A normal case has been purposely chosen. The budget might have been given of a man who has ten evening suits, spends £10 a month on gloves and ties, and pays 25s. apiece for his pocket-handkerchiefs.
Before leaving the subject of clothes, one or two extracts may be quoted concerning those who help to make them:
“Mrs. —— gets 2s. 6d. a dozen for making coats and 2s. 3d. a dozen for reefers, and says ten years ago she got 5s. a dozen; eighteen years ago 1s., 1s. 6d., and 2s. a coat; and in her early days, when most of the work was done by hand, 5s. a coat.”
“Mrs. K. makes artificial flowers when she can get work. When visited, she was working at sprays with twenty-four small flowers, leaves, and stem, at 1½d. per spray.”
“Miss B. makes elaborate net blouses with tucks and insertion for 1s. to 1s. 4d. each. The wholesale price for these blouses is 8s. 11d., and the retail price 12s. to 15s.”
“A maker of pyjamas was paid 11s. 3d. for entirely making a dozen suits, but gave up the work and took to shirt-making, because the employer found someone who would do it for 6s. 3d.”[26]
Food offers, perhaps, the most striking study. In making this analysis it would almost seem necessary to remember that the cubic capacity of the adult human stomach does not vary to any appreciable extent, and, on the whole, appetite is liable to be keener with those who endure physical toil than with those who do nothing. Again, no extreme instances, one way or the other, will be given.
Man, wife, and child for five weeks:[27]
| s. | d. | ||
| Meat and liver | 8 | 5 | |
| Potatoes and vegetables | 2 | 3½ | |
| Fish | 0 | 9 | |
| Bacon, eggs, and cheese | 3 | 6¼ | |
| Suet | 1 | 0 | |
| Butter and dripping | 2 | 9 | |
| Bread | 8 | 9¼ | |
| Flour | 4 | 1½ | |
| Rice | 0 | 6 | |
| Fruit, jam, and sugar | 8 | 4¼ | |
| Milk | 3 | 2 | |
| Tea and coffee | 3 | 6 | |
| Pepper and salt | 0 | 2½ | |
| £2 | 7 | 4¼ | |
| Average for one week | 9 | 5½ |
Or man, wife, two boys, and a girl:
| £ | s. | d. | |
| Food and drink for three weeks | 2 | 0 | 7¼ |
| Average for one week | 0 | 13 | 6½ |
The study of the diet of this family reveals a deficiency of 25% in the protein and 7% in fuel value.[28]
Household books for one week—seven in family, nineteen servants: