A Fractured Nest: The 1913alt Egg Boycott Divides the Society of the Vis-à-Vis
Two fictional letters from 1913alt debate the Housewives’ egg boycott with equal parts wit and indignation. Mayonnaise, morals, and meringues are on the line.
By Mrs. Abitha LeBleu, Corresponding Matron of Etiquette, Society of the Vis-à-Vis
1913alt, Published in The Bayou Clarion
To the Editor,
There comes a time in every woman's life when she must rise above the petty squabbles of hens and housewives, and I daresay, that time has now passed. I write today in a state of despair, having been informed that my grocer—a decent enough man until now—is entirely without eggs. Not due to flood or famine, but to feminine rebellion masquerading as economic principle.
This "boycott" has struck the very heart of genteel society. My bridge luncheon, held the second Thursday of each month since the McKinley administration, was today served without deviled eggs. We had radish roses. Radish roses, I tell you. They bled onto the plate like my pride.
What is to become of soufflés? Of sponge cakes? Of soft shampoos and firm meringues? If the Housewife’s League hopes to win sympathy, I suggest they reconsider robbing us of our dignity in mayonnaise.
Respectfully (if unseasonably),
Mrs. Abitha LeBleu
Hen and High Water
By Miss Ernestine Delacroix, Chairwoman of Moral Economics, Society of the Vis-à-Vis
1913alt, Published in The Bayou Clarion
To the Editor,
While I extend my sympathies to Mrs. LeBleu and her bridge club's culinary calamity, I must say with all due affection: let them eat celery.
Eggs, once humble, have risen in price so steeply that a widow with four children may as well lay her own. The Housewife’s League, a national federation of 300 local organizations, did not embark on this protest lightly. We seek not yolk-stained chaos, but fairness at the breakfast table.
If an empty deviled egg platter is the cost of justice, then consider it a sacrifice in the name of domestic dignity. To those who cry tradition—I say tradition must sometimes curdle before it rises anew.
In solidarity with every cook who cracked an egg in sorrow,
Miss Ernestine Delacroix
Editor’s Note: The real-life Housewives' League was a coalition of working- and middle-class women who in 1913 organized to protest unfair price hikes in basic groceries. Their most famous act was a nationwide boycott on eggs to protest profiteering by suppliers.
Explore More: