Many readers will be familiar with the local dispute over the origin of the American Navy.
Both Beverly and Marblehead claim that the Navy was born in their waters, and both point to Gen. John Glover as the one who founded it.
Beverly lays claim to the Navy because Glover’s fishing business was there and the first boat to be fitted for what would become the Navy, the schooner Hannah, was fitted in Beverly.
Marbleheaders, however, argue that where the schooner became a warship does not matter. As a U.S. Naval Institute article puts it, the Hannah “was a Marblehead vessel, commanded by a Marblehead captain, with a crew comprised mainly of Marblehead men.”
But this is not the only disputed origin story in which Marblehead is involved.
The other is the inception of the quintessentially New England lobster roll.
When people debate where the lobster roll was invented, they often argue between Maine and Connecticut. However, there are some who believe that the real birthplace of the lobster roll is actually on Front Street.
Where Brass N’ Bounty now sells marine antiques and nautical lighting — as the front sign reads — there was once a tea room.
Specifically, this was the Nautilus Tea Room.
The Nautilus Tea Room was owned and operated by Laura and Ralph Lloyd, and not only served as a restaurant, but also as place for the community to gather. Her obituary it states that Laura Lloyd worked at the Tea Room for 28 years before retiring in 1951.
In a 2009 letter to the editor in the Marblehead Reporter, the Lloyds’ granddaughter Sylvia Swain claimed that it was her grandparents who created the famous sandwich.
“They were frugal Yankees who saw potential in culls (one-clawed lobsters),” she said. “They put boiled lobster with a little mayonnaise in a toasted hot-dog roll and sold them for 25 cents.”
I think it unlikely that anyone ever figures out where the lobster roll really was invented. I dare say it is more likely that people all over New England began making the sandwich independently of each other.
But maybe I am wrong. It would not be the first time. Perhaps Marblehead really is the birthplace of the lobster roll.