Luncheon was at the Temperance Hall, followed by a couple of lectures - Diet in Cold Countries and The Thrift Aspect of Vegetarianism . The text of the lectures was published in the Messenger. Far from being the homily on Victorian housewifely virtues one might expect, it came rather as a shock to discover it was an account of the Liverpool Food Association's efforts to provide one good meal a day for that city's poorest schoolchildren. In the same issue, another article about tuberculosis, reminds us yet again that life was considerably harsher in those days. After the lectures, a banquet was held at 6pm, followed by a meeting that was open to the general public.
Delegates seem to have all enjoyed their annual get-together very moch.
The May Meetings were perhaps of more interest in 1895 because for many members, this would have been their first opportunity to meet the Society's new Secretary, Mr Albert Broadbent. Mr and Mrs Broadbent were bringing up their little girl, a toddler at the time, as a vegetarian. From the May issue, I also learned that the Society used to have a shop in Manchester 'close to the Deansgate tram station and within 3 minutes of the Central Station' . In a world where no town is complete without a health food shop and even chemists and supermarkets are stocking wholefoods and vegetarian specialities, selling food and cooking utensils seems a strange function for The Vegetarian Society to undertake. Our readers of 100 years ago appeared to take a keen interest in news of overseas vegetarians.