Blue Plate Special

Hi Puzzlers,

Don’t you love lunch room conversations? The topics can range from mild to wild and leave you laughing so hard you’ve fallen on the floor! But every once in a while one conversation will start out funny then turn serious and it stirs your curiosity. This happened to me recently. It was the Blue Plate Special. Okay stop laughing! Think about it! A blue plate special? Funny yes, but most have heard of the term and know what it stands for. But where did it start and why blue? Ah, now you are curious too aren’t you?

The tale of the blue plate special begins in the late 19th century as mobile food wagons began swarming U.S. cities. These wagons were the first fast-food restaurants and because they were set up much like a train’s dining car they quickly became known as diners.

During the Depression the original blue plates were manufactured. These disposable plates were sectioned into three quarters-one for meat, one for vegetables and one for a starch. The interesting fact about these sectioned plates is they were only available in BLUE! Because the plates were disposable, which saved on dishwashing, many diners would use them to promote daily specials. Hence the “Blue Plate Special”.

A common blue plate policy was "No Substitutions". This policy became a featured topic and spoof on several radio and television programs. “Our Man in Havana (1958) by Graham Greene has the following exchange regarding an "American blue-plate lunch": "Surely you know what a blue-plate is, man? They shove the whole meal at you under your nose, already dished up on your plate -roast turkey, cranberry sauce, sausages and carrots and French fried. I can't bear French fried but there's no pick and choose with a blue plate." "No pick and choose?" "You eat what you're given. That's democracy, man."

But wait; there is more on blue plates. Our lunch room blue plate special conversations veered off course when Matt mentioned the use of a blue plate as an appetite suppressant! That’s when I hit the floor laughing! It turns out he was right! Yes, Matt, I said you were right! The color blue reduces appetite because it stimulates beta waves which have a calming effect on the body, thus making you feel full and satisfied. This coupled with our primal nature to avoid foods that are poisonous makes eating anything blue, purple or black difficult. These colors do not activate our automatic appetite response. Weight loss plans suggest putting your food on a blue plate and a blue light in your refrigerator.

Curiosity does a body good! Here is to the blue plate special and its appetite suppressing ways!

Happy Puzzling!