[moopling]

I love the story that lobsters used to be peasant food before they became rare, and that it was limited in how frequently it could be fed to prisoners except as a "cruel and unusual" punishment.

[graphitezepp]

It wasn't they became rare, it was ubiquitous refrigeration that made them popular. It was prison food because it was basically spoiled.

[phonypc]

You typically keep lobster alive until cooking, I don't see refrigeration changing much.

[showdead]

The popularity of lobster is generally attributed to it being canned and served on the railroads (thinking that they could get away with serving cheap meat to customers in the midwest unfamiliar with it) and then people developing a taste for it.