Lobster shells about a house are looked upon as signs of poverty and degradation.

Those were the words of John J. Rowan, a 19th century Kentucky politician reflecting

the sentiment of his time, extrapolated from a colonial America where lobsters were abundant

and low value.

On the beaches of New England and the 1700s unwanted lobsters would stack waste high on the

shores.

Native Americans used them mostly not as meat, but as fertilizer.

Up through the Civil War, lobster at a well-earned reputation is a cheap protein source

for prisoners and indentured servants.

The slow conveyor belt of time combined with a relative scarcity of the shellfish and

the ever-growing inland territory of the U.S. gradually shifted it into a gourmet delicacy,

as if an alchemist had transmuted tin to gold.

And it was restaurateurs Bill Darden and Charlie Woodsby who completed the circle in the 20th

century by making the now-hybrow fair once again accessible to the masses.

This week on Doe Boys, the premiere of Rock Lobster Fest, our month-long review of Red Lobster.

Welcome to Doe Boys, the podcast about chain restaurants, we're a part of Farralodio.com.

The best way to sport ours and other shows in the network is to use the referral link

on our website anytime you shop at Amazon.

I'm Nick Wiger alongside my co-host, bargain-basement grey grunberg and personator Mike Mitchell

the spoon man.

How are you Mitch?

I'm doing alright.

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