BRUNSWICK.
135
Retail Prices.
Groceries and other Commodities.
From the multitude of shops to be found in the working-class streets of
Brunswick it is evident that the workman mainly procures his food supply from
small retail dealers, and also that this keen competition exercises a powerful
influence upon prices. Multiple concerns are rare, though one proprietor owns
24 branch shops at which butter, eggs, cheese, sugar and milk are sold. Of the
two public markets only one is of any importance. The co-operative society
is a very vigorous institution ; it has 12 establishments and its membership in
1905 was 6,095. The turnover for that year was £102,734. The society’s
bakery had an output of 594,097 loaves of rye bread, each weighing 4* 14 lbs.,
and 6,866,649 small rolls of wheaten bread. The report for 1905, in referring
to the fact that the profits on the bakery department were less than those of the
previous year, remarks “ The principal reason for this must be attributed to
the rise in the prices of corn. Those who regard it as a piece of national good
fortune when high prices prevail for meat and corn ought to be well satisfied
at present. Whilst the average price per ton for rye in 1904 was £7, it rose
during the closing months of 1905 to £8 7s. and £8 9s. according to quality.
The price of wheat is likewise considerably higher than it was in the preceding
year.”
The competition of the co-operative society has led to the formation of an
association of retailers for the purpose of giving discount to their customers on
the check system, this dividend amounting to 5 per cent, of the value of their
purchases. The bakers of the town are also organised in a Guild, one object of
which is to restrict competition and to regulate prices. On the whole prices are
fairly equal in all the working-class districts, and the following are those which
predominated in 1905. Only the cheaper quality of coffee is purchased by the
working classes and this is sold roasted at 11 d. per lb. Large quantities of
malt coffee are bought, costing only about 3d. per lb., also coffee essence, roasted
barley and chicory. Fine and lump are the only two kinds of sugar in demand,
the former costing 2\d. and 2^d. per lb. and the latter 2hd. and 2\d. The cheese
universally eaten is a “ country cheese ” which has a sharp flavour but is of inferior
quality, being made from milk after the cream has been extracted. It is sold in
s mall round pats at the rate of 3 for 1 \d. or 8 for od. Small quantities of Swiss,
Tilsit and Limburg cheese are sold at Is., Is. and bl¿d. per lb. respectively,
iresh or dairy butter costs from Is. Id. to Is. 2\d. per lb., and margarine 8§d.
As to the relative quantities of dairy butter and margarine consumed by the
Working classes, the sales of the co-operative society afford some indication, and
the report for 1905 states that 231,039 lbs. of dairy butter were sold against
108,526 lbs. of margarine. Flour is not bought in large quantity as bread is
seldom baked at home. The kinds of bread eaten are " white ” or wheaten and
“ grey ” or rye-bread. The latter is the staple food and is made from finely
ground and sieved rye. It is baked in long fiat loaves with rounded ends,
weighing in October, 1905, from 4 to 4£ lbs. The price, which is 6d. per
~oaf, is everywhere the same and never varies, as the bakers reduce or
increase the size and weight of the loaf according to the fluctuating prices
°f rye. Wheaten bread is baked both in the form of loaves and of rolls ;
the former, however, are too expensive for the working classes, milk instead
of water being mixed with the flour, while the rolls, which are very small
a nd are either circular or oblong in form, are sold at the rate of 5 for
%nd are only eaten at “first breakfast ” with coffee. For his “second
breakfast ” the workman eats sandwiches consisting of rye bread with slices
of sausage, and either takes a “ nip ” of schnaps (inferior gram spirit) from
a small flask which he carries in his pocket, or buys a bottle of beer from
the factory canteen, where such an institution exists. The white rolls vary in
height, and cost from 8^. to 1W. per 4 lbs. (English) 'according to the
quality of wheat. The. coarser kind of rye bread, which is dark brown, is not
Ja hed at all in Brunswick.
The milk trade is largely in the hands of two large dairy companies and
one private dealer. The price per quart for pure or “ full ” milk, as it is
termed, is A better quality of skim milk containing 2 per cent, of fatty
