Start Date
1-6-2022 12:00 PM
End Date
1-6-2022 12:15 PM
Description
Though its etymology and origins remain in dispute, the picnic – that is a leisure-oriented alfresco meal in the countryside – was a creation of the early nineteenth century. Judging by both newspaper reports and references in novels, its popularity soared in and after the 1860s, reaching a peak around 1900. But the picnic was never static. Both physically and conceptually it epitomises food and drink “on the move”. As the picnic changed from a gathering of “fashionables” supported by carts and servants in the first decades of the century to the mass, institutional and industrial picnics of the mid and late century and then to the “father, mother and children” outings of the years before and after World War One, so too did its provisions and its provisioning. This paper will explore this evolution, focusing on the food and drink that fuelled these much-anticipated – though rarely incident-free – gatherings. Champagne – at least in imagination – was a constant beverage. Everything else, with the possible exception of ham (served as a joint, in slices or minced into sandwich spreads) changed in the course of the next hundred years. The picnic was a gastronomic opportunity for some but a culinary and logistical challenge to many. Into this gap stepped advice columnists, marketers and food technologists – with mixed and fascinating results.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21427/7043-9t92
The Food and Drink of the Nineteenth-Century British Picnic
Though its etymology and origins remain in dispute, the picnic – that is a leisure-oriented alfresco meal in the countryside – was a creation of the early nineteenth century. Judging by both newspaper reports and references in novels, its popularity soared in and after the 1860s, reaching a peak around 1900. But the picnic was never static. Both physically and conceptually it epitomises food and drink “on the move”. As the picnic changed from a gathering of “fashionables” supported by carts and servants in the first decades of the century to the mass, institutional and industrial picnics of the mid and late century and then to the “father, mother and children” outings of the years before and after World War One, so too did its provisions and its provisioning. This paper will explore this evolution, focusing on the food and drink that fuelled these much-anticipated – though rarely incident-free – gatherings. Champagne – at least in imagination – was a constant beverage. Everything else, with the possible exception of ham (served as a joint, in slices or minced into sandwich spreads) changed in the course of the next hundred years. The picnic was a gastronomic opportunity for some but a culinary and logistical challenge to many. Into this gap stepped advice columnists, marketers and food technologists – with mixed and fascinating results.