ThoughtGallery.org > Is Lunch for Wimps? The History of the Midday Meal

Is Lunch for Wimps? The History of the Midday Meal

The meal most often eaten in public, lunch has a long history of establishing social status and cementing alliances. A traditional Mongolian proverb advises: “Keep breakfast for yourself, share lunch with your friend and give dinner to your enemy.” From the Ploughman’s lunch in the field to the Power Lunch at the Four Seasons, where, with whom, and upon what we lunch marks our place in the world. Lunch has never been just a meal. The School Lunch Act of 1946, inspired by the malnutrition discovered by war-time recruiters, demonstrated that lunch could represent the very health of the nation. In the 1950s, the right to eat at one of America’s ubiquitous lunch counters came to represent America’s moral health. Issues of who cooks lunch, and who eats what and how and even when (before exercise or after?) in public institutions continues to galvanize activists. Historian Megan Elias, a writer in residence in the Library’s Wertheim Study, explores the rich history and culture of this most-observed and mercurial of meals, drawing on a wide range of sources, from letters and memoirs to fiction, cookbooks, institutional records, art and popular media, from tea room menus to lunch truck twitter feeds.











When: Thu., Oct. 11, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Where: New York Public Library—Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
476 Fifth Ave.
917-275-6975
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The meal most often eaten in public, lunch has a long history of establishing social status and cementing alliances. A traditional Mongolian proverb advises: “Keep breakfast for yourself, share lunch with your friend and give dinner to your enemy.” From the Ploughman’s lunch in the field to the Power Lunch at the Four Seasons, where, with whom, and upon what we lunch marks our place in the world. Lunch has never been just a meal. The School Lunch Act of 1946, inspired by the malnutrition discovered by war-time recruiters, demonstrated that lunch could represent the very health of the nation. In the 1950s, the right to eat at one of America’s ubiquitous lunch counters came to represent America’s moral health. Issues of who cooks lunch, and who eats what and how and even when (before exercise or after?) in public institutions continues to galvanize activists. Historian Megan Elias, a writer in residence in the Library’s Wertheim Study, explores the rich history and culture of this most-observed and mercurial of meals, drawing on a wide range of sources, from letters and memoirs to fiction, cookbooks, institutional records, art and popular media, from tea room menus to lunch truck twitter feeds.

Buy tickets/get more info now