Ladies Ordinaries (Colorized Photos): What Dining Without Men For The First Time Looked Like

January 30, 2021

Dining wasn't so simple in the 19th century

Believe it or not, a woman in the early 1800s could not waltz into a restaurant by herself or with her gal pals, and order lunch, like the ladies shown in this colorized photograph of yesteryear. That would have been such scandalous behavior that the woman’s reputation would have been forever tarnished. In those days, only women of ill-repute would be so bold as to enter a restaurant without a man to serve as her escort.

This colorized photo looks like it was taken today (or in the very recent past). In reality, it was taken shortly after women were finally allowed to dine by themselves. Today, we take it for granted that anyone is just able to pop into a restaurant and grab a bite to eat. It's a normal, ho-hum activity. But in the 19th century, sitting down to eat was not only more of a dress up affair, but it was extremely politicized.

Colorized photograph of female diners enjoying a restaurant meal. (historydaily.org)

Most likely, a lone woman or group of women just like these ladies in this colorized pic would have been denied service by the restaurant owner. He -- of course, he was most likely a man -- couldn’t afford to have unchaperoned ladies in his eatery. This would ruin his reputation as well. Women get hungry, though, even when we are unescorted. The solution was to create ladies-only eateries called Ladies Ordinaries.

Restaurants, A Scary Place for Women

Respectable women would be harassed and accosted in a restaurant. (blackcreekbrewery.wordpress.com)

Women in the early 19th century were quite oppressed, but it was "for their own good." In the patriarchal society, women were taught that they should not go out of the home without a male chaperone, be it her father, husband, or brother. The reason for this was the common belief that women needed to be protected from men who may lose control at the sight of an unescorted lady and accost her. It was safer, ladies were told, to stay in the company of a trusted male family member. A woman attempting to dine in a restaurant alone, it was thought, would be so harassed and molested by the male diners that her virtue would be in jeopardy. Generations of women grew up believing this.