CHAPTER IX

ACTUAL MENUS OF SEVERAL WORKING MEN’S FAMILIES

The following is a week’s menu taken from Mrs. X., the wife of a carter. His wages vary between 19s. and 23s. 6d., according to hours worked. In a Bank Holiday week they went down to 15s. He usually keeps 1s. a week, and has his dinners at home. There are four children, all under five. The rent is 4s. 6d. for one room. They do not insure, and are slightly in debt. Mrs. X. is a good manager. This menu was taken from a week when Mrs. X. had 22s. 6d. given her by her husband:

_Sunday._—Breakfast: One loaf, 1 oz. butter, ½ oz. tea, a farthing’s-worth of tinned milk, a halfpennyworth of sugar. Kippers extra for Mr. X. Dinner: Hashed beef, batter pudding, greens, and potatoes. Tea: Same as breakfast, but Mr. X. has shrimps instead of kippers.

_Monday._—Breakfast: Same as Sunday. Mr. X. has a little cold meat. Dinner: Sunday’s dinner cold, with pickles, or warmed up with greens and potatoes. Tea: One loaf, marmalade, and tea. Mr. X. has two eggs.

_Tuesday._—Breakfast: One loaf, 1 oz. butter, two pennyworth of cocoa. Bloaters for Mr. X. Dinner: Bread and dripping, with cheese and tomatoes. Tea: One loaf, marmalade, and tea. Fish and fried potatoes for Mr. X.

_Wednesday._—Breakfast: One loaf, 1 oz. butter, tea. Corned beef for Mr. X. Dinner: Boiled bacon, beans, and potatoes. Tea: One loaf, 1 oz. butter, and tea. Cold bacon for Mr. X.

_Thursday._—Breakfast: One loaf, jam, and tea. Dinner: Mutton chops, greens, and potatoes. Tea: One loaf, 1 oz. butter, and tea.

_Friday._—Breakfast: One loaf, 1 oz. butter, and tea. Dinner: Sausages and potatoes. Tea: One loaf, jam, and tea.

_Saturday._—Breakfast: One loaf, 1 oz. butter, two pennyworth of cocoa. Dinner: Pudding of “pieces,” greens, and potatoes. Tea: One loaf, 1 oz. butter, and tea. Fish and fried potatoes for Mr. X.

These children look fairly well and seem vigorous. The baby is being nursed. The other three live chiefly on bread, with potatoes and greens and a tiny portion of meat at dinner.

The budget of the whole expenses of this family for a week, though not necessarily for the same week as that of the menu, is given on p. 115.

s. d. Rent 4 6 1½ cwt. coal 2 0 Gas 1 6 Soap, soda, blue 0 2 Clothing club 0 6 Paid off debt 1 0 ---- 9 8

s. d. 12 loaves 2 9 1 lb. butter 1 2 8 ozs. tea 0 8 4 lbs. sugar 0 8 1 tin of milk 0 4 ¼ lb. cocoa 0 4 6 lbs. meat 2 6 12 lbs. potatoes 0 6 Greens and pot herbs 0 5 1 lb. currants 0 3 1 quartern flour 0 6 Suet 0 2 1 lb. bacon 0 8 Jam 0 4 Fish 0 6 Sausages 0 7 Dripping 0 4 Cheese 0 2 ---- 12 10

Mr. Y. is a builder’s handyman, whose wages average about 25s. a week. He allows as a rule 22s. 6d. to his wife, out of which she gives him back 3s. a week for his dinners when at work. There are six children under thirteen. The rent for two rooms upstairs is 6s. 6d., and burial insurance is 1s.

_Sunday._—Breakfast: One loaf, jam, and tea. Bloater for him. Dinner: Half shoulder of mutton, greens, potatoes, and suet pudding, for all. Tea: Bread, butter, and tea.

_Monday._—Breakfast: Bread, dripping, and tea. Cold meat from Sunday for him. Dinner for mother and children: Cold meat and potatoes over from Sunday. Tea: Bread, jam, and tea.

_Tuesday._—Breakfast: Bread, dripping, and tea, for all. Dinner for mother and children: Hashed meat over from Monday and potatoes. Tea: Bread, radishes, and tea.

_Wednesday._—Breakfast: Bread, dripping, and tea. Dinner for mother and children: Dumplings in yesterday’s gravy. Tea: Bread, jam, and tea, for all.

_Thursday._—Breakfast: Bread, dripping, and tea. Dinner for mother and children: Rice and treacle. Tea: Bread, jam, and tea.

_Friday._—Breakfast: Bread, jam, and tea. Dinner for mother and children: Barley broth and potatoes. Tea: Bread, dripping, and tea.

_Saturday._—Breakfast: Bread, dripping, and tea. Dinner for mother and children: ¾ lb. sausages and potatoes. Tea: Bread, jam, and tea.

One of Mrs. T.’s weekly budgets is here given:

s. d. Rent 6 6 Insurance 1 0 Gas 0 6 ½ cwt. coal 0 8½ Wood 0 2 Soap, soda, blue, starch 0 5 Boracic powder 0 1 Baby’s soap 0 2 ----- 9 6½

s. d. Husband’s dinners 3 0 14 loaves 3 4½ 1 lb. dripping 0 6 12 ozs. butter 0 9 8 ozs. tea 0 8 2 tins of milk 0 6 Meat 2 3 6 lbs. potatoes 0 3 Vegetables 0 6 ½ quartern flour 0 3 Bloaters 0 3 Suet 0 2 3 lbs. sugar 0 6 ------ 12 11½

It will be noticed in this menu that Mr. T. gets no relish for either tea or breakfast throughout the week, with the exception of his Sunday treat. His 6d. dinner cannot be of a heavy nature, and his share of the family breakfasts and teas would in no way make up for a scanty dinner. He is not, therefore, too well fed. His wife and six children, who manage upon the dinners given in the menu, obviously do not get sufficient nourishment. This woman is an excellent cook, but her equipment is poor. She keeps her two rooms as clean as a new pin, and is punctual and methodical to a fault. But she is worn and tired, and unable to take in new ideas. The children are fairly well, but nervous and restless. They are not up to the normal size for their age, nor are they intelligent for their years. They are docile and give no trouble at school, and are considered “well brought up” by all who come into contact with them.

The following menu is that of the woman whose daily expenditure of 3s. a day is given in a previous chapter. Her husband, it will be remembered, pays rent and insurance, and brings home from his dust-heaps a sufficiency of fuel and soap. It is, unfortunately, not the menu of the week of which the expenditure is given. Mr. Z. allows his wife 3s. a day. There are four children under six. The rent of the one room is 5s. 6d.

_Sunday._—Breakfast: Half a loaf of bread, butter, and tea. Dinner: Roast mutton, potatoes, and greens (5d.). Tea: Half a loaf of bread, butter, and tea; 2d. cake for him.

_Monday._—Breakfast: Half a loaf of bread, rolled oats with tinned milk. Dinner: Cold meat cooked up with onions, carrots, greens, and potatoes. Tea: Half a loaf of bread, jam, and tea.

_Tuesday._—Breakfast: Half a loaf of bread, jam, and tea. Dinner: Mutton chops, potatoes, and greens. Tea: Half a loaf of bread, butter, and tea; fish for him.

_Wednesday._—Breakfast: Half a loaf of bread, butter, and cocoa. Dinner: Stew 1 lb. pieces (4½d.), with rice, carrots, onions, and potatoes. Tea: Half a loaf of bread, butter, and tea; fish for him.

_Thursday._—Breakfast: Half a loaf of bread, tea, rolled oats and tinned milk. Dinner: Boiled neck, with potatoes, onions, rice, and greens. Tea: Half a loaf of bread, butter, and tea; fish for him.

_Friday._—Breakfast: Half a loaf of bread, butter, and tea. Dinner: Suet pudding and treacle. Tea: Half a loaf of bread, jam, and tea.

_Saturday._—Breakfast: Half a loaf of bread, butter, and tea. Dinner: Eggs (5d.) and bacon (3d.). Tea: Half a loaf of bread, butter, and tea.

