Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
Yes, Lobsters Used To Be "Signs Of Poverty And Degradation"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 27, 2013
Modified Jun 27, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
1938
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 27, 2013
Modified Jun 27, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Long before couples in boat shoes lined up to shell out $18 for the buttery flesh of the Official Crustaceanal Indulgence of the Bourgeoisie, lobsters were only fit for prisoners and (of course) children. It's not some old canard: it's History. "They were considered poor people's food," says Pauleena MacDougall, a cooperating research associate for the Lobster Institute and the director of the Maine Folklife Center.
Indeed, until the mid 1800s or so, lobster was considered too plentiful and bland to be edible for discerning tastes. Indentured servants in Massachusetts, who had to work for their masters for seven years before being released of their duties, won a court judgement declaring that they could only be fed lobster three times a week.
“Lobster shells about a house are looked upon as signs of poverty and degradation,” John Rowan wrote, after visiting Nova Scotia.
Because labor was easy to come by in the Victorian era, canneries began springing up to meet a modest demand on menus. Commercial lobster fishing began between Maine about 1820 and 1850. The first seafood cannery was built in 1842 in Eastport, Maine," MacDougall says. "At one time the East Coast was dotted with canneries for canning lobster."
As demand rose, regulation on lobster catches came in the 1870s, followed by size limits in 1883. "Canneries rapidly depleted the breeding stock as they took all the small ones." With lobsters no longer as plentiful and easily caught in shallow waters, the canning industry essentially shut down in 1895. (In colonial times lobsters were reported to have been as long as five to six feet.)
"The coastal tourist industry began to market lobsters rather successfully, I think, after that," MacDougall says. And now we have our $26 rolls. Mother Jones and the History Channel both have excellent accounts of how lobster got to be so damned expensive. But we have this interesting painting:
"Lobster Sauce" (ca. 1865), courtesy Museum of the City of New York
Tagged
crustaceans
lobster
lobster rolls
maine
original
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Published Sep 12, 2026
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
Is it worth the high price and ridiculous wait? Gothamist needed to find out.
By
Sonia Rao
Food
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
Is it worth the high price and ridiculous wait? Gothamist needed to find out.
By
Sonia Rao
5 NYC banana puddings as good as Magnolia's
By
Hannah Frishberg
Where to eat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn right now, from Polish to Sichuan to Iberian
By
Robert Sietsema
Can a congressional candidate's dumpling diplomacy win over Queens’ immigrant communities?
By
Caroline Shin
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .