“George Trice’s” The Daily Tar Heel, 8 November 1894. https://www.newspapers.com/image/70262421

The advertisement shown is taken directly from the Daily Tar Heel newspaper which was published on November 8th, 1894. The Daily Tar Heel is a student-run newspaper for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which at the time was published once a week as a four-page newspaper.

George Trice was a businessman who transformed a former residence on Main Street (present-day Franklin Street) into a restaurant, ice cream parlor, and shoe shop. He is mentioned twice in this publication of the Daily Tar Heel, one of which is an advertisement for his multi-valued shop which is shown above. It is interesting to note that while selling food and ice cream, George Trice was also running a shoe repair shop in the same venue [1]. Today, it seems that for sanitary reasons, this would not be possible, but at the time it was accepted. It accentuates the casual setting this restaurant must have had during a time when people could get their shoes fixed while eating a meal all at once. Another interesting thing about this advertisement is the fact that they offer board for $10 per month. Board provides unlimited food per month as would a present-day dining hall, but in this advertisement, it is not limited to students, rather it is open to everybody. At the time in Chapel Hill, it seems that there was a similar trend in providing for college students and professors, making it a “college-town” in the sense of restaurants which we still see today with various restaurants catered toward millennials.

Another time which George Trice is mentioned in this publication of The Daily Tar Heel is when it mentions “George Trice receives fresh oysters every day, which he serves in fries and stews”. During the time of the “Eating in an Age of Decadence and Empire,” chapter in American Appetites, oysters were a common yet relatively new commodity. The fact that George Trice was able to receive fresh oysters daily shows the sophistication of the oil, steel, and railroads produced by people such as Andrew Carnegie, Jay Gould, and John D. Rockefeller during the time. Sophisticated people such as these ate decadent food in their homes with particular place settings, menus, and well-trained staff. The more decadent the dinner, the more prestigious the family. Although such eloquent dinners were taking place in the homes of the elite, fine dining was still not common in restaurants, especially in the streets of Chapel Hill. Yes, in cities such as New York, an “expensive public dining culture” was beginning to emerge, but as far as George Trice’s shop, it was still casual as it adapted to new food cultures and usage of new transportation technology [2].

 

 

Bibliography

[1] Bryant, Bernard Lee. 1999. Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 5-Year Intervals, 1793-1998. Chapel Hill: [Chapel Hill Historical Society].

https://archive.org/details/occupantsstructu00brya/page/n97.

 

“George Trice’s” The Daily Tar Heel, 8 November 1894.   https://www.newspapers.com/image/7

 

[2] Wallach, Jennifer Jensen and Swindall, Lindsey R. American Appetites: A Documentary Reader. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2014. “Eating in an Age of Decadence and Empire,” pp. 101-122.

 

Suzanne Nevant