It's a critter and a delicacy.

It's the crème de la crème of seafood,

but this beloved summertime favorite was once thought of

as the poor man's food.

Say what?

It is said that in the early 16th century

as the first Pilgrims began to settle

in bay areas of America

that the oceans overfloweth with lobster.

No, literally, they overfloweth.

Imagine a shore with a lobster wall two feet tall.

As one would expect, the settlers ate them up

until, like anything eaten three times a day,

they got sick of them,

eventually deeming them the cockroaches of the sea.

After that, lobsters were used as fertilizer,

fish bait, and ultimately prison food.

They were fed so often to inmates

that there was even a law enacted to protect said inmates

from cruel and unusual lobster punishment.

So, then how did lobster become the succulent delicacy

we all know and love?

Fast forward to the mid 1800s.

Canned food became a thing, as did the railroad.

Lobsters were canned and shipped to Middle America.

At the same time, Middle Americans started traveling

to New England for fresh lobster.

By the late 1880s, prices began to surge.

And by World War II, lobsters become the pricey speciality

we've all grown to enjoy.

(jaunty piano music)