..free lunch; dinner; & supper..

[GSCole]

Another possible precursor to the statement "There's no such thing as a
free lunch" is found in a paragraph that mentions both 'free lunch' and
free supper.  The cite is from a publication in 1871.

"Although no charge is made, yet it is understood that every one who
partakes of either meal must take a drink afterwards."  Paying a
"quarter of a dollar--that is one shilling."  The price of all drinks,
whether a glass of lemonade or raw whisky, is the same.

http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&sid=d9cf0bc52d32a1a9&q1=free%20supper&seq=0245&idno=ABJ2998.0001.001
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While 'free lunch' seems to frequently occur in a context that also
notes the consumption of alcoholic beverages, free dinner is less
frequently found.  In the MOA database, an entry for a publication in
1855 mentions 'free dinner' in a context with gambling.

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Flivn%2Flivn0046%2F&tif=00794.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DABR0102-0046-15
====================

Free supper in a context with drinking (1891) at:

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fscri%2Fscri0009%2F&tif=00588.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DAFR7379-0009-66
======================

George S. Cole   gscole at ark.ship.edu
Shippensburg University