Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-10-18
CABBAGE AND BACON
THEN DEAR AS WINE.
LUXURIOUS LIVING NOT TO BE HAD
DURING LATTER DAYS OF THE
CONFEDERACY.
Richmond Times Dispatch ]

Richmond Times Dispatch
A curious relic of the depreciation
OF money value during the latter day
OF the Confederacy was found th,
other day IN the discovery of bill ol
fare of the Ballard Hotel. printed ir
1854, when Messrs. j. G. Taliaferr(
aud Co were proprictors of the famous
hostelry. Although the figures are
written in ink of Confederate manufac.
ture the quality of tnat article is shown
10 the preservation of the figures
which are clearly discernible at this
late date
| The bill of fare forms part of a
journal kept by Confederate naval
officer. That gentleman must have
been struck with the eLo;mity of the
walters check when be Lad finished b lis
meal and as he paid dearly for the food,
be no doubt thought the bill of fare
was included in the sum and be took
it as souvenir.
The epicure of those days had to
have fortune if he desired to satisfy
bis fanciful cravings for the season j..
able dellcaces while his poor brother
was compelled to eat seldom and then
little. Exorhitant prices were asked
Tor tie Dare necessities Of life, such rs
bread. bacon and coffee, and to order
butter with the bread would deplete
the purchaser 8 roll of bills at uicker
pace than champagne supper nova
days. No food upon the bill of fare is
figured lower than one dollar and from
that price the list reaches a limit of
$50 for "spring'' chicken that no
doubt had seen several summers and
''sleigh rides" before it wandered into
the kitchen of the Ballard House
NO PLACE FOR THE POOR MAN,
Mr.. Taliaferro did not reason that a
poor man would sometimes be his
guest. At least be was careful to put
his prices at notch too high for the
privates to touch. Thus be kept the
Jefferson of the Confederacy.
A glance at the bill of fare certainly
takes the glutton from a most raven
GUS appetite. The prices are paralizlng
and when three eggs are quoted at SO
AMI a cup of coffee, spoken of as
rpure," COSTS the same, IL most ag-
gravated hunger sucur 8 to the
pocket book.
A breakfast of CT flee, rolls. eggs and
bacon or sausage amounted to $40
Dinner at the lowest figure reached S57
and supper could not be lad for less
than 81 so, go that under the most self
denying plan of eating the guest of
the Ballard Hotel could not live for
less than $75 per diem. There are men
who spend that much to-day for hotel
bills, but it Includes innumerabie de-
licacies and wines. Then it was the
simplest food.
SIMPLE MEAL AT $3.50.
Some quotations from the bill of
fare may be good tips TO the lunch
counter man, who has TO contend with
customer who complains of paying
10 cents fol coffee and cakes, or kicks
when be only gets three oysters in his
s. ew. Proprietor Taliaferro did not
blush when be saw his waiter give the
guest ticket for $3.50 for a three.
cornered meal; a square meal was pos
sibly seldom partaken of, except by !
some distinguished guest who had
pocketful of gold,
The quotatians from the bill of fare
which follow are worth recording:
Sweetbrea ads and other tid-bits of
epicurean taste are printed upon the
bill. but no price is listed opposite |
them Whether milne Host" was |
asha med to further shock bis guest or
the tid-bits were in the sense of the
word sauce is a conjecture that pro-
badly settles upon the scarcity as the
cause of omission for the modesty of |
the proprietor. is tested in prices listed:
THE BILL OF FARE