230
ELBERFELD.
October), and these are usually to be had at prices corresponding to 14 or 15 for
a shilling. Dutch cheese at about 8fd. per lb. is the quality most commonly
consumed. This is a most important article of consumption and is eaten at
every meal—in very thin slices.
Butter is regarded as a luxury, and if bought at all is fresh, and cost
Is. %\d. per lb. in 1905. The working classes usually eat margarine, for which
they paid about 8jd per lb. Whereas the Co-operative Society sold in 1904-5
but 61,354 lb. of butter to its members it sold 148,380 lb. of margarine and other
substitutes for butter, and 33,500 lb. of pork dripping. Potatoes are cheap,
the price per pail or “ becher ” (3 kilograms) being from 2Jd. to 3\d. for 7 lb.
Bread is sold, not by weight, but by the loaf, which is not required to be
of any standard weight. Four varieties are sold : (1) black bread, which is
made wholly of unhusked rye, and is very heavy ; (2) Mangbrot, a greyish
bread composed of twice-ground wheat and rye mixed, with part of the husks
removed ; (3) a superior quality of grey bread composed of wheat and rye with
the whole of the husks removed ; and (4 ) rolls, composed of the finest wheaten
flour, and frequently made with milk. It is not possible to say with certainty
of any of these varieties that it is the kind most commonly consumed by the
working classes, and, in the opinion of the President of the Elberfeld Bakers’
Guild, all four varieties are now in about equal demand among the working
classes. The wheaten roll is eaten at early breakfast, being split in two,
spread with margarine, and combined with a slice of black bread (or Dutch
cheese) so as to form a kind of sandwich. The rolls cost two pfennige each,
and as they weigh about 13 to one pound, their price per 4 lb. would be
slightly over Is. Black bread, for which a price corresponding to 4\d. to 6d.
for 4 lb. had to be paid in October, 1905, is also sold in slices (machine-cut)
when a somewhat higher price is charged—never less than 12 pfennige for half
a kilogram, i.e., a price corresponding to 5d. for 4 lb. For the inferior kind
of grey bread (Mangbrot) 12 to 14 pfennige per half kilogram were charged
when bought by the loaf, and 16 pfennige when bought in slices. This would
correspond to prices of b\d. to 6d. and Id. respectively for 4 lb. The superior
kind of grey bread is never sold otherwise than in the loaf, and the price worked
out at 20 pfennige per half kilogram, or a little under 8|d. per 4 lb.
Coal is sold either by the centner (110 lb.) or by the bushel (Scheffel),
which is supposed to contain a centner, but usually holds about 93 lb. The
quality usually bought is that known as E"o. 3 nuts, a very small screened coal.
The price in 1905, Is to Is. Id. per cwt., must be regarded as high, having
regard to the quality of the article sold, and the proximity to the Ruhr coal fields.
Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905,
and May, 1906.
Predominant price.
Commodity.
October, 1905.
May, 1906.
Coffee
Sugar, white granulated
Bacon :—
Fat
Streaky ...
Eggs
Cheese (Dutch)
Butter
Margarine ...
Potatoes
Flour (Household)
Bread :—
Grey
Black
Milk ...
Coal ...
Paraffin Oil
per lb.
per Is.
per lb.
per 7 lb.
per 4 lb.
per quart
per cwt.
per gallon
lid.
2 \d.
9%d.
9\d.
14, 15
8fd.
is. 2fd.
8f d.
2\d. to ò\d.
Is. lfd.
5\d. to 6d.
4\d. to 6d.
2fd.
Is. 0\d. to Is. Id.
9|d. to lOd.
lid.
2&d.
9#
9#
18
8#
Is. 2^d.
8|d.
2&d. to 3fd.
Is. lfd.
5|-d. to 6d.
4fd. ,, 6d.
2#
Is. Ofd. to Is. Id.
9¿d. to lOd.
