How One 1922 Glutton Ate Breakfast

What Have We Here? — A “Shredded-Wheat dish” made by George Jones & Sons in the 1930's. The dish features a blue and white scene of an Abby with a stonewall, large gateway and arched windows and garden landscape on a white background. It is approx. 7-1/4" long by 6-1/2" across by 1-1/2" deep. Marked on the bottom is “Shredded Wheat Dish Abbey, 1790, Geo. Jones & Sons, England” – By the 1930’s, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals were well ingrained in American, and even British, societies after being developed and cleverly marketed as the healthiest way to start one’s day, by William Kellogg and then Charles Post, among others, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

DISDAINED KNIFE AND FORK

“Swell” Fooled Both Men Who Made Bets as to His Manner of Eating Breakfast

Tex Rickard said to a group of correspondents the other day:

“It isn't only scrappers that make bad mistakes in etiquette. I was eating breakfast in one of the swell New York restaurants one morning when a fat man came in.

“‘He's one of the biggest swells in the town,’ says my friend. Watch him.

“The fat man he was dressed like a prince - ordered two portions of ham and eggs, two of country sausage, two of buckwheat cakes and maple sirup, and, along with all that, mush and milk, lamb chops, liver and bacon, fried potatoes, oatmeal and corned beef hash.

"All these things were brought to him together, and he dumped them into a big soup dish and proceeded to cut them up and mix them round well.

“‘Hanged if that ain't the worst sight I've ever seen,’ I said to my friend. ‘I'll bet you three to one, George, he eats it with his knife.’

“‘No, no.’ says George. ‘He's a big swell, I tell you. I bet he eats it with his fork.’

Mr. Rickard shook his head gloomily.

“We both lost,” he said. “He ate it with a ladle.” – Trinity Journal, 4 March, 1922 

 🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia