The Quick Lunch

Rail travel in the days before dining cars, did not allow meals or upper class dining on board.  The "quick lunch" was the acceptable way Americans were fed.  The train would stop at stations  (like the B & O station on the right) and passengers were given 15-20 minutes to consume food.  The cuisine consisted of pies, patties, cakes, hard-boiled eggs, hams, and custard along with other quick food (fast food for us!).  Once the bell for departure was rung, passengers had to be onboard and seated or left behind.

The "lunch counter," a part of American culture with its quick service and uncomfortable seating (to discourage lingering over a meal) was a by-product of the railroad's quick lunch.  The first recorded use of "lunch counter" was in the New York Times on June 10, 1857 where they complained how shameful it was to use words like "Refreshment Saloon" to describe places for eating and drinking at railroad stations.

These Refreshment Saloons were long, dismal rooms where 300-400 people would rush in to grab food during a train stop.  Passengers were awaken with the conductor yelling, "Fifteen for breakfast" with no time to wash up, and no facilities to do so in.  There was just enough time to get food, eat it and get back before the train departed again.  There were few comfortable meals or washing facilities to be found along the railroad routes in America.  

In 1863 one man had a vision to change dining on trains in America...next time.

___________________________

Today in Pioneer History: "On October 15, 1863, the U.S Hunley, the first successful combat submarine, sinks during a test run killing its inventor and seven crew members.  The 40-foot submarine was developed from a cylinder boiler by Horace Lawson Hunley and operated with a crew of eight.  The final test was in Charleston Harbor in front of spectators where Hunley and his entire crew perished."