Some Numbers:

• One bushel of "selects" (about 250) produced about a gallon of oyster meats.
• Some old time recipes suggested 200 oysters for a stew (serves six).
• Bay Shore, West Sayville and Patchogue had about 500 boats in operation and employed over 1,000 people in the best years.
• 75% of an oyster's weight is the shell.
• A bushel weighed approximately 80 pounds.
• Three bushels made a barrel.
• "Shuckers" had to open about 2,000 oysters a day to earn a living.
• A hard day's work: · Tonging -10 bushels · Sloops and sharpies -- 20 to 30 bushels · Dredge -- 60 bushels
• Each dredge load should bring up 7 to 8 bushels.
• 500 bushels grew on an acre of bottom.
• In 1877, the Fulton Fish Market was selling 50,000 oysters a day in its stalls.
• Oyster barges -- seventy-feet long, twenty-four-feet wide.
• At one time, 6 million oysters were stored in oyster barges in N.Y.C.

Around 1900, New York City had a population of about 4.6 million and was consuming over a million oysters a day. The numbers got a big boost from the prodigious Gourmand, Diamond Jim Brady, the railroad equipment magnate. Jim weighed over 250 pounds and his philosophy in "dining" was straightforward, "I always make it a point to leave just four inches between my stomach and the edge of the table and then when I can feel 'em rubbin' together pretty hard I know I’ve had enough."

His favorite restaurant was Rector's (Broadway at 48th Street). When he came through the front door with the beautiful actress Lillian Russel on his arm, George Rector would exclaim, "Here comes my twenty-five best customers." Diamond Jim would warm up with four dozen oysters, Lynnhavens shipped up from Baltimore. Lynnhavens were about two inches bigger than the Blue Points. Next a dozen crabs, a couple of bowls of turtle soup, portions of terrapin, duck, steak, five or six lobsters, a variety of vegetables, pastries, topped off with two pounds of chocolates. Jim died in 1917, not from malnutrition.

In the early days supplying the great market only about 65 miles away was heavy and dangerous work. The oysters were transported by ships, schooners, and wagons. A schooner would carry about 700 bushels, (about 50,000 pounds) through Fire Island Inlet at the most dangerous times, the "R' months. The Long Island Railroad reached Sayville in 1868 and, around 1870, some oysters were being shipped by rail. From around 1900, until World War I, the Long Island Express Co. had four express oyster trains a day, a 75-minute ride, at 9:00 a.m., 11 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. An order received in the 7:30 a.m. mail was shipped by 9:00 a.m. and delivered at Brooklyn around noon. The oysters were shipped as half-shells, three bushels to a barrel, (weighed about 250 pounds) or as ”shucked" meats in gallon and three gallon cans. Around 1920, trucks became the favored transport as the oysters could be delivered directly to the distributors, hotels, and restaurants.

West Sayville
oyster fleet in
Greene's Creek,
c. 1890

What's in a Name?

The Blue Point Oyster got its name from a town, Oceanside got its name from an oyster.

Oceanside, in the 1800s, was a small shellfishing community with creeks and channels coming back from the Bay. It had rich farmland and good orchards, and best of all, the New York City market just 25 miles away. The villagers had large clam and oyster beds and were constantly running off clam poachers from further west who saw some "easy pickings." The oysters were prime and were generally sold to restaurants where they brought a higher price.

A chain of restaurants, the Bristol, bought a lot of the oysters. Oceanside was originally called Christian Hook, but for sales purposes the name was changed to Oceanville when the oyster craze was on. Somehow, the name Christian Hook didn't fit the bill. Around 1890, Oceanville was changed to Oceanside because of a conflict with a town of the same name in New Jersey. Once again, we see how the oyster was special.

I'm sure many bushels went to the famous seafood restaurant, Gage and Tollner’s on Fulton Street in Brooklyn. The restaurant opened in 1879 and is still going strong today. Nothing has really changed over the years and Gages still lights gaslights every night for dinner to bring back the memories. Blue Points had style, they were on the menus of the finest restaurants: Delmonico’s, Sherry's, and Rector's. They were served in the luxurious hotels, the Plaza, Waldorf Astoria, and the St. Regis. They rode in the plush dining cars of the railroads, the railroads served wonderful meals, 35 different entrees with oysters often served seven different ways. It was a way to gain prestige.

At the same time, Blue Points were very democratically being served on the half shell by over a thousand pushcarts. On the one hand they were featured for the rich at the Plaza and on the other hand sustained the poor on the streets. It's hard to imagine a Sabrett hot dog on the Plaza's menu while at the same time a passerby munches one from a cart in front of the New York Public Library.