Lexington Historical Society Announces A Taste for Chocolate Celebration

Lexington Historical Society is celebrating all things chocolate during the A Taste for Chocolate celebration from February through April. A delicious array of tastings, exhibitions, lectures and demonstrations will conclude with a chocolate themed fundraiser taking place on April 7th to support the operations and programming of the museum.

Carol S. Ward, the Executive Director of the Society feels that this celebration will not only bring in new audiences to the museum, but also "who doesn't love chocolate?" The interesting thing, she states, is that chocolate is "universally recognized and widely enjoyed, yet people know little about the origin and history of it."

In Lexington, chocolate became an increasingly important commodity during the time of the Revolutionary War, as tea consumption plummeted. The Lexington Historical Society in fact has primary documents on display at the Munroe Tavern Archives and Research Center showcasing that many shops made sure to stock their shelves with alternatives, as evidenced by the accounts kept here at William Munroe's general store. Chocolate sales replaced that of tea with astonishing rapidity as the town pivoted to the new beverage. Reverend Jonas Clarke, who helped to spearhead the revolutionary movement in town, purchased large quantities of chocolate rather than tea between September 1773 and July 1783, at the conclusion of the war.

This exhibition explores the history of chocolate and cacao through the lens of objects which come from the periods represented by the diverse collection of the Lexington Historical Society, supplemented by loans from a private collection.

To learn more about A Taste For Chocolate Celebration please visit our website https://www.lexingtonhistory.org/ or call us at 781-862-1703