The Beginning
The Chili Queens of San Antonio
Most historians agree that the earliest written description of chili came from J.C. Clopper, who lived near Houston. In the 1880s, a market in San Antonio started setting up chili stands from which chili — or bowls o' red as it was called — were sold by women who became known as the "chili queens."
A bowl o' red cost diners such as writer O. Henry and democratic presidential hopeful William Jennings Bryan ten cents, and included bread and a glass of water. The fame of chili con carne began to spread, and the dish soon became a major tourist attraction.
It was featured at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 at the San Antonio Chili Stand — introducing the bowl o' red to the rest of the country and cementing its place in American food history.