They Come to Eat

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I enjoy baseball. I watch each pitch and swing of the bat. There is much more going on than mere physical aptitude, although there certainly is that. There is a whole level of mental gamesmanship that is played out between pitcher and batter that I can really get into. So watching the Dodgers game recently I don't know why my attention was diverted from the pitcher's mound to the crowd in the stands, but suddenly it was.

All at once I found myself looking upon a sea of animals masticating great amounts of food. No, not every single one of them, some were glued to their phones with that zombie gaze they get. But enough of them were engaged in chewing and swallowing that it became not unlike watching feeding time at the zoo. I was repulsed.

Have you ever been in a restaurant nonchalantly eating a meal when you happen to look up from your plate and inadvertently see yourself in a mirror chewing? It's a shock, isn't it? Not a pretty sight. There you are, your big face chewing your cud. Unless you're a glamorous movie star in a glamorous restaurant in a movie, there is nothing remotely glamorous in eating.

Eating is one of those private things that nature requires us to do in order to live, but just like other bodily functions there are some things that are better left being done behind closed doors. Eating is one of them. How in the world did eating in public become a normal thing?

Bad enough in restaurants, but at least you expect it there. But eating in other public venues like sports arenas and theaters where people go to watch an event, how did eating become the main activity at those places?

Well, according to my sources, this practice goes back quite a ways. Eating while watching was common in the Elizabethan era. Spectators at theaters back then would consume fruits, bread, and nuts sold by vendors. During the Renaissance audiences eating at events would consume a variety of assorted foods which included shellfish and meat pies. And the Roman fans watching Christians being thrown to the lions games were often munching on nachos and Cracker Jack. Okay, I made that last one up.

Back to my source, "Eating at events has a long history, evolving from informal practices in ancient times to more structured dining experiences in modern venues. The integration of food into entertainment settings has significantly shaped audience experiences over the centuries." End of my source.

Once we get to the nineteenth century eating became much more of a thing to do when attending events in concert halls and theaters. You can blame it on the industrial revolution if you want to. I don't want to, personally. I much prefer to think of it as the evolution of gastronomic gluttony in our modern culture. That, and the growing nature of slobism in society.

As far as baseball was concerned, in the beginning there were no structured concession stands so people who came to the games either brought their own food or bought it from local sellers. Anything that could be eaten with the hands was popular, like sandwiches and ice cream on a stick or in a cone. But then, around the turn of the 20th century, a big thing took place. German immigrants and the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago introduced a new treat; sausage on a roll. There are conflicting stories on how the hot dog came about however.

One story has it that a St. Louis butcher named Anton Feuchtwanger kept loaning white gloves to his patrons to help them hold the piping hot sausages he was selling ... until most of the gloves went unreturned, inspiring Feuchtwanger to come up with a long, soft roll to do the job instead. Another story claims that it was Charles Feltman, who opened the first sausage stand on Coney Island and turned it into an empire (until his bread slicer, Nathan Handwerker, broke away and opened a stand of his own). And yet another version points to a cold day at the Polo Grounds in 1901, when a New York Post cartoonist tried to capture vendors hawking a snack he'd never seen before -- except he couldn't spell "dachshund," so he depicted them shouting "get your hot dogs!" instead. Which story is the truth? Who cares?

Now do you want to know how peanuts and popcorn got started? You don't? Good, ‘cause I don't either. This whole thing is beginning to nauseate me, if you really want to know. Today just about anything that can be shoved into a person's mouth and swallowed can be purchased at the concession stands at ball parks, concert venues, and theaters across the country. People go out to attend an event to eat, not so much as to watch.

Listen, I must admit I eat at the ballpark and in movie theaters too. And as long as I don't have to watch myself chewing in the mirror, I'm okay with it.

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