Tea at Trianon: History of the Potato

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, February 9, 2024

History of the Potato

From The Collector:

After the success of the potato crops in Prussia, France adopted the potato into its agricultural framework. This project was pursued by Louis XVI, and his wife Marie Antoinette popularized potato flowers in fashion by wearing them in her clothes....Although potatoes were brought to America by immigrants from Europe and grown in small numbers during the 17th century, it wasn’t until 1719 that the first large-scale potato crop was grown. These potatoes were brought over by Irish immigrants to New Hampshire. In 2013, the potato was named New Hampshire’s official state vegetable.
The potato became extremely successful in Ireland, so much so that the entire country relied on it to survive. So in 1845, when the potato blight infected Ireland’s potatoes, crops failed, resulting in a nationwide famine. Exacerbated by uncompassionate laws from the British government (Ireland was part of Britain at this time), approximately one million Irish people died, with another 2 million becoming refugees. This accounted for between 20% and 25% of the entire Irish population at the time. (Read more.)