Public Dining as Public History

in the

Late 19th to Early 20th Century Chicago

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This presentation is a panel made up of two presentations. The first is about the history of public dining in Chicago with attention to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The second is about how the dishes developed in public dining entered the public space and private dining using recipes as historical documents to tell the story.

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Mattie Williamson was the Glessners’ beloved cook from 1892 until her retirement in 1912. In March 2020, Mattie made her return to the house, as portrayed by Ellie of ElliePresents, Culinary Historian of Northern Illinois. (shown above). Mattie was recently asked to present at the 27th Annual Conference on Illinois History, a very august meeting held at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield on October 2. Public Dining as Public History in Late 19th and Early 20th Century Chicago was presented by Ellie, as Mattie, and the esteemed professor and founding president of the Culinary Historians of Chicago, and vice President of the Culinary Historians of Northern Illinois, Dr. Bruce Kraig. Mattie’s contribution included comparing a Glessner House meal to one that could be procured in a Chicago restaurant in her time and discussing the Glessners’ experiences with dining out.

Dr. Kraig presented that in terms of social history, cultural and economic history, studies of public dining tell us a great deal about life in the past and the present.  Public dining can be divided into three broad categories, each with gradations according to type and quality of food, price, décor and social prestige. These range from high priced sit-down “cheap” swift-service eateries. Street food is a second category, and a third is a combination of these two, fast-food stands. All have venerable histories in Chicago, one that lives into the present day.

Private dining can also be divided between the aristocracy and everyone else. Just as today. While the upper crust attempted to replicate the high-end restaurants when entertaining in their own homes, everyone else followed trends from street food and diners. Oysters Rockefeller wound up on a Prairie Avenue table. A half-a-century later, pizza showed up on West Wellington Avenue, a working-class German neighborhood. Newspaper columns, community cookbooks, and marketing experts like Betty Crocker molded home cooks as they strove for restaurant-quality food and presentation regardless of their strata.

Changes in what was served is reflected in menus and recipes made public by newspapers, books, and other media.