iSOO M SrijE (Hommontocaltl) of itla00acl)usett0 STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH THE FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON AN INVESTIGATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION, BOSTON LUCILE EAVES, Ph.D., Director IN CO-OPERATION WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH BOSTON WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS 32 DERNE STREET 1917 ®l)e ComntontDealtb of ittasBachuBcttB STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH THE FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON AN INVESTIGATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION, BOSTON LUCILE EAVES, Ph.D., Director JN CO-OPERATION WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH BOSTON WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS 32 DERNE STREET 1917 .W7W6 Publication of this Document approved by the Supervisor of Administration. D. Of D. JAN 2?. 1913 «\*'^ r\N 1 PEEFAOE This investigation of the food of working women in Boston was suggested by Dean Sarah Louise Arnold of Simmons College, who was serving as chairman of a committee appointed by the Mas- sachusetts Conference of Charities and Corrections to consider ways of assisting women employed in Boston and living away from their families. Several previous investigations had supplied information about lodging, but there were no available data which would show whether such women were obtaining nourishing food at a price adapted to their incomes. The State Department of Health, in con- ference, expressed an appreciation of the social significance of the subject, and accepted the co-operation of the Research Department of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, and were willing to assist in placing the results of such a study before the public. It seemed peculiarly appropriate that the Women's Educational and Industrial Union should undertake such an investigation, be- cause the topic is intimately related to its past heritage and present activities. Several of the pioneer enterprises of Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, which established Boston's claims to leadership in the efforts to promote the practical applications of dietary knowledge, are now being carried on by the Union. The most notable of these are the New England Kitchen, which was established in 1890 for the purpose of demonstrating methods of supplying attractive and nutritious food at moderate prices, and the luncheons for high schools which were started in 1894 as the first American effort to deal in a scientific way with the nourishment of school children. It is evident that the information sought in this investigation is of fundamental importance in the formation of plans for the realiza- tion of the aims of the Union, namely, the promotion of the best practical methods for securing the educational, industrial and social advancement of women. In pursuance of these aims there has been much co-operation in public health activities and in efforts to secure legislation beneficial to working women. However, social obligations for the protection of the health of the future mothers of the race do 4 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. not end with the enactment and enforcement of laws preventing excessive hours of labor, and securing healthful places of work and suitable sanitary conveniences. Add to these the payment of an adequate wage and about all which society may fairly demand of the employer has been attained. The prevention of abuses must be supplemented by the more difficult task of educating the worker to a personal hygiene comparable to the sanitary conditions which the law exacts from her employer, and an expenditure of the wage which will insure the greatest possible strength and efficiency. No argument is needed to prove the fundamental importance of the topics about which we have sought information. It is obvious that labor power is directly dependent on nutrition, and that the chief factor entering into the minimum wage, which society may en- force on the employer, is the cost of food. The increase in the num- ber of women who are working outside the home demands careful attention to problems connected with the maintenance of their vitality in order that industry may not draw too heavily on those reserves of energy necessary for racial continuance and development. The economic world deals with these working women as individual units, hence it seems suitable to use this unit in studying their standards of living. The family has usually been the unit in previous investigations. While the minimum wage commissions have reported on the cost of living of women in different localities, their reports have not segregated the cost of food from expenditures for lodging, clothing and other items. It seems probable that the large cities of the United States afford the best opportunities for this study of the living conditions of individual working women because the unusual independence of American women, which has been fostered by social conditions promoting their safety, has increased their tendency to live outside of family groups. An investigation entering previously unexplored territory meets with the difficulties which are characteristic of pioneer enterprises. Records for which there has been little previous demand are rarely kept with care or accuracy. The choice of food has been left largely to instinct or chance, and the public has not been educated to an appreciation of the value of both personal and institutional account- ing in such matters. In the absence of reliable records we were forced to limit the scope of the study to the short period that could be covered by our investigators, or, in the case of institutions, to PREFACE. resort to estimates which are not entirely reliable. In every case we have indicated the sources of our information so that readers may judge of its value. The work of our Research Department combines co-operation with individual responsibility. Miss Louise Moore, the assistant director, has been in immediate charge of the field work, and also has pre- pared the chapter on "The Food of Women living away from their Families." While there has been considerable co-operation in the field work, the three Fellows have devoted their attention chiefly to the topics about which they expected to write. The chapter on " The Noon Luncheon" was prepared by Miss May R. Lane; that on "The Food of Women living in Organized Houses" by Miss Ora M. Harnish; and the one dealing with "The Food of Certain Dispen- sary Patients" by Miss Irene G. Farnham. Miss Lela Brown and Miss Miriam Segel of Simmons College, Miss Helen R. Hibbard of Wellesley College and Miss Esther M. Flint of Radcliffe College gave some assistance in the field work. The Boston Simmons Club also interested itself in obtaining individual schedules. Miss Margaret Sander, the secretary of the Research Department, rendered valuable assistance in the tabulation of data and preparation of tables. As these studies constitute a part of the training in social-economic in- vestigation given in the Research Department of the Women's Educa- tional and Industrial Union, the director has been responsible for planning, supervising and editing the work, and also has prepared the first and last chapters of the report. We are indebted to the officials of the Carnegie Nutrition Laboratory for permission to make use of the books and bibliographies collected in their library. LUCILE EAVES, Director of the Research Department, Women's Educational and Industrial Union. Boston, Jan. 15, 1917. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Preface, ............. 3-5 List of Tables, ........... 9-12 Chapter I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. By LuciLE Eaves. Scope of study. Statistics of women wage earners in eight largest cities. Cost of food in Boston. Variations in retail prices of food in different cities. Principal food articles in an average menu. Retail prices of groceries re- quired in average menu, ......... 