Slang in the Restaurant.

Jamestown Weekly Alert, Jamestown, 1887-04-14, p.5

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Summary

A short period color piece, reprinted from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, cataloguing restaurant kitchen slang from Kansas City and St. Louis. Oyster stew is "Jesse James"; beefsteak is "slaughter in a pan"; black coffee is "coffee in the dark"; unpeeled potatoes are "Murphy with his coat on"; sunny-side eggs are "sunny side up"; buckwheat cakes (in "gambler fashion") are "stack of reds with copper on top"; batter cakes are "stack of whites." The "Murphy" here is slang for potato — not a person.

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Narrative

A St. Louis waiter, writing in the Globe-Democrat, catalogues the restaurant slang used in calling orders to the kitchen: an oyster stew becomes "Jesse James," beefsteak "slaughter in a pan," black coffee "coffee in the dark," and unpeeled potatoes "Murphy with his coat on." Buckwheat cakes are called in gambler fashion as a "stack of reds with copper on top," batter cakes a "stack of whites."

  • “If you tell the waiter you want an oyster stew, he shouts out to the kitchen: "Jesse James!"”
  • “potatoes unpeeled are "Murphy with his coat on"”
  • “buckwheat cakes are spoken of in gambler fashion as "stack of reds with copper on top"”

AI-generated (claude-opus-5). Verify against the transcription before quoting.

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Transcription
transcription: complete · confidence high
# Transcription — Jamestown Weekly Alert, 1887-04-14, p.5 **Source**: Jamestown Weekly Alert (Jamestown, Dakota Territory), Thursday 14 April 1887, p.5. **Status**: Complete. **Method**: Reprint from a "Waiter in [the St. Louis] Globe-Democrat." --- **Slang in the Restaurant.** Men who write books about slang might find material in some restaurants. In Kansas City there is an abundance of it. Only in one place in St. Louis — on Morgan street — can you hear downright slang in the giving of the orders, and curious it is. If you tell the waiter you want an oyster stew, he shouts out to the kitchen: "Jesse James!" A beefsteak becomes "slaughter in a pan;" plain, black coffee is "coffee in the dark;" potatoes unpeeled are "Murphy with his coat on;" two eggs fried on one side are transformed into "sunny side up;" buckwheat cakes are spoken of in gambler fashion as "stack of reds with copper on top," and batter cakes as "stack of whites." — *Waiter in Globe-Democrat.*

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