Victorian oddities: what the British ate and how they looked after their health 150 years ago

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The Victorian era was a real breakthrough in many areas of British life. Railways appeared, which radically changed the lives of people, the quality of food improved. But the cities continued to be a cesspool of unsanitary conditions. Today many Victorian rules and traditions may seem strange to us. But they survived as best they could!

During the Victorian era, the growth of the railroad network greatly facilitated the delivery of food from rural areas to urban markets, thereby significantly improving the quality of food in cities. But scientists have not yet figured out how to treat most diseases, despite innovations in medicine, and life expectancy remained low.

19th century kitchen in Audley End, Essex

Food in cities

At the beginning of the 19th century, almost all food was still produced by peasants, and since four-fifths of the population lived in rural areas, they had direct access to it. However, as more and more people moved to cities, there was an urgent need to find new ways to transport and store food. The development of railways made it possible to move the main foodstuffs in England (flour, potatoes, root vegetables and beer), and to do this quickly and over long distances.

Other innovations that have made food distribution easier include the emergence of products with a long shelf life, such as condensed milk, egg powder and canned soups, and bottled sauces. The first large meat processing plant in Britain was founded in 1865, and by the 1870s cans of canned food could be found in almost every kitchen of a middle-class family. In the 1880s, the possibility of refrigerating meat was introduced, which opened up the possibility of large-scale imports from America. Meat became cheaper, and for the first time it entered the diet of the regular diet of all classes of society.

Slums at Market Court, Kensington, circa 1865. Slums emerged in English towns and cities in the 19th century as a result of rapid industrialization and unprecedented population growth. Local cramped, poor and unsanitary conditions have become a real breeding ground for diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis.

Famous chefs

Throughout the 19th century, French was the most fashionable cuisine in Britain. Its dominance was sustained by the availability of books written by famous chefs, the most famous of whom was Marie-Antoine Karem (1783-1833). His book The Art of French Cuisine in the 19th Century, translated into English in 1836, was a huge success, especially among high society.

Middle-class families also used cookbooks. The most popular was Isabella Beaton's Book of Household Management (1861), which indicated the exact quantities of ingredients and the exact cooking time, which was new at the time.

1880s Ginger Beer Recipe Found in the Cookbook of Avis Crocombe, Chef at Audley End House, Essex

Beer and temperature

Beer was by far the most popular drink in Victorian England. In 1900, the annual per capita consumption was 145 liters. Although beer was then significantly weaker than it is today - from 1 to 3.5%, compared with about 5% today - there was already a strong concern about the impact of alcohol on society at that time, and by the 1840s the abstinence movement was gaining strength. from alcohol. In 1848-1851, several major abstinence rallies were held in northern England at Thornton Abbey, Lincolnshire, with up to 19,000 participants.

Fight disease

Infectious diseases were the leading cause of death during the Victorian era. Most of them, such as smallpox, tuberculosis and the flu, were nothing new, but in 1831 the first cholera epidemic broke out in Britain. Gradually it became clear that it spreads with the help of water contaminated with sewage. Following the cholera epidemic in 1848, local health councils were established with the mandate to enforce regulations regarding the supply of clean water and improved drainage. Further legislation from the 1870s gave local authorities greater powers to tackle unsanitary living conditions in cities.

Queen Victoria's Traveling First Aid Kit at Osborne House. It contained a number of preparations, including soapy liniment, camphor oil, and laudan (opium). Opium in Victorian times was a common pain reliever used by rich and poor alike to treat a variety of ailments. It was readily available from pharmacists and was prescribed even to young children.

Life span

Some of the significant advances in medicine in the 19th century were anesthetics, the Florence Nightingale revolution in nursing work, the identification of microbes as the cause of disease, and the development of antiseptic surgery. Unfortunately, these innovations had little impact on life expectancy, as most diseases remained incurable. Although adult Victorians might have expected to live to old age, life expectancy was low: in 1850, it was 40 for men and 42 for women. By 1900 - 45 for men and 50 for women.

This slow but steady increase in life expectancy has been driven by declining child mortality, which itself is largely the result of improved public health.