13-19 Chapter II. — THE NOON LUNCHEON. By May R. Lane. Method and scope of the investigation. Methods of obtaining and serving noon lunches. Factors determining the bringing of lunches. Relation of wages to kind of lunch. Reasons given for purchasing lunches. Reasons given for bringing lunches from home. Relation of length of noon hour to kind of lunch. Character of employment in relation to kind of lunch. Use made of spare time after lunch by women in factories, offices and department stores. Nationality of workers in relation to kind of lunch. Cooking facilities pro- vided for factory workers. Kinds of food brought from home. The box lunch and fruit vender. Lunches purchased by factory workers. Lunches of women in department stores. Comparison of quality and prices of food in restaurants and employees' cafeterias. Variety of food in lunches of department store workers. Types of employees' cafeterias. Equipment of lunch, rest and recreation rooms for employees. Patronage, prices and ex- penses of employees' cafeterias, ........ 20-64 Chapter III. — THE FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. By Louise Moore. Living arrangements of women workers. Occupations, age and birthplace of a group of women "adrift." Expenditure for food. Effect of residence on expenditure for food and rent. Average weekly expenditure for living ex- penses. Light housekeeping arrangements. Co-operative plans. Expendi- tures of women receiving low wages. Variety of food in weekly menus. Dietary habits of women studied. Specimen menus. Relation of wage to food expenditure, ........... 65-100 Chapter IV. — THE FOOD OF WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. By Ora M. Harnish. Types of homes for working women. Occupations and earnings of women living in organized houses. Purpose and management of houses in Boston. Cost and varieUf of food served. Adequacy of food supplied. Cost of providing food. Equipment and methods of serving. Factors influencing the utiliza- tion of these houses, .......... 101-125 8 CONTENTS. Chapter V. — FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. By Irene G. Farnham. Classification of women dispensary patients by age, nativity, occupation and marital condition. Characteristics of patients studied. Wages, occupa- tions and dispensary diagnoses. Kinds of food eaten during one week. Proportion of protein, carbohydrate and mineral containing foods in weekly diet. Food of patients suffering from specified disorders. Specimen menus. Preparation and service of food. Economic status of families of patients. Living conditions in relation to health of patients. Relation of industry to health. Hours of work reported by patients. Uses made of leisure time. 126-160 Chapter VI. — COMPARATIVE SUMMARIES SUGGESTIONS. AND CONSTRUCTIVE By LuciLE Eaves. Minimum lunch facilities for factories. Organization of employees' lunch rooms. Living plans of lone women. Growing patronage of restaurants. Light housekeeping, its advantages and disadvantages. Choice of food by women of different wage groups. Co-operative housekeeping. Modifications in the policies of the organized boarding houses. Food in relation to the health and efficiency of working women, ........ 161-184 APPENDICES. A. — Forms of Inquiry used in this Investigation, . B. — List of Firms having an Employees' Cafeteria, C. — Methods of calculating the Variety of Food, . D. — Bibliography, ...... Index, . 187-193 . 194, 195 . 196-198 . 199-202 205-213 LIST OF TABLES. Table page 1. Number and Per Cent, of Females Fourteen Years of Age and over engaged in Gainful Occupations in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States, classified by Age Groups. Based on the United States Census of 1910, ... 14 2. Number and Per Cent, of Females engaged in Gainful Occupations in the Eight Largest Cities in the United States who are not receiving Food as Part of their Wages, classified by Age Groups. Based on the United States Census of 1910, 15 3. Number and Per Cent, of Females Ten Years of Age and over in Gainful Occu- pations in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States, classified by Color, Nativity and Parentage. Based on the United States Census of 1910, . . 16 4. Index Numbers showing Variations in Retail Prices of the Principal Articles of Food in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States on June 15, 1915. Prices in Boston used as the Base, . . . . . . . .17 5. Retail Prices in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States of Groceries re- quired to furnish an Average Menu for a Working Woman for Twenty-eight Days 19 6. Methods by which the Women and Girls interviewed obtained their Noon Lunches, distributed by Kinds of Employment, ...... 21 7. Places where Noon Luncheon was eaten by Women and Girls engaged in Manu- facturing and Mercantile Pursuits and in Office Work in Boston City Proper, 22 8. Amount and Kind of Wage and Length of Noon Hour of Women and Girls in Factories and Factory Offices who brought Lunches from Home or bought them in Town 26 9. Reasons for buying Lunches in Town given by Women and Girls in Factories and Factory Offices, classified according to Wages and Length of Noon Hour, . 27 10. Reasons for bringing Lunches from Home given by Women and Girls in Fac- tories and Factory Offices, classified according to Wages and Length of the Noon Hour 28 11. Classification of Women and Girls employed in the Principal Factory District of Boston according to Occupation and the Length of the Lunch Period, . 30 12. Use of Spare Time after Luncheon by Women and Girls in Factories and Fac- tory Offices, distributed according to Kind of Employment, . . .31 13. Use of Spare Time after Luncheon by Women and Girls in Department Stores of Boston City Proper, . . . . . . . . . .31 14. Women and Girls in Factories, Factory Offices and Department Stores, classi-- fied according to Method of obtaining the Noon Luncheon, Parentage and Nativity, 33 15. Extent of Use of Cooking Facilities by Women and Girls working in Factories and Factory Offices, .......... 36 16. Number of Times the Kinds of Foods appear in Lunch Menus of Women and Girls of English and Non-English Speaking Parentage working in Factories and Factory Offices who brought Lunches from Home, . . . 38, 39 17. Choice of Meat and Fish as Sandwich Fillings by Women and Girls of English and Non-English Speaking Parentage working in Factories and Factory Offices who brought Lunches from Home, ...... 41 18. Commercial Restaurants patronized by Women and Girls working in Factories and Factory Offices, classified according to Frequency of Buying, and Prices actually paid for Menus in Week of Interview, ...... 43 10 LIST OF TABLES. Table page 19. Number of Times the Kinds of Food appear in the Lunch Menus of Women and Girls working in Factories and Factory Offices who bought Lunches in Com- mercial Restaurants, .......... 46 20. Reasons assigned by Women and Girls working in Department Stores in Boston •• for buying Lunches in Employees' Cafeterias rather than bringing them from Home, 48 21. Kinds of Food and Prices at which they are offered in Eight Commercial Res- taurants patronized by Women and Girls working in Boston, as compared with Prices at which they are offered in Thirteen Employees' Cafeterias in Ten Cities, 51, 52 22. Number of Times the Kinds of Food appear in Lunch Menus of Women and Girls in Department Stores, classified according to Method of obtaining Food, 55 23. Percentage and Frequency of bringing, buying and supplementing Lunches by Women and Girls working in Seven Department Stores of Boston who ate in Employees' Lunch Rooms, ......... 56 24. Number of Times Certain Foods appear in Lunch Menus of Women and Girls in Department Stores who brought Lunches from Home and supplemented them by Food purchased in Employees' Cafeterias, ..... 57 25. Patronage, Predominant Price paid for Lunches, Cost of Food and Labor per Week, and Approximate Expenditure per Week in Employees' Cafeterias in Twenty-five Factories, Stores and Offices in Sixteen Cities, . . . .61 26. Living Arrangements of Women Sixteen Years of Age and over engaged in Gain- ful Occupations in the Eight Largest Cities in the United States, . . 66 27. Living Arrangements of Women engaged in DifTerent Industries in Massachu- setts, ............. 67 28. Occupations of Two Hundred and Sixty-one Women living Adrift in Boston, . 69 29. Age and Birthplace of Two Hundred and Sixty-one Working Women living away from their Families, ......... 70 30. Number of Women living away from their Families expending Specified Amounts for Food, by Wage Groups, ......... 74 31. Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from their Families spent for Food, by Wage Groups, ...... 75 32. Number of Women living away from their Families expending Specified Amounts for Food and Rent, by Places of Residence, ...... 77 33. Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from their Families spent for Rent, by Wage Groups, ...... 77 34. Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from their Families spent for Food and Lodging, by Wage Groups, . . . .78 35. Average Weekly Expenditures for Food and Lodging of Women living in New York City and in Ohio, by Wage Groups, ....... 79 36. Number of Women living away from their Families expending Specified Amounts for Food, Rent and Laundry, by Wage Groups, ..... 82 37. Average Weekly Wage and Average Weekly Expenditure for Food, classified by Plans of Living of Women away from their Families, ..... 83 38. Frequency of Use in One Week of Tea and Coffee by Two Hundred and Sixty- one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, . . .91 39. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of Two Hundred and Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, . . 92 40. Frequency of Use in One Week of Protein Foods and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of Two Hundred and Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, . . 94 41. Frequency of Use in One Week of Carbohydrate Foods and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of Two Hundred and Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, . 95 LIST OF TABLES. 11 Table page 42. Frequency of Use in One Week of Foods containing Minerals and the Propor- tions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of Two Hun- dred and Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups, 98 43. Capacity of the Different Types of Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity, and the Number of Occupants at the Time of the Investigation, . . . 103 44. Occupations of Women living in Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity, . 104 45. The Proportion of Women Sixteen Years of Age and over in Selected Occupa- tions in Boston, living away from their Families in 1900 and in 1910, . . 105 46. Weekly Earnings of Eight Hundred and Eighteen Women living in Seven Sub- sidized Houses, ........... 105 47. The Purpose and Management of Eighteen Organized Houses offering Accom- modations to Working Women in Boston and Vicinity, . . . 107, 108 48. The Cost and Variety of Food served in Twenty Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity, 110-112 49. Amount of Protein and Value of Calories of Food furnished by Eight Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity. Based on Supplies used during One Week, . 115 50. Metabolism of Women engaged in Different Occupations, . . . .116 51. Source of Proteins consumed per Person per Day in Eight Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity. Based on Supplies used during One Week, . . .118 52. Patients coming to Eight Dispensaries in Boston, classified by Number of New Patients and Total Number of Visits from All Patients in One Year, . . 126 53. New Patients classified by Age and Sex. Data from Four Dispensaries, . . 127 54. Women Sixteen Years of Age and over, classified by Participation in Gainful Occupations. Data from Four Dispensaries, ...... 129 55. Female Dispensary Patients in Gainful Occupations, classified by Nativity and Age. Data from Four Dispensaries, ....... 130 56. Female Dispensary Patients in Gainful Occupations, classified by Occupation and Marital Condition. Data from Four Dispensaries, .... 131 57. Female Dispensary Patients in Gainful Occupations, classified by Dispensary Departments and by Occupations. Data from Four Dispensaries, . . 133 58. Distribution by Age and Nativity of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, 134 59. Distribution by Occupation and Wage of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dis- pensary Patients, . . . . . . . . . . .134 60. Occupations and Dispensary Diagnoses of One Hundred and Twenty-six Patients, 135 61. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, ........ 136 62. Frequency of Use in One Week of Protein Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, ........ 137 63. Frequency of Use in One Week of Carbohydrate Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, ....... 139 64. Frequency of Use in One Week of Foods containing Minerals, and Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and TM'enty-six Dispensary Patients, ........ 141 65. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, by Nativity of Parents, .... 142 66. Frequency *of Use in One Week of Protein Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, by Nativity of Parents, .... 144 67. Frequency of Use in One Week of Carbohydrate Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, by Nativity of Parents, .... 145 12 LIST OF TABLES. Table page 68. Frequency of Use in One Week of Foods containing Minerals, and the Propor- tions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hun- dred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, by Nativities of Parents, . . 147 69. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients suffering from Constipation and Other Disorders, ....... ..... 148 70. Frequency of Use in One Week of Protein Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients suffering from Constipation and Other Disorders, ............ 150 71. Frequency of Use in One Week of Carbohydrate Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients suffering from Constipation and Other Disorders, ............ 150 72. Frequency of Use in One Week of Foods containing Minerals, and the Propor- tions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hun- dred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients suffering from Constipation and Other Disorders, ........... 151 73. Economic Status of the Families of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, ............ 155 74. Weekly Hours of Work in Different Occupations reported by One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, ....... 158 75. Uses made of Leisure Time by One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients, 159 76. Distribution by Height and Weight of Wage-earning Women registered in the Young Women's Christian Association Gymnasium Classes and of Wellesley College Students 183 77. Frequency of Use in One Week of Certain Foods, and the Proportions which they constitute of the Total Weekly Range of Diet of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients from whom Twenty-one Meal and Six Meal Schedules were obtained, . . . . . . . . . 197 THE FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. CHAPTER I. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. This study of how working women are supplied with their daily bread was made in a community where the competition is more severe and the cost of food greater than in any other of the large cities of the United States. It deals with the cost and variety of food supplied under conditions varying from those of the hall bedroom with one gas burner to those of a large boarding house where 800 women are served in one dining room. It shows what women select for themselves, what their employers supply for them, and what is provided for them by benevolent societies organized for the purpose of furnishing wholesome living conditions at a minimum cost. The subjects discussed are factors of vital importance in the lives of half the women living in the largest cities of this country, since it is evident from the accompanying table that such a proportion of the women are at work during their minorities if not during their adult lives. The strain of the effort to earn their own support comes at an age when there is peculiar need that they be well nourished in order that they may meet the unusual physical demands of the passage from childhood to womanhood. In 5 of the 8 largest cities over half of the young girls are at work, and the percentages in the remaining 3 approach this proportion, while the total for these centers of our American civilization is 53 per cent. It is difficult to exaggerate the social significance of these facts. Boston falls below the average of the 8 cities in the proportion of her young women who are at work, but the high percentage of adult women dependent on their own exertions raises the total in gainful occupations above that of the other cities. One-third (32.5 per cent.) of the women fourteen years of age and over in the 8 largest cities are wage earners, but this percentage is not evenly distributed, as Pittsburg and Cleveland have 27 per cent. (Pittsburg 27.2 per cent., Cleveland 27.6 per cent.), while Boston has 10 per 14 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. cent, more (37.2 per cent.). The 4 cities having the highest pro- portion of adult women workers also have an excess of females in the population, while the remaining 4 cities have more males than females. However, it seems probable that this surplus of women is Table 1. — Number and Per Cent, of Females Fourteen Years of Age and Over engaged in Gainful Occupations in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States, classified by Age Groups. Based on the United States Census of 1910. ^ Total Females 14 Females 14 Y F.ARS Females 21 Y EARS Years and VER. ANE Under 21. AND Over Cities. IN GAINFUL IN GAINFUL IN GAINFUL In Popula- OCCUPATIONS. In Popula- OCCUPATIONS. In Popula- OCCUPATIONS. tion. Num- Per tion. Num- Per tion. Num- Per ber. Cent. ber. Cent. ber. Cent. The 8 cities, . 4,242,847 1,379,734 32.5 805,016 427,836 53.1 3,437,831 951,898 27.7 Boston, 259,063 96,283 37.2 41,175 20,302 49.3 217,888 75,981 34.9 Baltimore, . 219,816 77,445 35.3 40.690 20,979 51.6 179,126 56,466 31.5 Philadelphia, 593,017 199,993 33.7 104,125 58,686 56.4 488,892 141,307 28.9 New York, . 1,743,986 585,571 33.6 342,946 188,319 54.9 1,401,040 397,252 28.4 Chicago, 779,702 236,615 30.4 153,073 81,133 53.0 626.629 155,482 24.8 St. Louis, . 261,468 77,510 29.6 48,832 23,407 47.9 212,636 54,103 25.4 Cleveland, . 196,577 54,742 27.8 37,667 19,312 51.3 158.910 35,430 22.3 Pittsburg, 189,218 51,575 27.2 36,508 15,698 43.0 152,710 35,877 23.5 ' The population of these 8 cities is 12.5 per cent, of the total population and 27.1 per cent, of the urban population of the United States. not the chief factor in promoting the tendency for Boston women to become self-supporting, since both Baltimore and Philadelphia have a greater excess of females in the population. Three-fourths (75.6 per cent.) of the women who are at work use a large portion of their earnings to purchase food, while the remain- ing fourth receive food as a part of their wages. The younger imen who usually are members of family groups show a greater idency to work for a money compensation, while as high as 29 per cent, of the adult women hold positions where food is supplied by their employers. Boston has the highest pe;rcentage of youthful workers who are earning a money wage, but the large number of adult women who are domestic servants, boarding and lodging- house keepers and nurses lowers the proportion of those receiving no food as a part of their compensation below the average for the 8 largest cities. The American standard of living is frequently given a conspicuous place in the discussion of subjects like those considered in this study, yet less than one-fourth of the working women found in the 8 largest CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. 15 cities, and but little over one-fifth of those living in Boston, are native-born whites of native-born parents. In Boston, New York, Chicago and Cleveland about three-fourths of the women in gainful occupations are of foreign or mixed parentage. These women with family traditions and habits brought from foreign lands suffer from the double strain of industrial and dietary readjustment. Too little Table 2. — Nimiber and Per Cent, of Females engaged in Gainful Occupations in the Eight Largest Cities in the United States who are not receiving Food as Part of their Wages, classified by Age Groups. ^ Based on the United States Census of 1910. ToTAi, Females 14 Females 14 Years Females 21 Years Years and Over. ANI Under 21. AND Over. NOT RECEIVING NOT receiving NOT receiving Cities. In Gain- FOOD AS In Gain- food as FOOD AS ful Occupa- ful Occupa- PART OF WAGE. ful Occupa- PART OF WAGE. tions. Num- Per tions. Num- Per tions. Num- Per ber. Cent. ,ber. Cent. ber. Cent. The S cities, . 1,379,734 1,042,921 75.6 427,836 365,356 85.4 951,898 677,565 71.0 Boston, 96,283 70,362 73.1 20,302 17,945 88.4 75,981 52,417 69.0 Baltimore, . 77,445 57,287 74.0 20,979 17,061 81.3 56,466 40,226 71.2 Philadelphia, 199,993 149,378 74.7 58,686 51,683 88. 1 141, .307 97,695 69.1 New York, . 58.5,571 440.910 75.2 188,319 159,760 84.8 397,252 281,150 70.8 Chicago, 236,615 187,615 79.3 81,133 71,240 87.8 155,482 116,375 74.8 St. Louis, 77,510 58,943 76.0 23,407 19,660 84.0 54,103 39,283 72.6 Cleveland, . 54,742 43,189 78.9 19,312 16,439 85.1 35,430 26,750 75.5 Pittsburg, 51,575 35,237 68. 3 15,698 11,568 73.7 35,877 23,669 66.0 1 This classification excludes servants, midwives and nurses (not trained), housekeepers and steward- esses, boarding and lodging-house keepers, and trained nurses. attention has been given to the difficulties that must arise when bodily needs created by the conditions of an Old World environment must be satisfied with supplies found in American markets. Cost of Food in Boston. A study of the retail prices collected by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the cost of food in Boston is from 3 to 16 per cent, higher than in other large cities of the United States. An exhaustive investigation is needed to determine the complex factors entering into retail prices. At present no reasonable explana- tions can be offered for many of the variations shown in the table of index numbers (Table 4). The variations in the cost of a bill of groceries required to feed a working woman for four weeks show this same difference between Boston and the other large cities (Table 5). An average menu was 16 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. li^ .S^ 5 e ^ G5 Oh E-i 1 O ^ 1 -5S ^ < a ^*« to C3 CO "5 00 t>. 05 CO 6 t,^ CO c^ ^ »»< CO oi c^ 06 CO '" "* o » Pm o a • 00 "5 t>. U5 !M 00 M Oi 2; 8 m 00 XI ■^ •0 us N s CO in C^ to 00 05 o M 3 2; a rjl t^ 00 US N ■* •* "* to M a ui d TS* 1^ cj TO H ■«" CO N 5 S (S O J « 10 QO TO 00 •10 (M ^ u H o M to to ta to < IS a 00 CTi 00 C5 to to oT to QO CO t^ t^ H fc. 3 N I? ss Pi fl 00 00 00 05 T>< ^ N CO to a w S s O ^ CO C^ »o TO to a CO CO s CO ■^ CO CO o ^. 00 10 M to (_ CJ us N J2 ai t^ 2 H ^ 00 t^ 10 TJI ^ a CO us ^ to ^ (S H o (J o CO 00 t>. 00 CO us to H 00 00 00 s o r^ C5 s a o to t^ to Ttl CO 3 05 •w IS oi a 6 ^ ci ^s< CO 10 OS us ■* us d a H (M IM CO CO IN CO H z Ui 2 H o « s (^ > w _^ ^ CO to ^ to 00 01 ■»0 to e^ hS a t» 00 to h-T us ^ H s OJ (M 03 ■w ^2 3 CO .J a o b, ■ G> o d «! o ° OS Ph zs -. to to TO QO CO „ 00 00 00 " 0) t^ 05 CO to ^ to 00 Q to to TO a 00 05 t^ r* us us 3 CO c^ iO 3 1 H « n Ek m s &-g 7 V .S3 § e 3 a o « CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. 