It's hard to believe, but in New England lobsters were once considered poor people's food and were served to servants and prisoners. Times have certainly changed!
Lobsters Were Not Always Fancy Eating
Lobster is one of those food that is considered "fancy eating" by many people, and the prices sure bear that out! But it has not always been that way. In the 18th century, lobsters were so plentiful along the Massachusetts coast that they would wash ashore in large piles. They were called "cockroach of the sea" and were considered the “poor man’s chicken.” Looked down on as low class food, lobsters were mainly used as fertilizer, bait, or fed to prisoners and indentured servants. In fact, there's a story about prisoners rioting over being fed too lobster too often. It's a nice story, but almost surely yet another myth, albeit one with a grain of truth!
Lobster's Transition to Fine Dining
As the American rail transportation system expanded, rail companies realized they could serve lobster to passengers who were unaware of its lowly status. It was presented as a decadent luxury item, and creative chefs created new dishes to highlight lobster's virtues. People liked it and began requesting lobster even away from the dining car. The development of canning let lobster be transported inland (this was before refrigeration of course). Another factor was the New England coast becoming a fashionable vacation destination for wealthy folks from Boston and New York. These people developed and spread a taste for lobster as a regional delicacy.
This shift in perception transformed lobster from a lowly poor man's food to a luxurious delicacy. And with overfishing and environmental changes, lobsters are not nearly as easy to collect as they used to be.
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