One of the ways Cool Culinaria dates a vintage menu is by looking at the prices of the food and drink on offer and comparing them to other years. We could never work out why the cost of a Coke remained at five cents through several decades until we heard a fascinating piece on NPR by David Kestenbaum. He reported that the price remained at a nickel throughout three wars, the Great Depression and against the onslaught of competitors because two lawyers bought the bottling rights in 1889. Two Emory University Economists, Daniel Levy and Andrew Young, investigated the fascinating story of the price of Coke in their paper: "The Real Thing:" Nominal Price Rigidity of the Nickel Coke, 1886–1959 after a visit to the Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta alerted them to this strange price anomaly.
This is what they discovered. In 1899, when the drink was only being sold in soda fountains, the two lawyers went to the President of Coca Cola and pitched the idea of it being sold in glass bottles. The then-boss of Coke didn't believe this new-fangled idea would catch on and he agreed to sell the lawyers the syrup to do it – at a fixed price. The professors noted that he probably just wanted to get the pair of persistent lawyers out of his office so he signed the paper without thinking through the consequences.
Drought affected corn
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London’s first coffeehouse (or rather, coffee stall) was opened by an eccentric Greek named Pasqua Roseé in 1652.
By 1663 there were 82 coffeehouses within the old Roman walls of the City. For more see this excellent article from the Daily Telegraph:
London cafes: the surprising history of London's lost coffeehouses
Miller Bros. Bill of Excellent Fare, Baltimore, 1942
Brilliantly illustrated, none of the lobsters on our menus beats nature, however. So with National Lobster Day in mind – we loved this CNN story of the fisherman in Nova Scotia who found a rare blue lobster.
Bright blue lobster and lobster eats my goldfish video
And we’re particularly fond of this news aggregator LOBSTER HEADLINES which tells you all you ever wanted to know, and more, about lobsters.
]]>The Hurricane Nightclub, that occupied a whole floor of the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway, New York, had four different versions of rarebit on offer to their clientele.
Basic Welsh rarebit is a savory, cheesy toast. Here’s one of our favorite recipes from that era:
In a small saucepan make a roux by melting 2oz (1/4 cup) of butter and whisking in 2oz (1/4 cup) of flour. Cook for a minute or two and then slowly drizzle in 9oz (1 1/8 cup) of room-temperature beer. Add 9oz (1 1/8 cup) of strong cheddar cheese and stir until it has melted and become a thick paste. Add two tablespoons of Worcester sauce and two tablespoons of English or strong mustard.
Toast four slices of bread and both sides and then spread the cheesy mixture on top of each slice. Cook under a hot grill for a minute or two until browned and bubbling.
Long Island Rarebit
Follow the basic rarebit recipe and add 4 lightly beaten eggs yolks to the cooked mixture.
Golden Buck
Follow the basic rarebit recipe but put a poached egg on top.
Yorkshire Buck Rarebit
Follow the basic rarebit recipe but add a poached egg and crumbled bacon.
Scotch Woodcock is scrambled eggs on toast with anchovy. Here’s one of our favorite recipes from the 1940s.
Melt 2oz (1/4 cup) butter in a small pan and add ten chopped anchovy fillets and 1/3 cup of cream. Remove from heat and let stand for ten minutes. Return pan to heat and add eight lightly beaten eggs and cook to taste. Season with salt and black pepper and serve on slices of toasted bread.