17 Table 4. — Index Numbers showing Variations in Retail Prices of the Principal Articles of Food in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States on June 15, 1915. Prices in Boston used as the Base.^ Cities. Commodities. o 6 a o 15 E? 3 •i o .s ^ "3 Jx 2 a O >• ^ 6 "c3 a « o s "S ■*^ ffl n o O :?; cu PL, m Combined index numbers, .... 100 87 91 91 97 96 94 84 Foods containing much protein: — All proteins combined, .... 100 83 89 88 92 94 93 83 Chuck roast, per pound, 100 91 93 97 92 101 95 92 Rib roast, per pound, . 100 74 85 82 91 87 85 79 Round steak, per pound, 100 67 66 68 77 79 73 74 Sirloin steak, per pound. 100 72 74 73 77 86 80 75 Ham, smoked, per pound, . 100 93 113 88 88 116 121 92 Pork chops, per pound, 100 86 88 97 101 102 96 85 Leg of lamb, per pound, 100 81 88 87 72 88 92 84 Hens, per pound, . 100 83 79 85 88 94 100 75 Salmon, per can, . 100 79 111 94 109 91 94 85 Eggs, per dozen, . 100 70 75 83 95 85 74 66 Cheese, American, per pound, 100 98 97 100 96 101 97 85 Milk, per quart. 100 100 91 88 102 91 105 91 Beans, per pound, 100 85 96 100 112 99 98 92 Foods containing starch and similar carbo- hydrates: — Cereals combined, 100 86 88 90 94 87 92 84 Corn meal, per pound, .... 100 69 82 83 94 76 85 74 Flour, wheat, Js barrel bag, . 100 90 85 92 94 90 94 83 Rice, per pound, 100 100 97 95 94 96 97 94 Foods characterized by sugars: — Sugars combined, 2 100 97 102 101 101 101 103 98 Prunes, per pound, . . 100 97 107 106 111 106 102 104 Raisins, per pound 100 98 103 92 100 100 103 93 Sugar, granulated, per pound. 100 96 95 104 93 96 104 97 Fatty foods: — Fatty foods combined, .... 100 95 102 102 98 103 103 89 Bacon, smoked, per pound, . 100 86 113 103 97 103 112 95 Butter, per pound 100 107 93 99 97 112 101 94 Lard, per pound, 100 93 100 103 101 95 95 79 Foods containing mineral substances and organic acids: — Vegetables and fruits combined, 100 85 87 90 109 100 89 78 Corn, per can 100 70 78 81 99 87 71 64 Onions, yellow, per pound, . 100 86 83 87 99 85 102 67 Oranges, per dozen , . . . . 100 83 89 91 105 94 92 83 Peas, per can, 100 77 85 97 104 90 SO 74 Potatoes, per peck, ^ . . . . 100 119 93 ■93 155 157 108 103 Tomatoes, per can, .... 100 77 93 91 90 89 78 75 Beverages having no nutritive value: — Beverages pombined, .... 100 86 93 84 84 97 92 86 Coffee, per pound, .... 100 71 90 88 86 89 82 73 Tea, per pound 100 100 95 79 81 104 102 99 1 This table was prepared from data published in Bulletin No. 184 of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The prices were collected from retail dealers selling largely to the famiUes of wage earners, the number of dealers reporting varying from 4 to 15. In preparing this table we obtained the arithmetic aver- age of the prices quoted on June 15, 1915, and then used the Boston prices as the base on which to calculate the percentages of variation in the other 7 cities. Between June, 1915, and March, 1917, there was a general advance in prices of 33 per cent. 2 This rough classification of foods follows a plan suggested by C. F. Langworthy. (Scientific Monthly, II., p. 303, March, 1916.) Obviously many of the food items belong in several groups, as the various meats contain much fat, prunes and raisins are valuable for their mineral substances, potatoes contain carbo- hydrates and protein, and the cereals supply both proteins and mineral substances. 3 These numbers were based on the first six months of 1915. 18 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. obtained by tabulating the data given on 77 schedules which re- ported the food eaten by working women for the 21 meals of one week. The average number of times in which different food items appeared was as follows: — Meat, . 8.3 Fish, . 2.1 Eggs, . 2.4 Sandwiches, 1.7 Cereal, . 3.7 Bread, . 15.2 Soup, 3.4 Fruit, . 8.2 Vegetables, . 14.4 Cake, . Pastry, . Pudding, Salad, . Coffee, . Tea, . Cocoa, . Milk, . 4.9 2.3 4.5 1.9 4.5 3.5 2.1 1.7 If a corresponding list of foods is selected from those whose prices are reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the different items are distributed in menus for one week, a bill of fare like the following will result: — Breakfast. Lunch. Supper.. Monday, Stewed prunes. Bacon and egg. Bread and butter. Coffee. Lamb stew (potatoes and onions). Cabinet pudding. Stewed onions. Bread and butter. Cold ham. Cake. Milk. Tuesday, Orange. Cornmeal mush. Coffee. Roast beef hash. Corn or peas. Bread and butter. Pie. Potatoes. Prunes. Cocoa. Bread and butter. Wednesday, . Orange. Rice. Tea. Country sausage. French-fried potatoes. Indian pudding. Bread and butter. Bread and butter. Canned corn. Rice pudding. Milk. Thursday, Orange. Egg. Bread and butter. Coffee. Cold ham. Bread and butter. Rice pudding. Beef stew (onions and potatoes). Cake. Tea. Friday, . Orange. Rice. Coffee. Beans. Bread and butter. Stewed tomatoes. Pie. Soup. Cheese. 1 Potato salad. Bread and butter. Cake. Saturday, Orange. Egg. Bread and butter. Tea. Roast beef. Mashed potatoes. Cake. Bread and butter. Soup. Canned peas. Cheese, i Bread and butter. Cake. Sunday, . Orange. Cornmeal mush. Coffee. Soup. Creamed chicken on toast. Potatoes. Peas. Rice pudding. Bread and butter. Bread and butter. Cocoa. Potato salad. Chicken sandwich. ' As prices for fish are not quoted in the Labor Bureau bulletins reporting retail prices, cheese appears twice in place of fish which occurs in the schedules. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD STUDIED. 19 Table 5. — Retail Prices in the Eight Largest Cities of the United States of Groceries required to furnish an Average Menu for a Working Woman for Tiveyity-eight Days. Cities. Commodities. ' £ ■a .^ .2 IS 0. M s "3 13 1 3 '5 ♦- _c > ^ .2 "« !S Oj '£ .■^ ^ pa m U Z P- ei, tn Total cost, $7 77 $6 84 S6 93 $7 02 «7 50 $7 54 $7 32 S6 44 Proteins combined, 3 25 2 74 2 86 2 79 2 99 3 05 3 10 2 63 Rib roast, 2 pounds, 49 37 42 40 45 43 42 39 Ham, smoked, 2 pounds. 49 45 • 55 43 43 57 59 45 Leg of lamb, 1 pound, 27 22 23 23 19 23 25 22 Hens, 2 pounds. 50 41 39 42 44 47 50 37 Eggs, 2 dozen, . 66 46 49 54 63 56 49 44 Cheese, 1 pound. 24 24 23 24 23 24 23 21 Milk, 6 quarts, . 53 53 48 46 54 48 55 48 Beans, 1 pound, 07 06 07 07 08 07 . 07 07 Starches combined. 74 66 64 67 70 66 70 62 Corn meal, 2 pounds. 07 05 06 06 07 06 06 05 Flour, wheat, 12J'4 pounds, 57 51 49 52 54 51 54 48 Rice, 1 pound, . 10 10 09 09 09 09 10 09 Sugars combined, 53 51 54 56 54 54 54 53 Prunes, 2 pounds. 26 25 28 28 29 28 26 27 Sugar, 4 pounds. 27 26 26 28 25 26 28 26 Fatty foods combined, 1 14 1 20 1 07 1 13 1 11 1 26 1 14 1 06 Butter, 3 pounds. 1 06 1 13 99 1 05 1 03 1 19 1 07 1 00 Lard, Vo pound. 08 07 08 08 08 07 07 06 Vegetables and fruits combined. 1 87 1 54 1 63 1 67 1 96 1 81 1 63 1 41 Corn, 2 cans. 28 20 22 23 28 25 20 18 Onions, 3 pounds, 13 11 11 11 13 11 13 09 Oranges, 2 dozen, 2 . 75 60 66 66 76 68 68 56 Peas, 2 cans, 28 22 24 28 29 26 23 21 Potatoes, 1 peck,' 18 22 17 17 28 29 20 19 Tomatoes, 2 cans. 25 19 23 22 22 22 19 18 Beverages combined, . 24 19 22 20 20 22 21 19 Coffee, J4 pound. 17 12 15 15 14 15 14 12 Tea, H pound, . 07 07 07 05 06 07 07 07 1 This bill of groceries will furnish a little over 2,500 calories per day. The prices are averages of those quoted in Bulletin No. 184, United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. In March, 1917, prices were 33 per cent, higher than those used in computing this table. 