The correlation between passengers’ budgets and social class is suggested by the rather embarrassing names chosen by the London & North Western Railway for its luncheon baskets, the ‘Aristocrat’ (five shillings) and the ‘Democrat’ (two shillings and sixpence). The ‘Aristocrat’ offered the choice of a pint of claret or half a pint of sherry – enough to get you tolerably drunk, though it must be allowed that Victorian claret was weaker than today’s. The plebeian ‘Democrat’ had a bottle containing ale or stout.
