‘A Masonic menu for our return to lodge’

     

     

These are grim days on social media, but one cry of pain I saw on Farcebook yesterday tugs at the Naked Heart. A brother in England said he was dying for a Festive Board.

Perfectly normal. Perfectly understandable. Who knows how much longer it will be?

Something else I stumbled across a day or so ago in a Masonic Standard from 1903 is a humorous item about a recent dinner, to wit:

Masonic Menu

The Quarterly Bulletin of Cedar Rapids publishes the following bill of fare of a banquet given by Emulation Lodge 255 at Clinton, Iowa:

Oysters

(Silence and Circumspection)

Celery, Olives, Pickles,

Sliced Chicken

(The Faithful Breast)

Sliced Tongue

(The Instructive Tongue)

Potato Salad

(Oil of Joy)

Ham Sandwiches

(The Hidden Mysteries)

White and Brown Bread

(Corn of Nourishment)

Ice Cream

(Here Cold and Mute)

Cake, Fruit, Nuts, Coffee

(Wine of Refreshment)

Cigars

(Brought to Light)

I’ll have to remember that cigar line and work it into conversation.

That P-J ad at the top comes from an English Masonic periodical from the same era. Piper-Heidsieck is my own favorite label, but I wouldn’t decline a flute of Perrier-Jouet at table. It’s been so long, I would effuse joy and gladness for a cup of cold duck. Vivat!