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A Siege souvenir’s surprising tie to four generations of one family

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There are many things I’m a bit obsessed with. These include cats, books, and Siege of Paris bread souvenirs. As the Siege continued over the months of fall, 1870, white flour became scarce and Parisian bakeries had to get (desperately) creative in order to keep making bread for a population for whom it was a staple. Siege bread became notorious for its unpleasant texture, hardness, and dubious ingredients, including crushed peas and, most notoriously, straw.   Jules Ferry, who was Prefect of the Seine during the Siege, and in charge of things like rationing and provisions, allegedly once lamented “ Jamais les Parisiens ne me pardonneront de leur avoir fait manger un ignoble pain.”  (“The Parisians will never forgive me for having made them eat vile bread.”) And he had a point; Siege bread was sometimes referred to as pain Ferry  (Ferry bread).   On the plus side, it’s because Siege bread was so notoriously horrible (and so easy to preserve, ...
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Exciting announcement: I've been asked to host A Siege of Paris dinner…154 years after the Siege

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  A beautiful allegorical menu created ca. 1871 by Jean Gauchard, during or shortly after the Siege of Paris. Among other things, there are zoo animals as well as squirrels, and a strangely brain-like depiction of a loaf of the infamous Siege bread . The drawings and the menu itself are full of jokes and references to contemporary events. Featured items include gutter rabbit stew and Krupp ice cream balls (a reference to cannon balls shot by the Prussians' famous Krupp canons during the bombardment). ( image source ) One day about a year ago, I got an email with a very strange request. It was from Andrew Morris, Chairman of an organization known as The Buckland Club, whose motto is Semper in ventrem aliquid novi (Always something new in the stomach).   The Buckland Club meets twice a year in Birmingham, England, for a dinner party featuring strange and unusual food. Previous dinners’ themes have ranged from Lewis Carroll  (with a menu appropriately written backwards) to...
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I survived the Siege of Paris and all I got was this token.

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  Okay, let me start by saying that the title of this post is sort of a joke. I  am  going to talk about a commemorative souvenir token that people who lived through the 1870–1871 Siege of Paris could buy, but the “all I got” part isn’t at all how most of them would have thought of it. As France continued to lose the Franco-Prussian War and the month of September, 1870, progressed, Parisians (and visitors to Paris) realized that the Prussian army would soon surround the city. In a short time, Paris would  be cut off from the rest of the world and besieged. And so, many residents and visitors left the city as quickly as they could. An understandable decision, of course, and one that many of them were probably grateful for, since those who stayed in Paris experienced hunger, extreme cold, disgusting bread and other food choices, and even a month of heavy bombardment by the Prussians for those who lived on the Left (South) bank of the Seine. That said, it wasn’t always...
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