"In the old days they didn't even use tables and chairs. They sat on beer crates and ate off the tops of beer barrels. You'd be surprised how much fun that was. Somehow it made old men feel young again. And they'd drink beer out of cans, or growlers...The men ate with their fingers. They never served potatoes in those days. Too filling. They take up room that rightfully belongs to meat and beer." Joseph Mitchell, "All You Can Hold For Five Bucks."

Photograph is one of the best illustrations I have found of the type of beefsteak Mitchell describes. The photograph is titled "Beefsteak dinner at Reisenwebers to honour H.H. Rogers & Mark Twain" and dated April 1908. It is in the public domain.