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.