2 The average prices of California and Florida oranges were used. ' Numbers based on first six months of 1915. A woman living alone would find if difficult to prepare such a bill of fare, as she would be unable to bake bread, cake and pastry. She could not make an economical use of canned vegetables, meat stews or roasts. The women who furnished the schedules usually pur- chased one or more meals each day at restaurants or boarding houses, and in some cases prepared breakfasts and suppers in their rooms. When obtained in these ways their food for one week cost them about $3.65. However, the prices of raw materials are im- portant factors in determining all charges for food, and no doubt their higher cost in Boston makes it more difficult for working women to obtain adequate nourishment. 20 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. CHAPTER II. THE NOON LUNCHEON. Method and Scope of the Investigation.^ The first step taken in a survey of the noon luncheon in Boston was to compile from the registers and directories of 1915 a card catalogue of business firms, listing the names and addresses of firms engaged in industries in ^Yhich, according to the Federal Occupation Census of 1910, women in Boston are principally employed. By the co-operation of the Massachusetts Board of Labor and Industries the addresses of establishments employing 10 or more w^omen and girls were obtained from lists prepared by the factory inspectors. There are 381 of these larger establishments with a total of 22,563 women and girls employed in the city proper, which is bounded in the main by Atlantic Avenue, Dover, Berkeley and Charles streets. It was manifestly impossible to include in a noon luncheon survey all of these 381 firms, since the method of investigation permitted the visiting at the noon hour of but one firm a day, and the time of the survey was confined to the winter months, December to March. It was decided, therefore, to limit the survey to a study of conditions in the principal factory district and in the shopping or mercantile districts. The 702 women and girls interviewed in these factory and mer- cantile districts of Boston city proper include 462 in manufacturing pursuits, 137 in mercantile pursuits and 103 in office work. The factory district in which the intensive part of the study was made is represented by 521 schedules, or 26 per cent, of the women and girls employed in its 52 factories and factory offices. In the mercantile district 7 of the largest department stores which have employees' lunch rooms were visited, and 181 schedules were secured from the women and girls therein employed. Although this number of inter- views is small in proportion to the total number of employees in these stores, at least 25 schedules were obtained at random from each place. For purposes of comparison with the factory schedules they ' For forms of inquiry, see Appendix A, Noa. 2 and 3. THE NOON LUNCHEON. 21 s s ^ « n < ^• CO a ? 0) o CO lO CO S K OS <; o CJ o cc o s « 1^ S a « a «^ CO 00 r-. ^ u o ■^ U5 F-t a H - f^ z -s aC 3 p ^f? & Eh C t- ^ F- lo o n CO ^ CO CO o f^S^Zs 2; B o t~ 1.-5 -* S o oc d — " cv o -H 00 lO S: < ^ H o t< Jr r~ o o o 00 — CO E e-4 3 a: _^ c o o o o •i o o odd B o o o o ^ S o Ch o ^ — lO « t:- •* CO o 3 o ■* ^ — 1 1 2: f-' z H s ^ o >J u S oT • W '5 Cb o . 3 ."S s 3 a 3 g S M 2 S 3 ■E a . 3 (U -^ o' ^ P-- J-« S 1 -^ i 3 53 a, c H S 03 S SE < S S 22 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. afford a true picture of the luncheon resources and of the Hfe of the employees at the noon hour. Comparison of the living arrangements of this group and of those in retail stores made by the Minimum Wage Commission^ shows them to be a typical group. One-half (50 per cent.) of the factory women were sewing on women's wearing apparel, one-sixth (17..3 per cent.) on men's clothing, and one-tenth (11.5 per cent.) on hats and millinery. One hundred and forty-five women were employed in 4 of the factory offices. Table 7. — Places where Noon Luncheons were eaten by Women and Girls en- gaged in Manufacturing and Mercantile Pursuits and in Office Work in Boston City Proper. Places of eating Lunch. All the places, Commercial lunch rooms, . Employees' cafeterias, . Employees' dining rooms, . Employees' dressing rooms, Dining tables in workrooms. Power sewing machines. Work tables or desks in workrooms or offices. Home, No lunch, .... Total. Num. ber. 702 127 153 25 9 47 186 130 24 1 Per Cent. 100.0 18.1 21.8 3.6 1.3 6.7 26.5 18.5 3.4 .1 Women and Gikls engaged in — MANUFACTUR- ING PURSUITS. Num- ber. 462 74 16 1 47 177 126 20 1 Per Cent. 100.0 16.0 3.5 .2 10.2 38.3 27.3 4.3 .2 MERCANTILE PURSUITS. Num- ber. 137 16 110 9 Per Cent. 100.0 11.7 80.3 6.6 1.4 OFFICE WORK. Num- ber. 103 37 27 15 9 9 4 Per Cent. 100.0 35.9 26.2 14.6 8.7 8.7 3.9 2.0 The method followed throughout the study was to secure a per- sonal interview with the manager or employer; obtain permission to talk with employees while at their lunch; secure individual schedules from the women and girls at that time; and personally inspect the accommodations provided for eating and resting at the noon hour. Commercial lunch rooms of the cafeteria or counter- service type which were patronized by those workers who were buy- ing lunches in town were visited, their managers interviewed and their equipment observed and scheduled. A similar study was made 1 Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission, Wages of Women in Retail Stores in Massachusetts, Bulletin No. 6, March, 1915, p. 45. THE NOON LUNCHEON. 23 of the employees' cafeterias of the large department stores, and individual schedules were secured from women in a variety of mer- cantile establishments. By means of a questionnaire, information was obtained from 33 firms in cities other than Boston. Methods of obtaining and serving Noon Lunches. The majority of factory workers brought their lunches from home, while the mercantile and office employees showed a greater disposi- tion to buy lunches. Of the 702 women and girls interviewed, 420 brought lunches from home, 257 bought them in town, 24 went home at noon for dinner and 1 ate no luncheon. Eighty (80.3) per cent, of those engaged in manufacturing (Table 6) brought their lunches five or six days a week, and only 20 (19.7) per cent, bought lunches in town. These percentages were reversed (18.5 and 81.5) for women in mercantile pursuits. Sixty (59.4) per cent, of the factory and department store ofiice women bought lunches in town, and 40 (40.6) per cent, brought lunches from home.^ When the power was shut down at 12 o'clock two-thirds (65.6 per cent.) of the factory women remained at their places of work. They spread their lunches on the machines or tables at which they had been stitching garments, sewing hats or furs, ironing, pressing, drafting, cutting or packing goods. Their food often came in con- tact with the goods being manufactured, or else with the tops of the machines and tables. In some places machine oil, dust, chalk, lint and trimmings of cloth were present, and where fur garments were being made or repaired there was danger of contact with particles of arsenic used in the preservation of the pelts. Three of the 52 firms had work tables cleared and covered with wrapping paper or oil cloth. The large department stores of Boston have made generous pro- visions for feeding their employees, hence the high percentage (80.3) of mercantile workers who patronize these cafeterias. Only 1 of the factories made this provision, and but 3.5 per cent, of the factory workers were able to obtain hot food at cost. A partial luncheon service was found in 1 department store and 1 factory, where com- fortable rooms with tables and gas or electric stoves were provided. 1 These percentages are conservative for those who bring and maximum for those who buy, since only those who brought lunches for the entire week were counted as bringers of lunches. Women who had not purchased lunches within the week, but who said they sometimes went out to lunch, were counted as occasional buyers. 24 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. Matrons in charge kept these rooms clean and attractive. The employees prepared such hot dishes as they wished, using their own suppUes. In 1 factory lunches were eaten in the coat or dressing room. Factory office workers usually patronized the commercial lunch rooms. Factors determining the Bringing of Lunches. Several factors determine the bringing of lunches. The most important of these are : — 1. The amount and kind of wages. 2. The length of the noon hour. 3. The character of the employment. 4. The nationality of the worker and of her parents. Amount and Kind of Wages. The wages of a woman factory worker rarely permit the purchase of a warm noon meal. Half of the women engaged in manufacturing (47.9 per cent.) reported their earnings for the previous week as less than SJ ^S C . « z c ^ X a g r- ^ - CO - C-1 t:; « (M 1 ^J 1 -i &H - O ■* 00 CO (., o ■* S •^ 00 ■^ '^ 3 Z z o C5 00 O o o CO -f t^ o •* •^ o 2 to M -* >0 IM CM 35 tS^^I ^^ "^ K b. K iA Z P c 00 lo OO o !>) o 1 CO CO Eh z r* CO ■^ K s ~.s »— < ^ H>S & ^ O . 05 W Ms §5 H o t~ o o o CO to to 00 t^ ^ to ■* ■^ ^^ < a) -»l t^ ^S S w "^ [C O b, u a o Q z E o CO o o o t>- ■Xl o to t* CO CO o to c^ IM Ci "^ Z -= c3 o _4 _< to ■* CO l« o E ^1 en M t^ to •^ to ■^ "" m •' m < o OO o ^ ^ «» ^ «^ e^ ^f ^ w, c c a e 13 e c a C3 03 03 -3 c« cs cS 03 a JS ^ Ji ^"^ -2 J3 J3 J3 .a M oJ s" "cr CD m CO s 1 si X rsi m _aj _o _« s u _o _2 -2 _aj h c3 ■^ T3 :€ S T3 •a c -3 o "S g s 03 03 bC 03 5 c3 o 03 C8 C3 1 ^ to t^ '> o 60 o c^ «^ 6© t^ e^ vj €/& e© tf0 c3 h 1-1 3 jS THE NOON LUNCHEON. 27 ^ ^ o ^ S r^ ,JS J I ft^ _ ^ z ca o «o CO N •O OS CO no a D > z It o 1 c Z o g 1 s cq DO 00 g ^ ■* »« CO kO 00 00 CO N •* K CO 1 B. 1 3 SB Z ■ w 5g OS ^ in a c3 o o CO CO •n in ■o o (N to 1 1 1 o D fr^ 2; Z (U «! PL, Z s w 1" c s H t^ M (M M 1 1 I c s ^ E 3 Z, ^ ^ OQ a o m 00 (M o CO lO t^ 1-H o U [-1 o 00 t^ CD b ci •^ CO 1 S o . '^ s: «»• £ o o Eh c g C5 00 !M ^ r- CO oo CO (M (M c S Ph 3 a 1 to & z J S o ^^ •^ cc t^ O S o 1 CO lO 1 t^ ' 1 1 v> o C t^ 05 CO ! J Q b C3 to o> lO ^ CO (7^ s o H H ij 3 s 00 lO ^ t^ o C5 CO " S z; o J3 u 3 o 3 _3 J3 ^^ £3 •i O O o E E J* o .2 i o3 a 8 o > a s 3 03 o J a T3 o "m 8 o a 3 C3 1 o 3 C« X2 o 3 3 >> ■73 3 a 1 i 13 0) rt V (S 0) 2 3 . a o "3 1 a '3 a 3 O 3 3 O £ a i < .2 O O 1 Q > 3 2 Ph 3 3 1-? a) O o 2 28 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. § pI r2 *^ rO ^ s -^ 535 g o t s J2 m o Tt< O c» CO •^ CO o 00 IS ■^ in o 21 s 3 (M 2 PS Eg oa Z ^ IS & 6 O o o o o >-o ^ ^ •* 1 1 a o -^ '" *" ^ z g o -«! Pi :s i » >< o J2 s H 00 t^ o c^ I.-5 r~ ,1 r-i "S- 1 t^ o £ CM S S ^^ iz; — ^ +3 (C (3 o o 00 ti^ e- oi CO co' CO o 1 ■< ee 1 z H ^^ H SI ■^ ■"»• ?c cc c C-i T»« ■<»■ ■«»< 00 t^ pa 00 CM IM m "" o b 3 « I Z J O C o o o •* •o cc o „ t^ 00 „ 00 o f^ m ira o 13 CO cj ' ' «» c N Q ^ Z -<» < Ph s H S c? •^ 00 u-s o 1 QC o CO CO t>- o 1 _^ c O O o ^H o cc cc t- o >n t^ ^H 8 oc o t>^ ci t~^ " CO t-^ CO S (S ^• a 8 _c "cS 3 i o i 9. O e 8 a "o 02 "3 1 S S § 1 o i •2 "i c 1 1 c 2 3 1 "S o p 3 C hC 3 ■| c _o 3 _o _3 "o _C j3 o 3 3 3 c3 C5 £ ■a 3 3 3 i £ o o Q o c. o t» 3 o i o 2 THE NOON LUNCHEON. 29 of cafeterias and restaurants, said they bought the noon meal be- cause they disHked cold, dry lunches, or preferred hot food, or found it inconvenient to pack a lunch (Table 9). Length of the Noon Hour. The third (33.6 per cent.) of the women whose low wages pre- vented the purchase of lunches were also the workers who were al- lowed the shortest noon intervals. "There's no time to go," one worker said, "and I always spend 25 cents which I cannot afford." Thirty minutes, the minimum legal requirement,^ was reported by 30.8 per cent, of the semi-skilled workers and by 36.1 per cent, of the machine stitchers (Table 11). "I would like to go, and used to often when I had an hour in another factory," said one of these women. A number of managers claimed that the workers chose the short noon period in order that they might have Saturday after- noon free, but it is hardly justifiable to claim that the time gained was needed for work, when a recent survey ' has shown that most of these women were employed on an average of 38 to 49 hours a week, and that only 5 out of 446 employees in the Massachusetts clothing industry averaged as many as fifty-four hours per week. Only 16 who bought lunches have the short period at noon (Table 9). The schedules of 8 of these show that they sent an office mes- senger boy to commercial restaurants before 12 o'clock to purchase the noon meal which they ate in the factory. By clubbing together they found that they could have greater variety at less expense. Eight who had thirty minutes left the building, but only 1, a time worker who reported SIO a week for wages, bought lunch regularly. Three of the 8 patronized a restaurant across the street from the factory, and 5 walked to restaurants less than three blocks away. The factory office and saleswomen usually had a 60-minute noon hour (Table 11), as did also the 181 women interviewed in the de- partment stores. These were more fortunate than those engaged in the low-wage manufacturing processes in that they had opportunities for rest and relaxation. The full noon hour is the custom with women in office positions and salesmanship, and they have never been asked to sacrifice any of their noon time, even when they have 1 General Acts of Massachusetts, 1909, chapter 514, section 68. ^ Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission, Wages of Women in Women's Clothing Factories in Massachusetts, Bulletin No. 9, September, 1915, p. 29. 30 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. been given the half day off on Saturday. The reduction of the legal hours of employment to an eight-hour day, or else an exten- sion of the legal requirement for the noon period to sixty minutes, is necessary in order to restore the noon hour of the factory workers to its traditional length. Character of Employment. The character of the work performed, as well as the wages and the length of the noon hour, influences the leaving of the building at noon either for food or exercise. Manufacturing processes require or permit the wearing of work clothes or aprons, and it takes "too much time" or is "too much trouble" to doff them for street gar- ments, especially if there is but thirty minutes for lunch. Nine per Table 11. — Classification of Women and Girls employed in the Principal Factory District of Boston according to Occupation and the Length of the Lunch Period. Women and Girls having for Noon Hour — Kinds of Emplotment. Total. THIRTY MINUTES. FORTY-FIVE MINUTES. SIXTY MINUTES. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. All occupations, .... Manufacturing pursuits, Stitchers and other power ma- chine operators. Hand sewers and finishers. Other semi-skilled workers, Designers, cutters, managers, etc. Factory saleswomen, . Office work 521 447 277 89 65 16 3 71 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 134 133 100 10 20 3 1 25.7 29.7 36.1 11.3 30.8 18.8 1.4 Ill 95 56 16 16 7 16 21.3 21.3 20.2 17.9 24.6 43.7 22.5 276 219 121 63 29 6 3 54 53.0 49.0 43.7 70.8 44.6 37.5 100.0 76.1 cent, more stitchers and hand sewers never leave than workers in the semi-skilled processes, and 12 per cent, more piece workers than time workers. "We have to plow right in and make what we can, and I'd rather rest than go out," said one of the workers. Taken together, more than 50 (51.2) per cent, of those in manufacturing processes never leave the building, whereas oflBce women, sales- THE NOON LUNCHEON. 31 Table 12. — Use of Spare Time after Luncheon by Women and Girls in Fac- tories and Factory Offices, distributed according to Kind of Evx'ployynent. Uses of Spare Time. Total Women. Power- machine Operators. Sewers and Semi-skilled Workers. Drafters, Managers, Sales AND Office Women. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. All uses, 521 100.0 277 53.1 154 29.6 90 17.3 Talking with others, 122 100.0 68 55.8 44 36.0 10 8.2 Reading newspapers, magazines and books. Resting at tables or machines, 46 16 100.0 100.0 29 12 63.0 75.0 16 4 34.8 25.0 1 2.2 Sewing, embroidering and cro- cheting. Working, 19 39 100.0 100.0 12 24 63.2 61.5 6 13 31.6 33.3 1 2 5.2 5.2 Walking for air and exercise, 56 100.0 17 30.3 18 32.1 21 37.6 Doing errands or shopping. 