January 5, 1945: NYC Mayor La Guardia on fish
"Mayor La Guardia helped launch yesterday the New York City educational program to encourage people to eat more fish during the meat shortage, but he set a bad
example by refusing to eat his fish chowder. At a luncheon at Sweet's Restaurant, 2 Fulton Street, the Mayor warned that the food supply would be tight long after
the war in Europe ended, but that there was an abundance of fish at reasonable prices in the city's markets. During the luncheon, which opened the campaign for
increased consumption of fresh and frozen fish as nutritious and point-free food, the Mayor also acquired a new nickname. A hundred men and women representing
consumer groups, nutrition and home economics teachers, press and radio food editors and reporters...saw fish in abundance. But the Mayor was late. By the time
he arrived, the cry 'Where is the Little Flounder?' had become the bon mot a the day...[Mayor La Guardia] urged housewives to overcome their prejudice against
frozen fish, which he said was just as good as fresh fish if prepared properly...'Fish is good for children..but you've got to se it to them.' A moment later
a waiter offered the Mayor a bowl of steaming fish chowder. 'Do I have to eat that?' he demanded. Then he explained: 'When I go home my wife asks...What have
you been eating?'"
---"Mayor Exhorts the Public to Eat More Fish As He Scorns a Bowl of Steaming Chowder," New York Times, January 5, 1945 (p. 18)
