In 1905

The Indian Review of December 1905 gives us the following delicious bit on the spread of vegetarianism in high society:

"Under the attractive and daintily displayed heading of "Living on Fruits and Vegetables," the Daily Mirror gives the portraits of Baron and Baroness Meyer, Lord Charles Beresford, commanding the Mediterranean Fleet, Lady Henry Somerset, Mr. George Bernard Shaw, and the Countess of Essex. Did we feel at liberty to do so, we could considerably add to the list of such names. The Daily Mirror also tells us that:

"Vegetarianism has become so popular of late among the members of the peerage that no smart dinner is complete without a separate menu of "fad" dishes for the food reformer.

"The majority of noble vegetarians are known as "Wallaceites" or devotees of the system of food-reform introduced by Mr. Joseph Wallace. Their pet aversion are salt and all kinds of fermented foods. Lady Henry Somerset has been a most ardent follower of the new diet. Her menus include only bread, fruit, and vegetables. She believes that a vegetable diet for the masses would eliminate the drink evil. Lady Paget strongly advocates the use of apples as food. Lord Charles Beresford, fighting-man, says that he has become a convert to vegetarianism, and his youthfullness is attributed to a well regulated diet. Mr. George Bernard Shaw has made himself famous as a vegetarian by his flings at the meat-eating public. He has called meat-foods "scorched corpses" and has said that when he dies he wants all the animals he has not eaten to attend his funeral.

"Other prominent advocates of the vegetarian diet are the Countess of Essex, Lady Windsor, Lady Gwendolen Herbert, Lady Hamilton, Mrs. C. Leigh Hunt Wallace, and the Earl of Buchan."