> In my research they only begin being actively bought from seed
>catalogs around 1830 and it was not until after the Civil War that they
>became what you might call universal on American tables.

The earliest seed "catalogue" with tomatoes listed (that I've located is
Lithen, John. "Catalogue of Garden Seeds... Philadelphia. c1800. In this
broadside, "Love Apples" are listed under "Seeds and Plants of Herbs," not
under flowers.

The notion that tomatoes were not commonly-consumed until after the Civil War
is pure culinary fakelore promoted by people (such as James Beard) who didn't
bother to look at primary sources, such as pre-Civil War cookbooks, gardening
books, newspapers, etc. To date I've located over 15,000 references to
tomatoes published or written in the US prior to the Civil War. In fact, it is
likely that tomatoes were grown and consumed in what is today the US prior to
the arrival of the English colonists at Jamestown in 1607 (specifically in St.
Augustine, Florida, and later in Santa Fe, New Mexico), although I have not
located primary sources that support this contention. However, tomatoes were
clearly grown and consumed in the American Southern colonies by the mid-18
century, as I have documented.

>
>I am very interested in any reference source you can point me to that
>shows information to the contrary. I am currently trying to write an
>article on this subject.
>
>Cookie
>

If you need any pithy quotes, just let me know. I'm good at pith...

Andy Smith