Soup for the Poor

Soup for the Poor

February 18, 1847

February 18, 1847

The Famine, 1845-1852

Alexis Soyer

The Times (London, Greater London, England)

The Illustrated London News, 17 April 1847.

These images are clippings from The Times (London, Greater London, England). The first image is Alexis Soyer's complete letter to the editor which includes two of his soup recipes. He believed that id followed they would be beneficial to the poor as well as others. In the letter he explains that these soups can be made at low cost and that it is important (even for the poor) to occasionally change soup recipes for digestive health reasons. At the end of the Soup No.1 recipe, as seen in the second image, Soyer guarantees this soup to be very good and nutritious. He bases this guarantee off the palates of numerable noblemen, members of Parliament, and several ladies who tasted it. The Soup No. 2 recipe is found in the third image and Soyer added this to show that the soup could be made at an even cheaper price and in less time if made in a larger scale. He ends the letter explaining how he intends to use these recipes and others not listed in his soup kitchens. Soyer had already established one soup kitchen for the poor at a small scale and when he had more investors he intended to open more. His soup kitchen became a model for all others during the famine. The last image was posted in The Illustrated London News on April 17, 1847 and is a depiction of what his kitchen looked like.

English

Soup Kitchens during the Famine

Newspapers.com

Economy

The Illustrated London News

Lydia G. Godwin