Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-04
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Nothing SO shocks the average sense
| OF the usual as something out of the
ordinary at dinner, lunch or breakfast.
We experimental with this trait OF
humanity during the holidays by telling
! friends that We were going to have
/ OF had had, as the case waS-waffies
! for Christmas dinner.
What" was the universal exclama-
| ton. 'Waff1es for Christmas dinner?"
Some even refused to believe at all,
but contented themselves with smiling
1ncredulouSly, as If picturing gigantic
| turkey.
The truth was, however, that We not
only had waffieS and maple sirup. but
enjoyed them much more than We
would have done with turkey, chicken,
beef or whatnot.
The only reason for making Christ
mas dinner a feed" is the custom Of
! the thing. Perhaps 1t would be better
20 say that the universal habit of hav-
ing large and heavy dinner on Christ
mas and New Year is due to custom.
One ought to be free to have feast
or small dinner, just as he wishes;
but the fact is that If one dares to
transgress the bounds of the usual he
must face the displeasure of those who
do observe it.
What! Wafaes for Christmas din
ner? Who ever heard of such a thing?"
Who ever did, it must be confessed.
But why not?
Why not? we ask again.
More and more people are getting
away from the ancient idea of Stuffing
themselves with unwanted and I'M
necessary food on the various feast
days, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas,
New Year.
In the pioneer years Of the country
the feast days meant grooming boards,
1t Is true but 1t must be remembered
that nobody then had as much to eat
day by day as the mass of the popula-
ton has today.
There is little doubt that most peo-
pie eat more than is good for them now.
They no longer take the physical ex-
ercise which their ancestors did, nor
have they as hale and hearty constitu-
tions, generally speaking. Above all,
their everyday diet is too full despite
the great strides which vegetables and
fruits have made in the average dietary
during recent years.
If any one wants to know positively
how much too much he eats every day,
let him cut his food intake in half and
see II he does not get along just as we'll as,
If not better than, before. The classic
instance, OF course, was the Venetian
nobleman, Louis Cornaro, who lived to
the ripe age of '1O4 years on a few
ounces of food a day.
Cornaro ate IA ounces day in an
age when many thought nothing at all
of eating as many pounds. No meal
was complete without half a dozen
meats for starter. One of the ancient
Roman emperorS (who was feet tall,
by the way drank 6 gallons OF wine
and ate 40 pounds of meat during the
course OF one of his average days.
4 X 4
One does not have to be. alas, a
Roman roughneck emperor to overeat,
nor, happily, Venetian nobleman, to
eat moderately!
What one must have, however, is the
desire to do as one pleaSes and a
healthy dislike for the customary when
what the individual does harms no one
else
We have discussed in this column the
good side of custom in regard to man.
uers. courtesy. the necessity for the
usual forms Of politeness.
Ones meals, however, are strictly
ones own business, with the possible
exception of those taken in public.
There some obeisance must be made to
custom. A man cannot go into a
coffee shoppe" and ask for a cup of
hot water, even If he could get 1t.
There Is q certain SeemlineSs in all
things.