First of all, we have tailored our website to deal mostly with working class folks of the 1860's. There are many other sites that cover the dress and behavior of the "upper" classes. The terminology and focus of our site are the poorer, agrarian and working classes, which were in the majority for that period in history.
Terminology of meals:
During the colonial days of US history, memoirs and letters mention only three
meals daily-breakfast, tea and dinner. Apparently the urgency of making
a farm produce in those days was so important, that work could only be stopped
for two meals daily-breakfast & dinner, with a break in the afternoon for
tea and a snack. Documents of the wealthy classes and European merchant
classes mention supper as well, a meal taken before retiring, as dinner was
usually eaten earlier than today--usually around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon.During the mid 1800s, mention is made of up to five meals a day, particularly among the wealthier classes both North & South (but especially in the Northern states). These meals were Breakfast, Luncheon, Tea, Dinner and Supper. Both Dinner and Supper parties were mentioned in letters and memoirs.
The dinner party was a more formal affair, that lasted for up to three hours (!), featuring many courses and agonizingly long conversations. It took up most of the late afternoon and evening. The supper party was usually given during a dance or entertainment, and consisted of a light meal late in the evening.
But I digress, on to the "meat & potatoes" of our discussion:
Working class folks contented themselves with three main meals a day. Breakfast, Supper & Dinner.
Breakfast was always the morning meal.
Dinner was the largest meal of the day and Supper was considered a lighter meal (usually cold meats or leftovers). But here comes the area where much confusion arises: Depending on the circumstance of the diners, Dinner was eaten as the mid-day meal OR as the evening meal. Supper & Dinner were interchangeable.
Here is the qualifier:
In households with a cook or servant, Dinner was usually the evening meal, and was enjoyed at the end of the day. The householders considered it the duty of the cook to keep the fires burning, the stove going, and to prepare three hot meals a day. Supper, the lighter meal, was usually eaten in the afternoon.
In households where the wife cooked, Dinner was often eaten in the middle of the day, and Supper was the evening meal. The reason for this practice was practicality.
It took alot of effort and skill to keep a fireplace or cook stove heated with a nice, even heat for cooking. The housewife got the stove going to prepare breakfast ,which was usually quite a substantial meal to keep the menfolk working all day. Since the stove was already hot, she began to cook dinner as soon as breakfast was done. (There were no instant foods, and preparation usually included hours of slow cooking). This allowed her to serve the big meal at mid-day, at which time she could let the stove go out, escape the environs of the hot stove during the heat of the day, and get some serious work done. She then served bread and cold meats or leftovers for supper, any foods that did not need extensive cooking.
This same practicality serves us at encampments. After breakfast is done, we begin to cook dinner. The fire is already started, we have a nice bed of coals, and it is much easier to keep this heat source going than to start another fire in the afternoon. Dinner is served as the mid day meal, and we escape having to work over the fire during the hottest part of the day. We have our Supper later in the day, usually sandwiches or cheese and fruit, which does not require cooking.
Also, this kept us hovering over our pots of food during public hours, as they love to see us tending the fire and lifting the pot lids to examine the delicacies cooking therein. (We are now so jaded on cooking that after breakfast, we let the fire go out and have two suppers and no dinner. Got lazy in our old age, I suppose)
The source for the above information is a good book which covers this concept well:
The American Heritage Cookbook and Illustrated History of American Eating & Drinking
by the Editors of American Heritage Magazine
Pub 1964 by the American Heritage Publishing Co, Inc.
Even Fannie Farmer, as late as 1896, mentions this concept in her Boston Cooking School cookbook-
"A salad, with crackers and cheese, or a bowl of soup, or a glass of milk with sandwiches will often be satisfying enough for luncheon (or for supper, if dinner at noon meets your family's needs better than dinner in the evening)."
I hope this gives you some insight as to my choice of terms for our encampment meals.
I VERY MUCH appreciate that you took the time to express your opinion, it means that you care and are a kindly person, a very esteemed virtue in this day and age. I hope you will forgive my wordy reply, but your interest meant much to me, and I wanted to explain why I chose the terms I did.
