > that "no substitutions" means what it says.
> >
> > Road food experts Jane and Michael Stern entitled their 2001 guidebook
> > "Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs: The Heart And Soul Of
> > America's Great Roadside Restaurants."
> >
> > In contemporary use a "blue-plate special" can be any inexpensive full
> > meal, any daily selection, or merely a whimsical phrasing. A travel
> > columnist says that a Portland, Maine eatery offers "budget blue-plate
> > specials along with more refined fare." The Turner South cable channel
> > calls a daily movie selection, scheduled at lunchtime, its "blue-plate
> > special." Mystery writer Abigail Padgett's second novel about amateur
> > sleuth Blue McCarron is entitled The Last Blue Plate Special; no meals
> > here, the blue plates are part of the decor at a clinic where patients
> > are dying mysteriously. A reviewer uses the headline "The Red, White
> > and Blue Plate Special" for a review of a book on "Diners, Bowling
> > Alleys, and Trailer Parks." The Boston Childrens' Museum presents a
> > participatory-theatre show, sponsored by health insurer Blue Cross,
> > which teaches good nutrition; the show is called "Blue Plate Special."
>
> First of all, they do still exist but seem to be rare. In addition to
> the VT and NH places mentioned in another post, there was a small
> diner in an office building in downtown Chicago as recently as 8 years
> ago that was serving up blue-plate specials at lunch (and describing
> them as such on their menu) - I don't know if they are still there
> (maybe someone else on this list can answer this).
>
> Secondly, I'd recommend at least looking at Southern Food by John
> Egerton before submitting your article. I don't have it in front of
> me right now (I'll check it when I get a chance), but I seem to recall
> that there is a section regarding the blue-plate special and
> especially how it relates to the "meat-and-three" lunches still found
> at many eateries throughout the South (the term "meat-and-three" is
> still used regularly at several restaurants in the Nashville area).
>
> :-Dan

Okay, I found the reference. It's on pages 67 and 68 of Southern Food
and pretty much starts out Egerton's section on lunch in the "Eating
Out" part of the book (even though this was written in 1983, I find
that it is still a great source for eating your way through the
South). Anyhow, in case you don't have a copy, I'll go ahead and cite
the relevant paragraphs here (without Mr. Egerton's permission and
leaving out the first 2, which are mostly biographical about Hap
Townes and son who both ran an eatery in Nashville):

"The genesis of plate-lunch dining in America can be traced to such
public eateries as Hap's. Back in the days when lunch was dinner and
dinner was supper, the midday meal generally was the main repast for
people of all classes. The food was hearty and substantial, and for
good reason; the time to eat heavily, most people agreed, was not in
the evening before bedtime but early in the day, when energy was
needed for the hard work at hand. As dinner for working people
gradually moved from home kitchens to cafes and restaurants of cities
and towns, the pattern of heavy dining at noon was continued."
"The plate lunch, a singularly American invention, became firmly fixed
in the restaurant trade early in this [last] century. Before long,
there was even a custom-made plate for it: a large, heavy china plate
in the popular and familiar blue willow pattern, with compartments to
divide the meat or other main dish from the vegetables. The
blue-plate special (or lunch, or supper, or dinner) was a quickly
understood term for a generously large and inexpensive meal that
commonly consisted of a main dish, three or four vegetables, some kind
of bread, and a drink."
"Southern cooking, with its emphasis on meats and gravies, vegetables,
hot breads, and desserts, was especially well suited to plate-lunch
dining. Restaurants featuring blue-plate specials came early to the
region, and many of the best of them have survived to this day,
withstanding the fast-food revolution and other modern gastronomic
upheavals. Hap Townes is [was?] such a place. In history, style, and
quality, the little cafe is a good and typical example of the
traditions associated with eating out for lunch in the South."

So, there you have it. The concept of the blue-plate special
definitely still exists, but I doubt you're going to find too many (if
any) that still use the china, and particularly a blue willow pattern.
China dishes used in a restaurant setting, especially a casual lunch,
are more prone to breakage. Anyhow, I hope you find this useful -
best of luck with your article; it looks good.

:-Dan

Daniel P. B. Smith wrote:
> I'm working on a Wikipedia article on the phrase "blue-plate special."
> Current version is at
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-plate_special and current text is
> below.
>
> Any comments would be very welcome. (Or, of course, you can edit the
> article yourself at Wikipedia).


<snip>

Never heard the term in Australia.
( if you're interested

Daniel P. B. Smith wrote:
> I'm working on a Wikipedia article on the phrase "blue-plate special."
> Current version is at
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-plate_special and current text is
> below.
>
> Any comments would be very welcome. (Or, of course, you can edit the
> article yourself at Wikipedia).


<snip>

Never heard the term in Australia.
( if you're interested