Mountains of Crustaceans Nobody Wanted
When European settlers arrived in early colonial America, lobster was so absurdly plentiful that it washed ashore in piles reaching two feet high along New England beaches. Picture that for a moment. These weren’t delicate little servings wrapped in white linen. It wasn’t uncommon to find 20-pound lobsters washed ashore, and waves routinely tossed enormous piles onto the shore. The sheer abundance was staggering.
The crustacean that today commands premium prices was once referred to as the “cockroach of the sea”. Colonists found them repulsive, largely because lobsters looked like giant insects with their spindly legs and hard shells. The word “lobster” actually comes from the Old English term “loppe,” which means spider. That tells you everything you need to know about how people felt about them back then.
Fertilizer and Fish Bait, Not Fine Dining
Lobsters were so prevalent that colonists used them primarily as fishing bait or fertilizer, viewing them as a simple source of protein only during desperate times. Farmers literally ground up lobster meat to spread across their fields. Fishermen viewed lobsters as a hassle that crowded their nets and got in the way of their actual catch, so they set them aside for use as fish bait or garden fertilizer.
In 1622, Governor William Bradford described the desperate conditions of early colonial households, noting that the best dish they could offer friends was lobster with nothing else but a cup of fair spring water. He was actually embarrassed about this. Think about that. Today people brag about serving lobster to guests.
The Prison Food Myth and What’s Actually True
Here’s where things get interesting. You’ve probably heard the story that prisoners and servants refused to eat lobster more than a few times per week because they were so sick of it. According to food historian Sandy Oliver, this is actually a myth, as she found no evidence of servants protesting or contracts limiting lobster meals, and the story only appeared in the 1900s when lobsters were scarcer.
That said, lobster did become a common food source for those considered lower-class during the colonial era, including apprentices, servants, enslaved people, and prisoners, because the overabundance made it dirt-cheap and readily available. The difference is there weren’t actual laws about it. Prisoners may have been fed lobster occasionally if imprisoned near the coast where lobsters were plentiful, but it was never their steady diet, which actually consisted of salt pork, baked beans, salt cod, brown bread, and hardtack.
The Railroad Revolution That Changed Everything
As the American rail transportation system developed in the 19th century, train workers realized they could serve plentiful and cheap lobster to passengers, and these travelers, unaware of the negative stigma attached to the crustaceans, believed they were eating decadent food and began requesting it even off the train. This is honestly brilliant when you think about it. The railroad essentially rebranded lobster by accident.
Visitors to New England from landlocked states had never heard of the crustacean, and upon first bite they fell in love with the delicious meat, believing they were being served a rare and exotic delicacy. Railroad expansion opened up inland markets while wealthy New England tourists developed a taste for fresh locally prepared foods, and urban diners unfamiliar with coastal stigma judged lobster purely on taste and paid accordingly. Let’s be real, marketing matters more than we’d like to admit.
From Dead Lobster to Live Cooking
During the 18th century, lobster was prepared like any other meat after it was already dead, but when a lobster dies its stomach releases enzymes that increase deterioration and cause it to go bad quickly, which is likely why people believed lobster should only be served to poor people. Imagine eating spoiled lobster regularly. No wonder people hated it.
By the 1880s, chefs discovered that lobster tasted significantly better and looked more appetizing if they cooked it live rather than killing it first. This single change transformed everything. During the 1880s, chefs in Boston and New York City began developing recipes and lobster became a key dish on restaurant menus, and as they experimented they realized the meat was freshest when cooked alive, which went a long way in changing perception and taste. Suddenly lobster went from disgusting to delicious, largely because of proper preparation techniques.
