Story of "Beantown"
Why is Boston called “Beantown”?
The story of Boston as “Beantown” has several origins. Yes, people in Boston ate beans, whether they were Puritans or Rebels or Redcoats or Native Americans. But everyone ate beans - they are a cheap and nutrient rich food - so why did the town get the name? And who bakes beans when you could just rapid boil them?
Baking beans seems almost finicky now - turning on your oven to keep a pot around 200 degrees for 8 hours doesn't make much sense in the modern kitchen. But imagine the process of wood-fired cooking with a primitive stove, which was standard in the region for the last several hundred years: you fire up the stove, get your fast sautéing and quick breads done. Your oven is still warm so why not put that energy to use and slow cook something scrumptious while you're out in the fields or forest.
Add to that the cultural context: Puritans did not work from sundown on Saturday to sundown Sunday. The sabbath was strictly observed, so to avoid actively cooking on God’s day of rest, the settlers threw a mess of beans in the oven on Saturday evening and by Sunday morning they had a warm meal to scoop from all day.
A critical ingredient in Boston baked beans - molasses - has a history in Boston as well. Molasses is a byproduct of sugar production, and is an ingredient in rum. Boston had a rum distillery as of 1667. Not only did New Englanders drink it (to the tune of 3 gallons per year per person!) but they also traded it. Rum was a form of currency. Market measure: around 1740 Venture Smith, a slave, was purchased for four gallons of rum and a piece of calico (cloth).
(Infamous related molasses history note: the 1919 molasses disaster, during which a 2,000,000 gallon tank, 50 ft tall, collapsed in the North End of Boston, killing several people and horses).
To review: beans, check; molasses, check; baking the beans, check. So, when did the phrase "Bean Town" come about? It seems most likely that Boston was publicized as Beantown when Boston had its Old Home Week from (July/August 1907). (Old Home Week was a tradition in New England towns during which residents were called back for celebrations, like a homecoming of sorts). Stickers were distributed showing two shaking hands over a pot of beans. One million stickers were handed out. Later that summer, postcards of Boston riffed on the Boston/Bean theme and alliteration. “You don’t know beans until you come to Boston: Bigger, Better, Busier Boston.”
(Oh and here’s a good Boston Baked Beans recipe)