H.P. Garrity, Cambridge High and Latin Class of 1913.
All the Cambridge High School Yearbooks in our Collection are now freely available online.
Cambridge High and Latin School
(Yearbooks available: 1913-1977)
Rindge Technical School
(Yearbooks available: 1929-1977)
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
(Yearbooks available: 1978-2022)
The Cambridge Public High Schools, which included at the time the English, Latin, and Rindge schools, began serving students lunch in 1917, under the direction of Miss Bessie L. Forbes. Serving food during school hours was a new national trend, recognizing the need to provide “simple luncheons to high school students” in order promote health and learning efficiencies. With the help of the Cantabrigia Club, lunch rooms were established in all three schools. The main kitchen was housed in the English building “where all cooking is done by experienced assistants.” The students paid the cost of the food, its preparation, and the running expenses of the lunch room. Below is the sample menu for an average Monday with prices:
Monday
Vegetable Soup…………………………………………….. 5 cents
Creamed Beef and Macaroni……………………………. 5 cents
Nut Bread Sandwich………………………………………. 5 cents
Coffee Roll…………………………………………………… 2 cents
Chocolate Blanc Mange and Whipped Cream……… 5 cents
Ice Cream……………………………………………………. 5 cents
Cocoa………………………………………………………….. 3 cents
Milk……………………………………………………………. 3 cents
Cookie………………………………………………………… 1 cent
Sweet Chocolate…………………………………………… 5 cents
Fruit…………………………………………………………… 3 cents
Works cited, The Cambridge School Department, Annual Report, 1917, p. 29 -30.
**Please note that the photograph above is an image of students at the William Penn School in Chicago, Illinois, taken by the Chicago Daily News, 16 August 1913. If any one has photographs of high school lunches being served at the English, Latin, or Rindge Schools between 1917 and 1927, please contact the Cambridge Room.
The Cambridge Room 