It has already been admitted that Mrs. Z. is not such a good manager as most of the women dealt with in this investigation. She had two special difficulties to struggle with. Her husband’s trade caused him to return home with clothes and skin almost equally black. He had no chance of a bath in the one room, and her instincts in the direction of cleanliness—whatever they may once have been—had evidently wilted in an unsympathetic atmosphere. Moreover, his hours were very irregular, and he was often a great deal at home in the afternoon. The daily payments were another stumbling-block, and there was no absolute certainty that the sum received would be 3s. Occasionally it was 2s., and sometimes it was only 1s. 6d. On one never-to-be-forgotten occasion when the visitor was present it was nothing at all, owing to his having arrived at work too late. These two influences certainly caused Mrs. Z. to be somewhat of a sloven; as she said: “It was rather funny gettin’ accustomed ter sleepin’ with ’im—all black like that.” And all the time Mr. Z. is a most excellent husband, with a great admiration for his nice-looking wife. Mr. Z. never seemed to ail. He was a small man, and very muscular for his height. Mrs. Z., though anæmic, was a well-made, upright young woman, who was rather proud of her pretty figure. The four children were big and fat and fairly intelligent. They seemed thoroughly satisfactory until the eldest boy started “wastin’”—a process Lambeth children are given to embarking upon. He “wasted” and grew visibly thinner, to the complete bewilderment, according to Mrs. Z., of the “mission” doctor and the hospital doctor, to whom she took him. Both parents were overcome with alarm and sorrow, and the day that Ernie turned and took his food again was a day of great rejoicing. He never seemed to be so strong again, however, and the obstinate continuance of a bad form of eczema upon all the other three children, in spite of every kind of treatment by doctor and district nurse, points to a worse state of health than seemed at first to obtain amongst them. Mrs. Z. was a very affectionate mother, and prided herself on the fact that her four children were “a sight bigger for their age” than all the others in the street.

The next menu is that of Mrs. O., whose husband is a printer’s labourer. He earns 30s. a week, and at Christmas he works overtime, which enables him, by working very long hours, to earn an irregular amount of extra money. Out of this he buys the children, of whom there are eight, their boots for the year, and some part of their clothing.

_Sunday._—Breakfast: Fish all round, loaf of bread, margarine, 2 teaspoonfuls of tea, 4½ teaspoonfuls of tinned milk, small spoonful of sugar each. Dinner: 3½ lbs. meat (1s. 9d.), greens, and potatoes; very occasionally a suet pudding. Tea: Tea, bread, margarine, and watercress (½d.).

_Monday._—Breakfast: Tea, bread, and margarine; rasher for him. Dinner: Cold meat and vegetables left from Sunday. Tea is bread and margarine every day in the week.

_Tuesday._—Breakfast: Tea, bread, and margarine; haddock for him. Dinner: Baked breast of mutton (7½d.), greens, and potatoes.

_Wednesday._—Breakfast: Tea, bread, and margarine; rasher for him. Dinner: Stew of “pieces,” pot herbs, and potatoes.

_Thursday._—Breakfast: Tea, bread, and margarine; fish for him (2d.). Dinner: 1 lb. sausages (5d.) and potatoes; ½ lb. “skirt” of beef for him.

_Friday._—Breakfast: Tea, bread, and margarine; rasher for him (2d.). Dinner: Fried strips of breast of mutton (4½d.) and potatoes; two chops for him (5d.).

_Saturday._—Breakfast: Tea, bread, and margarine; fish for him (2d.). Dinner: 1 lb. pork chops (9½d.), four to a pound; he has one. Other three divided among seven children, with potatoes. She has an egg later. Supper: 6 ozs. cold meat from cookshop, with a lettuce for him. If any over she has some.

The mother here is a tall, well-made woman, and the father, who has been a soldier and went all through the South African War, is also of decent proportions. The children, however, are stunted, particularly the younger ones. They are sharp and intelligent, and very well behaved. They are not often ill, except for the usual visitations of measles and whooping-cough, but their eyes need close attention, which their mother religiously and painstakingly gives them daily. Two of them have been operated on for adenoids, and the third youngest, who is three, is no larger than a baby of one year, owing to a feeble and ailing babyhood. Both parents are specially attached to this child, who gave the mother bad nights for two years, and has needed incessant care and attention ever since her birth. The two boy babies, of two years and six months respectively, both terribly undersized, are far less noticed and petted than this delicate little girl of three whose life has always hung on a thread.

