When the war began in 1914, picnic baskets were shelved. But when the peace was negotiated at Versailles in June 1919, wickers were dusted off and repacked. Signaling the change, The Illustrated London News editors suggested that it was time for picnicking—in the trenches on the French front of the battlefield, “Picnics on the Old Front: Motor Tours on the Battlefields,” so the headline reads. Now the adventuresome could go sightseeing on the abandoned battlefields and picnic in the trenches. Never mind that the fields were strewn with unexploded ordinances, land mines, or remnants of the dead were still unclaimed.
“The countryside has been all pounded and devastated, and there are only patches of green and stumps of trees.” Editors gleefully explain that “the land of desolation is not wholly without resources to aid the tired traveller.” Cheeky? Insensitive? Or a bit of dark humor suggesting a return to everyday living by abolishing the past.
The suggested menu tries to compensate for the discomfort of setting up in a camouflaged shelter and using an ammunition box for a table. [Look elsewhere for other battlefield picnics PicnicWit.Com.] the menu is extravagant: chicken or veal galantine, a lobster salad, two or three dishes of (any) sandwiches, a plate of ham, Cold meats, sardines, foreign sausages, cheese, salad, bread, butter, Devonshire cream, various foreign sausages, French mustard, cayenne pepper, biscuits, sweets, savories, and wine.
Featured Image: L. Sabatier. “Picnics on the Old Front.” Image courtesy of John Weedy.