The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-06-13
GLORY OF "SHAD"
New Jersey Town Lives in Its
Ancient Memories.
Nowhere Was Such a Dish. Prepared
as 1t Should Be, Placed Before
a Hungry Diner.

G~loucester's three centuries are well
worth a celebration.
Dame history can call a long roll Of
interesting things which hav hap.
pened there since Captain May, tag.
ging with his own name the cape al
the bay, first sailed up the noble Della.
ware.
But l shall mention only one of
G~loucester's glories-the shad. Other
places between Philadelphia and the
sea cast their big and little nets every
spring.
Other towns boosted Of their abili.
ties to plank the shad, others had
their own devices for alluring the ex.
pectant to their tables to partake OF
the worlds prize dish, but Gloucester
ros to heights which I am sure must
have caused old Mr.. Epicure himself
to applaud in his grave.
For years Gloucester made every.
body think of planked shad. Planked
shad made everybody think at once
Of Gloucester.
Those unfortunates who never ate Q
shad planked in true olden-time
Gloucester style can only know by
hearsay what Il fish may be, "Girard'
writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
There are those who speak of the
lake whitefish as a thing for the gods
to rave about.
Others insist that the sole, as pre-.
pared in Partisan restaurants, is the
MacGregor of the fnny tribe.
The big muskellunge has its boost.
ers and a few, although their prefer
ences are hard to understand, pretend
the brook trout has a delicacy which
no other thing coming from the wa
tiers, salt or fresh, can rival. Alas
They V ate a Gloucester shad.
Once you Toasted upon that royal
speciality of Jerseys ancient town
thereafter you spoke of fish and shad
The two were never again COMPOUNDED
Religious rites will take pilgrims
a bit farther perhaps than the rite OF
the planked shad ever drew a hungry
world to Gloucester, but they have
been much the same.
My city editor once assigned me to
go down to Gloucester on a nice Sun.
day afternoon in May and count the
glasses of beer that were sold. Count.
Ing bullets as they came from a ma.
chine gun would be easier.
Gloucester was then gay and giddy
well fed and thoroughly saturated, but
everything else really paled before
the magnificence of the planked shad
When that golden brown monarch
appeared riding upon his stout chariot
of properly seasoned wood and sur
rounded by his score of servitors sucf
as young onions, new potatoes and
homegrown Strawberries, trouble tool
a holiday and care went away on &
vacation.
William Penn himself recorded III,
delights he experienced with Della
ware shad.
That bold warrior, Col. Anthem!
Morris, long afterward said that shat
sold for $3.50 a hundred.
A century ago a fine big shad coulC
be bought in Philadelphia for from
six to eight cents. Shad catching wa
then a live industry every spring.
The season was usually from Apri
l to June 10. The big seine, such a,
that used at Gloucester, has a sweey
of half a mile. and often brought il
after a long hours pull upward of {
thousand shad.
1t was customary to make five haul:
In t~wenty-four hours. When the tide
ran low the herrings were caught il
immense quantities.
Sturgeon fishing has also been al
important industry on the Delaware
The roe of the Delaware sturgeon
makes that fine Russian caviar
which you see mentioned so frequently
on restaurant cards.