An interesting menu and budget is that of the Q.’s. He is a feather-cleaner’s assistant, and his wages are 25s., out of which he allows 20s. to his wife, and keeps 5s. for himself. There are two children. They pay 6s. for the rent of two rooms. Mrs. Q. is a hard-working woman, a good manager, and extremely intelligent. The chief interest in this menu is that Mrs. Q. shows the way in which the little income is divided. Besides keeping 5s. a week for his own clothing and pocket-money, Mr. Q. has 6½d. a day allowed him by his wife for his dinners on six days a week when he is at work. Moreover, he demands 1s. 1d. to be spent weekly on himself alone for relishes at breakfast or tea. The income works out as given on p. 123.

The menu runs thus: Throughout the week every breakfast for mother and children consists of their shares in half a loaf of bread, with a touch from the weekly six pennyworth of margarine. This is accompanied by tea made from the 4 ozs. which has to last for seven days. The 2d. tin of milk and the 2 lbs. of sugar, which also have to do seven days’ duty, furnish the tea with milk and sugar. The husband’s relish at breakfast usually takes the shape of an egg.

_Sunday._—Dinner is roast mutton, greens, and potatoes. Tea is tea, made as above, and toast. All the week-day teas for mother and children are a repetition of breakfast. Mr. Q. has fish or a rasher added.

The week-day dinners run thus:

_Monday._—Cold mutton left from Sunday.

_Tuesday._—Cold mutton left from Monday.

_Wednesday._—Stew of ½ lb. “pieces” (2¼d.) and potatoes.

_Thursday._—Meat pudding from other ½ lb. of “pieces” (2¼d.) and potatoes.

_Friday._—Liver (3d.), one rasher (1½d.), and potatoes.

_Saturday._—Two herrings (3d.).

_Mr. Q.’s Expenses._

s. d. Kept by Mr. Q. 5 0 His week-day dinners 3 3 Relishes 1 1 ---- 9 4

_General Food shared by Mr. Q._

s. d. Bread 2 1½ 1 lb. margarine 0 6 4 ozs. tea 0 4 1 tin of milk 0 2 2 lbs. sugar 0 5 Sunday potatoes 0 2 Sunday greens 0 2 Suet 0 1 Sunday joint 1 0 ----- 4 11½

_General Expenses._

s. d. Rent 6 0 Coal 1 8 Gas 1 0 Soap, etc. 0 4½ Insurance 0 6 ----- 9 6½

_Food not shared by Mr. Q.—Week-day Dinners of Mrs. Q. and Children._

s. d. Meat 1 0 Potatoes 0 2 ---- 1 2

The sad part of these menus is that, though on paper it looks very selfish of Mr. Q., in practice his share of the half-loaf, even though accompanied by an egg, does not seem a very satisfactory or over-luxurious breakfast for a working man. His daily dinner at 6½d. cannot be an oppressive meal, whilst his tea cannot be much more satisfying than his breakfast. And yet, in order to feed him as well as this, his wife has to make about a third of the amount do for herself. It is not usual to find the accounts kept in this manner, but Mrs. Q. chose to show how the money went. As a matter of fact, except for the 5s. which Mr. Q. keeps for himself—a sum greater than that which is usually retained by the husband—the arrangements of the menu are quite ordinary.

The next menu is that of Mrs. U., whose husband drives a mail-van at night. His wages are 25s. a week, and he allows his wife 21s. Out of the 4s. kept by him, the usual 4d. goes in National Health Insurance, 6d. in a sick club, 1d. to the hospital, 1d. to the mess-room, and 6d. to his trade union. He is fed entirely at home. Mrs. U. has a daughter of fourteen, who goes out to daily work and is fed at home. She earns 4s. a week, and brings it home regularly to her mother. Thus the housekeeping allowance is 25s. a week. Mrs. U. bakes at home in the gas-oven, at the cost in gas of about 6d. a week, and for flour and yeast of 4s. 7d. The item for bread is therefore high, but so also is the quality of the bread. There are six children.

Most breakfasts and teas in the week consist of bread, margarine, tea, cocoa, or coffee, or occasionally of porridge and treacle.

_Sunday._—Dinner: Target of mutton (10d.), potatoes, greens, suet pudding, and haricot beans.

_Monday._—Dinner: Boiled neck (4d.), potatoes, and dumplings.

