Our Disposable Cake Plates and Saucer selection covers pretty much every special occasion on the calendar. In particular, the saucer plates are great for the after dinner cup of coffee, or perhaps a hot tea. Of course, the cake dishes are meant for (what else?) cake and other indulgences. Speaking of cake, was it really Marie Antoinette who uttered the famous words, “Let them eat cake” when told of the peasants of France starving for lack of bread?

Who said, “Let them eat cake”?

While many have attributed that famous line to the famous French queen, Marie Antoinette, it doesn’t appear that she ever said those words. During the only bread shortage during her reign she stated in letters to her family that, “It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness.” She seemed to feel for the impoverished in her country, and there is no record of her ever uttering those words.

So, where does the phrase come from? The earliest found appearance of the phrase is in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s autobiography where he wrote about the recollection of “a great princess” speaking those words. As his books were written in 1765, when Marie Antoinette was only nine, he could not have been referring to her. As to who he was referring to (or if he made the whole thing up), history will probably never know.