If I am going to spend time writing about brunch, I figured I might as well dig into the history of this bastard child of the traditional 3 daily meals. First I'll start with what I assumed was the history of brunch and then compare that to the origins I found on the interwebs.
Though I can't recall the first time I made brunch plans, my high school (which was a boarding school) and college both served brunch on Sunday. Instead of the usual schedule of 8am-10am breakfast/12pm-2pm lunch, there was a single 10am-2pm smorgasbord of unhealthy but delicious options that no one ever woke up early enough to see during the week -- a wonderfully justified money saving tactic that reinforced the idea of the "lazy Sunday." I went to New England schools for both high school and college, which were culturally similar. Both were founded on English traditions (I had classes on Saturday in high school that I blame the British for) and more importantly, they both placed a lot of emphasis on meals as social time. Sunday brunch wasn't just for eating, it was for spending time with friends, catching up about the week (i.e., talking about who hooked up with whom that weekend) and eating until you're so full that getting up seems like a Herculean task.
Even in academic institutions, the idea of sleeping in and waking up to a gluttonous breakfast of waffles, syrup and scrambled eggs every Sunday is the norm. With 8 years of brunch being routine, when I got into the real world, I was overjoyed to find that the lazy Sunday brunch didn't go away, it just got more alcoholic. Subsequently, I've always thought brunch was something a bunch of privileged, rich and probably snobby British people came up with when looking for ways to fit more gossiping and elbow rubbing into the way. Can't you just see imagine a bunch of Victorian era women sitting around a garden in England gossip-mongering? White lace, fancy teacups and butlers galore.
So how close was I? Well, according to the New York Times: "Although the meal itself came to glory in the United States, the word is a British invention, coined in 1895 by Guy Beringer in a visionary article titled 'Brunch: A Plea.'" The NYT article continues:
More great bits of brunch history can be found on foodtimeline.org here, which has some interesting resources to reference. If you want to see what's been and being served up for brunch (in California), check out the LA Public Libraries digital menu collection and do a keyword search for "Brunch" here.
So, unsurprisingly, the word was coined by a Brit. However, I do think it's subject to debate where exactly brunch went from luxury to overly gluttonous necessity. Regardless, sounds like Guy had a vision of brunch that's become the accepted definition. That's my kind of guy.
Though I can't recall the first time I made brunch plans, my high school (which was a boarding school) and college both served brunch on Sunday. Instead of the usual schedule of 8am-10am breakfast/12pm-2pm lunch, there was a single 10am-2pm smorgasbord of unhealthy but delicious options that no one ever woke up early enough to see during the week -- a wonderfully justified money saving tactic that reinforced the idea of the "lazy Sunday." I went to New England schools for both high school and college, which were culturally similar. Both were founded on English traditions (I had classes on Saturday in high school that I blame the British for) and more importantly, they both placed a lot of emphasis on meals as social time. Sunday brunch wasn't just for eating, it was for spending time with friends, catching up about the week (i.e., talking about who hooked up with whom that weekend) and eating until you're so full that getting up seems like a Herculean task.
Even in academic institutions, the idea of sleeping in and waking up to a gluttonous breakfast of waffles, syrup and scrambled eggs every Sunday is the norm. With 8 years of brunch being routine, when I got into the real world, I was overjoyed to find that the lazy Sunday brunch didn't go away, it just got more alcoholic. Subsequently, I've always thought brunch was something a bunch of privileged, rich and probably snobby British people came up with when looking for ways to fit more gossiping and elbow rubbing into the way. Can't you just see imagine a bunch of Victorian era women sitting around a garden in England gossip-mongering? White lace, fancy teacups and butlers galore.
So how close was I? Well, according to the New York Times: "Although the meal itself came to glory in the United States, the word is a British invention, coined in 1895 by Guy Beringer in a visionary article titled 'Brunch: A Plea.'" The NYT article continues:
Instead of England's early Sunday dinner, a postchurch ordeal of heavy meats and savory pies, the author wrote, why not a new meal, served around noon, that starts with tea or coffee, marmalade and other breakfast fixtures before moving along to the heavier fare? By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well. 'Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting... It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.'" [read full article here].
More great bits of brunch history can be found on foodtimeline.org here, which has some interesting resources to reference. If you want to see what's been and being served up for brunch (in California), check out the LA Public Libraries digital menu collection and do a keyword search for "Brunch" here.
So, unsurprisingly, the word was coined by a Brit. However, I do think it's subject to debate where exactly brunch went from luxury to overly gluttonous necessity. Regardless, sounds like Guy had a vision of brunch that's become the accepted definition. That's my kind of guy.
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