_Tuesday._—Dinner: Stew of “pieces” (4d.) with pot herbs and potatoes.

_Wednesday._—Dinner: Brown hash (4d.) and dumplings.

_Thursday._—Dinner: Meat pudding of shin of beef (4d.), greens, and potatoes.

_Friday._—Dinner: Fish (1 lb., 4d.), parsley sauce, and potatoes.

_Saturday._—Dinner: Liver (4d.), bacon (2d.), greens, and potatoes.

A week’s budget of Mrs. U. is given on p. 126.

Mrs. U. is an excellent manager, and certainly tries to feed her family well. But her plans are sadly interfered with when one of the children needs new boots, and, with six children, one or other of them is always needing something new. There are two courses which are taken according to the merits of the case. One is to pawn the mother’s boots, thus rendering her a prisoner in the two tiny rooms until the money to release her belongings can be raised, and the other is to save the amount out of food. She makes all the clothes that can be made at home, and is an expert needlewoman. She was a professed cook earning £1 a week before she married. No burial insurance is paid in this family.

s. d. Rent 7 0 Gas 1 6 1½ cwt. coal 2 1½ Soap, soda 0 2 ----- 10 9½

s. d. Flour and yeast 4 7 Meat 2 6 Suet 0 3 Potatoes 1 0 Vegetables 0 6 2 lbs. margarine 1 0 3 lbs. sugar 0 7 Bacon 0 2 6 ozs. tea 0 6 Cocoa 0 3 Coffee 0 3 Fish 0 4 Rice 0 2 Split peas 0 2½ Currants 0 2 Lard 0 4 Oatmeal 0 2½ Treacle 0 1½ Salt and pepper 0 2 Cow’s milk 0 8 Eggs 0 3 ------ 14 2½

We now come to the week’s menu of a couple of families where the man was temporarily out of work, and took anything he could get. Mr. T. was carman for a large firm that employed all its enormous number of carmen by the day. The inner ring of men were given a day’s work every day, and earned 3s. 6d., which they were paid on leaving work each night. The less fortunate outer ring were given a couple or three days’ work in the week. No notice was taken or given on either side. A day’s work might mean at Christmas time a day of twenty hours, and no meal-time allowed. It might mean a much shorter day, but usually ran about twelve hours. Mr. T. had two days’ work a week, but he washed down another man’s van every day for 1s. 6d. a week. Occasionally he was lucky enough to have two vans to wash, when his money would amount to 10s. He allowed his wife 8s. 6d. There was one child. The rent for the single room was 3s. 6d., and there was no insurance.

_Sunday._—Breakfast: Bloater for father, 1 teaspoonful of tea between them, 1 teaspoonful of milk from tin each, 1 small spoonful of sugar each, two slices of bread and margarine. Dinner: Six pennyworth of neck of mutton, greens and potatoes given by mother. Tea: Two slices of bread, margarine, and tea.

_Monday._—Breakfast: Two slices of bread and butter, with tea, for every breakfast in the week. Dinner: Cold meat and vegetables left from Sunday. Tea: Two slices of bread and butter, with tea, for every tea in the week.

_Tuesday._—Dinner: Fresh herring each, bread and butter (one slice).

_Wednesday._—Dinner: ½ lb. “pieces” (3d.) stewed with potatoes, which were given by mother.

_Thursday._—Dinner: What is left of stew and potatoes.

_Friday._—Dinner: ½ lb. rashers (3d.), with potatoes given by mother.

_Saturday._—Dinner: The other ½ lb. rashers, with potatoes given by mother.

A week’s budget runs thus:

s. d. Rent 3 6 Gas 0 5 Newspaper 0 1 Candle 0 0¼ Soap, 1d.; soda, ½d. 0 1½ Blacklead 0 0½ Paid off cradle 0 6 ----- 4 8¼

s. d. 9 loaves 2 0¾ 4 ozs. tea 0 4 1 lb. sugar 0 2 1 tin of milk 0 3 4 ozs. butter 0 3½ 1½ lbs. meat 0 9 ----- 3 10¼

It will be noticed that no coal appears. The time of year was summer, and the fire was never lighted during the thirteen weeks of their life on 8s. 6d. a week. The five pennyworth of gas was used entirely for cooking, and light was supplied by the farthing candle. The newspaper was their Sunday treat, and was read solemnly through from first column to last by both young people. It chronicled more murders and multiple births than any paper the visitor had ever seen. Mrs. T. would say in course of polite conversation: “Have you seen the news—five at a birth?” Then she would produce a picture of three nurses and two doctors, each holding a baby, and would murmur regretfully: “They’re most of ’em dead.”

