During the American colonial period, lobsters were not valued as food and were mainly eaten by the poor, prisoners, and indentured servants

During the American colonial period, lobsters were not valued as food and were mainly eaten by the poor, prisoners, and indentured servants. Native tribes near the coasts used lobsters as fertilizer or bait rather than food. 

People even hid lobster shells to avoid the stigma of poverty. In Massachusetts, indentured servants sued to limit their lobster meals to three times a week, winning the case.

Lobsters were abundant, easy to collect from the shore, and considered bottom feeders. They were often consumed as a paste or stew. In the early 19th century, lobsters were cheaper than Boston baked beans, sometimes even fed to cats.

However, by the late 19th century, as railroads spread and lobsters were served on trains, people who were unfamiliar with them found them delicious. 

This led to increased demand and the start of lobster canning. By the 1920s, with lobsters becoming less plentiful but demand growing, lobsters transitioned to a delicacy, popular among celebrities and the wealthy by the 1950s.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, lobsters saw a reversion to their older, less glamorous status. 

With the collapse of the stock market and widespread economic hardship, even foods that had climbed the social ladder, like lobster, were heavily impacted. For a brief period, lobster was once again seen as an affordable source of protein. 

It was during this era that the Maine Lobster Promotion Council was founded in an attempt to boost the dwindling market. The council undertook an aggressive marketing campaign, rebranding the lobster from a humble crustacean to a symbol of the good life that could be had, even in hard times, if one could indulge in such a delicacy. 

The efforts of the council were so effective that by the time World War II rolled around, lobster was back on the menu for American soldiers, offered as a morale-boosting luxury. This marked a fascinating chapter in the lobster's American journey, showing its resilience and adaptability as a cultural symbol capable of both falling from and reclaiming its grace, mirroring the nation's own ups and downs.

In the late 1940s, after World War II, the lobster industry in Maine faced a new challenge: overfishing. 

Lobster populations had started to decline due to increased demand, both domestically and internationally, and there were concerns about the sustainability of the fishery. Enter Wilford E. "Bill" Thompson, a researcher at the University of Maine, who in the early 1950s began groundbreaking studies on lobster populations, growth rates, and migration patterns. 

His research led to the implementation of new conservation measures, including size limits and a ban on the harvesting of egg-bearing females, which were marked with a notch on their tail and returned to the sea. These actions, coupled with the cooperative efforts of lobstermen who followed the new guidelines, saved the Maine lobster industry from potential collapse. 

Thompson's research was so impactful that it became the basis for sustainable lobster fishing practices that are still in place today. His work symbolized a turning point for lobsters, from being an overfished, at-risk resource to a well-managed, sustainable industry, ensuring that this once-maligned crustacean would continue to grace dinner tables for generations to come.