Big Oyster: A Molluscular History of New York

When Peter Minuit bought Manhattan for $24 in 1626, he also acquired the oyster beds off of nearby Oyster Island, later renamed Ellis Island in 1770. From the Minuit purchase to the eventual destruction of the beds due to pollution in the 1920s, New York was renowned for its oysters, particularly during the oyster craze of the late 1800s that spanned Europe and America for several decades. Despite William Makepeace Thackeray dubbing New York oysters as "eating a baby," travellers to the city were eager to indulge in the delicacies and visit the famed oyster houses. While some oyster houses were known for their elegance, their association with prostitution was inevitable due to the long-held belief in oysters as an aphrodisiac. When novelist Charles Dickens arrived in New York in 1842, he was eager to experience the oyster cellars of the city's slums. "The Big Oyster"