The next case is that of a Mrs. X., a deserted wife, with three children under eight. Mrs. X. had “taken the law of” Mr. X., and there was “an order out against him” for 7s. a week. But as she was never able to make him pay it or any part of it, she had to exist with the three children on her earnings as an office cleaner in a large bank in the city, where she was paid 12s. a week. Unfortunately the bank was very far from her home, and she spent 2s. a week on fares, which sounds very extravagant, but it must be remembered that she went to her work twice a day. Her hours were six to nine in the mornings, and six in the evenings until finished. She rented a small room for 2s. 6d. a week until the sanitary authorities found her out, and obliged her to move into two smaller rooms at a rent of 4s. 6d. Owing to her lack of beds and bedding she and her three children were forced to sleep all in one bed in one of the two smaller rooms exactly as they did when she had but the one larger room. To mind the baby of two while she was at work morning and evening she paid a neighbour 1s. a week. Added to her regular wage of 12s. as office cleaner, she occasionally had a job on Saturdays, which brought her in 1s. more, so that her income sometimes amounted to 13s. a week.

Her menu ran as follows:

_Sunday._—Breakfast: Half a loaf, margarine, and tea. Dinner: Sausages, 1 lb. (4d.), or “pieces” (4d.), potatoes, sometimes pot herbs, sometimes greens. Tea: Half a loaf, margarine, and tea.

Every breakfast and every tea in the week is half a loaf, dripping or margarine, and tea.

_Monday._—Dinner: Remains of sausages and potatoes.

_Tuesday._—Dinner: Flour pancakes, with sugar.

_Wednesday._—Dinner: ¼ lb. bacon, half a loaf of bread.

_Thursday._—Dinner: halfpennyworth of fish for Lulu, and halfpennyworth of potatoes. Landlord downstairs gave Mrs. X. some meat pie and potatoes.

_Friday._—Dinner: Bread, margarine, and tea.

_Saturday._—Dinner: Bread and three bloaters.

The following is a week’s budget:

s. d. Rent 4 6 Baby minded 1 0 Fares 2 0 Coal 0 6¾ Lamp oil 0 2 Wood 0 2 Matches 0 0¼ Soap, soda, blue 0 2¼ Sickness insurance 0 3 Burial insurance 0 3 ----- 9 1¼

s. d. 6 loaves 1 10 2 lb. sugar 0 4 1 tin of milk 0 2 4 lbs. potatoes 0 2 Flour 0 2 Meat and fish 0 4 4 ozs. tea 0 4 Dripping 0 3 Margarine 0 0¾ Oatmeal 0 3 ------ 3 10¾

The eldest boy of seven has dinners at school five days in the week in term-time. The girl is three and a half, and is fed at home. The baby is two years old. All the children are extremely delicate. Since this menu was taken Mrs. X. has been lucky enough to get help from some kind people. They have seen her elder boy through an attack of rheumatic fever, and have clothed the three children in warm and decent garments. Without such timely help she would in all probability have lost her boy.

There are those who, if they happen to read these weekly menus, will criticise with deep feeling the selection of the materials from which they are composed. It is not necessary to pretend that they are the absolute best that could be done, even upon that money. It is quite likely that someone who had strength, wisdom, and vitality, who did not live that life in those tiny, crowded rooms, in that lack of light and air, who was not bowed down with worry, but was herself economically independent of the man who earned the money, could lay out his few shillings with a better eye to scientific food value. It is quite as likely, however, that the man who earned the money would entirely refuse the scientific food, and demand his old tasty kippers and meat. It is he who has to be satisfied in the long-run, and if he desires pickles, pickles there will be. The fact that there is not enough money to buy good, healthy house-room means that appetites are jaded, and that food which would be nutritious and valuable, and would be greedily eaten by people who lived in the open air, seems tasteless and sickly to those who have slept four in a bed in a room 10 feet by 12 feet.