Delving deep into history, I can vaguely remember a system used six years ago, whereby boys went into lunch half the school at a time. They then sat at pre-allocated tables, each seating eight boys. One person from every table (taking it in turns each day) had the boring task of going up to the serving hatch to fetch a tray which held the dinner, along with sufficient plates and cutlery for everyone on that table. This done, everybody was given an equal (!?!) portion by one boy from their table. All assembled, then rose to say Grace, supervised by the master in charge. After lunch, yet another person from each table had to take dirty cutlery back, and then clean the table with a damp cloth. Everyone left and the remaining half of the school moved in to take their place.
The fee for school meals was five shillings weekly, payable each Monday to form masters morning registration. Potatoes were mashed and good.
The next development was the introduction of the cafeteria system. Boys went into the dining hall in the order of their forms, but each were served by a dinner lady at the serving hatch. They sat down at any table that they fancied, and then moved to the far side of the hall where they ate their pudding at a different table. This system was faster than the previous one and was in use for many years (indeed it is still the basis for the new and latest system). Money was payed as' before and the price was still five shillings. Potatoes were mostly mashed but were of poorer quality.
Over the next four years the only significant change was that the price of meals rose to seven shillings and sixpence.
The next change was designed to combat the increasing number of boys who didn't bother to turn up for dinners (they always were unpopular and the potatoes were getting even worse). Each boy in the school was given a dinner number, and, as he entered the dining hall, his number was ticked off on a large sheet listing the numbers of all the boys in the school. Further, instead of paying weekly, each person payed one and sixpence on entering the dining hall each day and was given a "school dinner ticket" which he made into a paper aeroplane, stuffed down his friend's neck, or placed in a bowl provided near the serving hatch. Soon after this, the price of the meals was increased to one and ninepence daily. Mashed potatoes became even worse, and on some occasions bread and butter was given instead. On one occasion a different type of mashed potato, of a more creamy variety, was served up. I carried out a survey on that day, and, of the people asked, 51.7 percent considered the new potato better. 31.1 per cent thought it was worse, and 11.2 per cent noticed no difference.
And now the latest development is the revolutionary system of offering a choice of menu. After some adjustment to details of the system, it seems to have settled down to a cafeteria system as before but the serving hatch is now divided into two sections, one for menu A, and the other for menu B. Nearby, is a blackboard which gives details of each menu, and the complete meal is given to each boy at once- (envisage a mini-sized first form boy struggling along with two plates, a knife, fork and spoon, and a cup of coffee).
Menu A usually consisted of the usual sort of meal, while menu B is a revolutionary snack type meal, such as hot-dog, sandwiches, or beans on toast, together with a cup of coffee or milk shake. This system obviously works as an encouragement to those who absent themselves from school meals because they don't like the usual A type dinner.
So, during six years of school dinners, the system has become considerably more efficient,
more expensive, and more confusing (?).