{"id":18765,"date":"2017-01-06T12:09:06","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T17:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=18765"},"modified":"2017-01-26T13:19:47","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T18:19:47","slug":"in-celebration-of-celebrating-toasts-of-yesteryear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/in-celebration-of-celebrating-toasts-of-yesteryear.html","title":{"rendered":"In Celebration of Celebrating: Toasts of Yesteryear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak searches old newspapers to find toasts given by our ancestors to mark special occasions or honor individuals. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.<\/em><\/p>\n

A long-honored tradition \u2013 but sadly, one that is fading with time \u2013 is the art of giving a toast when people are gathered together, often in celebration.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 20 November 1898, page 7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For a very long time now, toastmasters and guests have honored important people, commemorative events, birthdays, anniversaries, etc., by raising a glass and giving a toast.<\/p>\n

I was interested in finding historical toasts, so I searched GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> to see what and why our ancestors were toasting. Some of the toasts I found were serious, and some \u2013 such as this Irish toast to the King \u2013 were hilarious.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Concord Observer (Concord, New Hampshire), 3 November 1821, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Origin of Toasting<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may be interested in the origin of toasting. How far back does this tradition go? It turns out nobody really knows; the origin of toasting is an interesting question that elicits different answers.<\/p>\n

An anecdote from this 1867 newspaper article tells one version of the origin story. In the early 18th<\/sup> century in England, it was popular to float pieces of spiced toast (browned biscuits) in bowls of punch. It was also fashionable for bathers to lounge in public pools, \u201cflirting in the hot water,\u201d partaking of chocolate on floating cork slabs, or reading their newspapers.<\/p>\n

One day, a \u201cfair nymph\u201d (bathing beauty) entered the water \u201cin the most coquettish of dresses.\u201d Several gentlemen took notice:<\/p>\n

\u00a0The fine gentlemen, especially, did her honor, according to the rough humor of the times. They dipped their cups into the water nearest to where the delighted nymph herself stood, and drank the liquid off to her honor and glory.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then a bit of a rogue did something that startled everyone in the pool, and may have given the tradition of \u201ctoasting\u201d to the ages. He declared that he didn\u2019t care to drink the liquor in the punch bowl, but:<\/p>\n

\u2026he was resolved to have a taste of the toast in it. This was meant for the lady in the bath, whom the rude gallant thus likened to the browned biscuit that in those days crowned the punch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The other gentlemen protested this bold and suggestive advance, but the \u201cloud-voiced gallant\u201d avoided trouble; he \u201cswaggered saucily off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The newspaper anecdote concludes with this:<\/p>\n

\u2026the story spread through the city, and from that day the word \u2018toast\u2019 was applied to a lady to whom drinking honors were rendered, till it gradually came to mean the words in which the honor was paid.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Commercial Advertiser (New York, New York), 5 October 1867, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three Bs & the H (Old English Toast)<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are so many toasts in the old newspapers, it\u2019s hard to make selections.<\/p>\n

This one intrigued me, because without reading the text, you\u2019d probably never guess what the\u201d three Bs and the H\u201d stood for. Turns out it\u2019s bread, beer, bed & heaven. It\u2019s rather a quaint old saying, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), 5 May 1908, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blessing of the Crops (16th Century)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another ancient English toast was \u201cGod speed the plough and bless the corn mow,\u201d which evolved into variations including \u201cHere\u2019s a health to the barley mow. Here\u2019s a health to the man who very well can both harrow and plough and sow.\u201d [Note: a \u201cmow\u201d is a stack of grain.]<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho), 25 February 1912, section 2, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quaker Toast on Love<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even the Friends (i.e., Quakers) had toasts. Here\u2019s a sweet one expressing love to friends and folks.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), 1 September 1912, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Playwrights & Poets<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shakespeare and other playwrights and poets have written many toasts into their works over the years. This 1934 newspaper article presented some of these toasts, including this one from Jonathan Swift:<\/p>\n

May you live all the days of your life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
San Diego Union (San Diego, California), 14 January 1934, page 36<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

War & Veterans<\/strong><\/p>\n

For soldiers and veterans, toasts are a staple at gatherings to celebrate victories and share reminiscences. This 1910 newspaper article reports on a meeting between a former Confederate and Union soldier \u2013 and how the Confederate shared a toast he wrote and gave on 10 April 1865, the day after General Lee surrendered to General Grant. It begins with these lines:<\/p>\n

Success to Grant, and General Lee;
\nAs they stood beneath the apple tree,
\nSays General Grant to General Lee:
\n\u201cYour failure is just a victory.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota), 25 September 1910, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fourth of July<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps no celebration produced more ancestral toasts than our country\u2019s birthday bashes on the 4th of July. Toasts were the prerequisite centerpiece to banquets and speeches \u2013 many remembering Washington and honoring our country. This 1837 newspaper article reported on the many speeches and toasts given at a Fourth of July celebration near Baltimore. I particularly like the one by W. J. M. Franciscus, a guest who gave this Irish toast:<\/p>\n

May our future forefathers be as great and illustrious as we are.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
American and Commercial Daily Advertiser (Baltimore, Maryland), 11 July 1837, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps one of your ancestors gave a toast at a special occasion, and it was published in a newspaper. Search GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> to see if any were published, and be sure to let us know in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak searches old newspapers to find toasts given by our ancestors to mark special occasions or honor individuals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":18795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12235],"tags":[12,2020,12625],"class_list":["post-18765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-genealogy","tag-newspaper-archives","tag-toasts"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/illustration-0106-2017-feature-graphic-kroyer-painting.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}