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64

ASCHAFFENBURG.

index  number  for  coal  is  115,  and  this  has  the  effect  of  raising  the  general
prices  index  number  for  Aschaffenburg  to  101.  The  index  number  for  rent  and
prices  combined  is  94.
The  working  classes  of  Aschaffenburg  in  October,  1905,  bought  most
of  their  coffee  at  the  almost  national  price  of  11  d.  per  lb.,  though  as  much
as  Is.  Id.  is  frequently  paid  ;  while  loaf  sugar  cost  2\d.,  and  white  granulated ­
  about  the  same.  Fresh  country  butter  cost  from  lio?.  to  Is.  per  lb.,  and
artificial  butter  under  the  name  of  “  Palmin  ”  was  sold  to  a  limited  extent  at
Id.  per  lb.  The  cheese  mostly  eaten  was  a  “  Limburg  ”  variety,  costing
5^6?.  per  lb.,  and  Swiss  cheese  at  116?.  was  eaten  to  a  small  extent.  The
general  price  of  bacon  was  9\d.  per  lb.,  and  that  of  ham  11c?.  Two  kinds  of
bread  are  consumed  by  the  working  classes.  One  is  “  black  ”  bread  or  “  Kornbrod,”
  made  of  rye,  and  costing  in  October,  1905,  4£c?.  for  the  English  4  lb.
The  other  kind  is  “mixed  white,”  consisting  of  two-thirds  wheat  and  one-third
rye,  and  costing  5§d.  for  the  English  4  lb.  The  former  bread  is  most  eaten.
The  Guild  of  Bakers  adjusts  the  price  from  time  to  time  according  to  the  price
of  corn,  and  the  bread  can  only  be  sold  in  loaves  of  5  lb.  and  2^  lb.  The  best
quality  wheaten  flour  cost  about  Is.  per  7  lb.  English.  There  are  43  bakers’
shops  in  the  town,  and  the  grocers  sell  little  bread.  Milk  was  sold  at  the  rate  of
about  2\d.  per  quart.
The  town  has  a  large  covered  market,  in  which  vegetables,  fruit,
poultry  and  game,  bakery,  and  to  a  small  extent  meat  are  exposed  for  sale
on  Wednesday  and  Saturday,  when  the  spacious  halls  and  the  street  below
present  a  very  busy  scene.  The  chief  business  is  done  from  7  a.m.  to  12
o’clock,  after  which  the  country  people  may  be  seen  yoking  up  the  cattle  to  their
drays  and  carts  preparatory  to  the  journey  home  to  the  surrounding  villages.
In  the  fruit  season  the  neighbouring  country  sends  unlimited  supplies  of  apples,
pears,  and  plums  to  the  market,  and,  at  the  date  of  this  investigation,  good
dessert  apples  were  selling  retail  at  a  little  over  1  \d.  per  lb.,  pears  at  from  l\d.
to  2d.,  and  cooking  plums  at  16?.
Coal  was  sold  to  working-class  houses  in  sacks  of  a  cwt.  at  a  price  in
October,  1905,  of  Is.  4fd.  for  nuts  of  second  quality,  mostly  Ruhr  coal  ;  while
coke  cost  Is.  per  cwt.  The  usual  price  of  paraffin  is  10^6?.  per  gallon,  the
better  American  kind  being  chiefly  in  demand.
The  following  Table  shows  the  predominant  prices  of  various  commodities
in  Aschaffenburg  in  October,  1905,  and  also  at  the  date  at  which  the  town  was
visited  for  the  purposes  of  this  enquiry  :—

Predominant  Prices  paid  by  the  Working  Classes  in  October,  1905,  and
September,  1906.

Predominant  Price.

Commodity.

October,  1905.

September,  1906.

Coffee
Sugar  :—
Loaf  ...  ...
White  granulated
Bacon  :—
Fat
Streaky  ...
Eggs
Cheese  :—
Limburg
Swiss
Butter
Palmin  (Margarine)
Potatoes
Flour  (Household)...
Bread  :—
“  Mixed  White  ”...
Black
Milk  ...
Coal  ...
Coke  ...
Paraffin  oil

per  lb.
»
per  Is.
per  lb.
»
per  7  lb.
per  4  lb.
per  quart
per  cwt.
per  gallon

1  Id.  to  Is.  Id.
2\d.
2\d.
9§d.
9#d.
14

5\d.
lid.
lid.  to  Is.
Id.
l|d.
Is.  O^d.

Is.  Id.
2&d.
2|d.
lid.
lid.
15
5d.  to  5Id.
lid.
lid.  to  Is.  Id.
Id.
2ld.
Is.  Ofd.

5|d.
4#
2&d.
Is.  4fd.
Is.
lO^d.

6d.
5  Id.
2%d.
Is.  4\d.
Is.
10\d.