blue plate special

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

from issue 17 (spring 2005) of Cabinet: A Quarterly of Art and
Culture, "Ingestion / Don't slice the ham too thin" by Jeffrey
Kastner, on the Harvey Houses:
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p. 10: ... in 1876, the first Harvey House restaurant opened in the
Santa Fe depot in Topeka, Kansas,

p. 11:  From the first, Harvey insisted on linen tablecloths and fine
table settings (the faux Wedgewood design and color of Harvey's
dinnerware is said to have given rise to the phrase "blue plate
special").
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oh dear, the dreaded "is said to".  in earlier pursuit of "blue plate
special" on ADS-L (2001-04), Fred Shapiro got it back to 1926, and
others found "special blue plate dinner" back to 1922.  don't know
about any Harvey House connection.

Kastner's listed "further reading":

George H. Foster, The Harvey House Cookbook: Memories of Dining Along
the Santa Fe Railroad (Longstreet Press, 1996).

Barbara Haber, From hardtack to home fries: An uncommon history of
American cooks and meals (Penguin Books, 2003).

Lesley Poling-Kempes, The Harvey Girls: Women who opened the West
(Treasure Chest Books, 1991).

i vouch for none of this.  just passing it on to Barry, Fred, etc.

arnold