40 100.0 18 45.0 13 32.5 9 22.5 Dancing and singing, . 15 100.0 3 20.0 7 46.7 5 33.3 No time to spare, 116 100.0 75 64.7 13 11.2 28 24.1 Other uses 10 100.0 3 30.0 5 50.0 2 20.0 Not reported 42 100.0 16 38.1 15 35.7 11 26.2 Table 13. — Use of Spare Time after Luncheon by Woinen and Girls in Department Stores of Boston City Proper. Uses of Spare Time in Department Stores. Number. Per Cent. All uses, Walking Errands or shopping, Dancing or singing, Reading newspapers. Talking with others, Resting, ..... Sewing, embroidering, crocheting. No spare time, Not reported, .... 181 100.0 62 34.3 21 11.6 4 2.2 37 20.4 30 16.6 13 7.2 5 2.8 3 1.6 6 3.3 32 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. women and those in responsible positions reported that they usually left the building at noon. The quieter ways of spending spare time reported by the ma- chine stitchers showed their need of this period of relaxation. Rest- ing at tables or machines, reading newspapers, sewing for them- selves, embroidering, crocheting and conversing were the uses of spare time reported by them (Table 12). Stitchers, who are usually piece workers, are tempted to use spare time at noon for work; of the 39 who reported this use of time 29 were power-machine stitchers. Sewers and semi-skilled workers avail themselves about equally of the restful and active recreations, and those in responsible positions and office work go out regularly for exercise or lunch or shopping, or else dance and sing if they remain in the factory. One hundred and sixteen, or more than 22.3 per cent, of the factory women, had no spare time after luncheon, and all of these either had thirty minutes for the noon hour or used the longer period to go home to dinner. Without exception all the women interviewed in the department stores had a full hour at noon, and the use made of spare time after eating luncheon depended very much upon the amount of space devoted to the comfort and accommodation of the employees and upon the adequacy of its equipment. Often the women sat reading or chatting at the lunch tables, but this could not be done if the room was small, for successive relays of employees made it necessary for those who came first to depart promptly. One store had a lunch room large enough so that the employees could remain at the tables if they wished, and there was also room at one end for groups to dance, play the piano and sing. Five of the department stores had rest or recreation rooms in addition to the lunch rooms. Thirty-six per cent, of the women reported that they never left the building at noon, and as many more (37.5 per cent.) only went occasionally. Half of the women (47 per cent.) occupied themselves with the quieter recreations, such as reading newspapers, talking with friends, resting, sewing, embroidering or crocheting, and half (48.1 per cent.) went for walks, did errands or shopping, or danced and sang in the recreation rooms (Table 13). Most of the women named two uses of spare time, and these secondary uses are slightly in favor of the restful recreations. No one used her spare time in working as was done by a number (39) of the women in the factories. Those who THE NOON LUNCHEON. 33 S ^ 4 - ^ =0 1 ro 1 lO 1 " 1 ^3 S u s » M ^^ " ' '^ 1 " 1 c z;^ ^1 t^ „ n CO !0 a s o H ^ Ca t^ ■o :0 -0 «i z z-^ a 3 ■ 5 S aj lO '^ 00 ■* to Q "a '^ ^^ (M c^ i •o .J, ,, ^ 3 Zi 31^ 3S ■M T) ^6 1 O g 1 § s H M LO » -0 ^ 3 GJ 2-^ -^ lO -' c\ M 1 |;a |3 00 - ^^ 1 ro 1 •»*< -' ^, 2 1 1 2-^ ?• & C<1 C5 X t. •* O o 2 -i .H :» '■0 t^ ^H C-1 3 t,' a a o to ^ (-5 _j 30 „ LO «i^ m '^ '^ a Z-^ z ^ ^ ro 1— ( 'f* (M M CO CO < a M ^ s '-^ 3D CO "d t^ ■^ t-* t>- O S*' M ls^ r.^ ^] r.) K 3 § a J 2^ *"* " 2 ^ o o Z 3 § § 8 8 8 8 a . o » U5 n i-O ^ a o "5 Z^ _ _ If to CO ej; >H s ci > 1 a 1 a 2 a a 2; :j Ul :> bfl Q z r( a :% a ^ ^ M tn ?. a a a" 2 73 a ^ J3 JS o 2' ^ ;i ft ;a z 3 a a a ^ jq a J a . 1 Ci .-3 s bC >2 cD n a a a — -H y •A — < W ;< •< -Jj <5 K 34 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. work in department stores in Boston are receiving the legal wage, and an employee cannot increase her weekly wages by working at noon. Nationality. Nationality, as well as wages and the length of the noon hour, was a factor in determining the method of obtaining the noon luncheon. In some cases there were preferences for certain kinds of bread, fish, meats or vegetables characteristic of national diets, and in others the diet was restricted by religious requirements. In both factories and department stores there were well-marked' differences between the native born and the foreign born and those of English speaking and non-English speaking parentage. The native born show a greater disposition to purchase their lunches; 66, or 28.9 per cent., of those working in factories, and 125, or 82.2 per cent., of those in department stores provided the noon meal in this way (Table 14). Evidently the native born rarely live near their places of employment, as only 4 of the factory workers and 1 department store worker went home at noon. Of the native born group the factory workers of English-speaking parentage show 10 (9.9) per cent, more buying lunches than the factory workers of non-English speaking parentage. A somewhat surprising variation is found in the case of the small group of department store workers of non-English speaking parentage; 91.3 per cent, of these buy lunches as compared with 80.6 per cent, of those of English-speaking parentage. The women of foreign birth of non-English speaking parentage usually brought their lunches or went home at noon. This was true of nearly 90 per cent, of the foreign born factory workers, as 137, or 78.2 per cent., brought lunch, and 19, or 10.9 per cent., went home. The foreign born factory workers of English speaking par- entage buy lunches more frequently than do those of non-English speaking parentage. Certain restaurants in the factory district were patronized by 16.3 per cent, of Jews, and all of them were patronized by women of English speaking parentage, but none of the Italians, Swedes, Germans, Austrians, French, Greeks, Roumanians, Portu- guese, Spanish or Bohemians patronized the restaurants, and nearly all the workers of Syrian birth and parentage lived in the South End near enough to go home to dinner. THE NOON LUNCHEON. 35 Two explanations may account for these differences between the native and foreign born and the EngUsh and non-English speaking groups. Foreign women show a greater tendency to fall into the low-wage, short noon hour groups, and were found among the factory piece workers rather than office and store workers. It seems probable, also, that their greater timidity or conservatism would prevent their going to public eating places. This last factor would not be present in the case of the few department store workers who could buy lunches at the employees' cafeteria. In summing up the factors determining the bringing or buying of lunches we find : — 1. That the low- wage piece workers usually bring lunches from home, while the higher-wage office and department store workers are more apt to buy their lunches. 2. The short intermission at noon among the factory workers makes it impossible to go out to buy a lunch, and prevents proper rest and recreation. 3. Piece workers and power-machine operators seldom or never leave the factory at noon either for food or exercise, and are re- luctant to make the change from work to street clothing. 4. Foreign born women and those of non-English speaking parent- age show a greater disposition to bring lunches, while the native born and those of English speaking parentage buy luncheon when the wage and length of noon hour permit. Provisions for Heating or Supplementing the Lunches of Factory Workers. When the power is switched off at 12 o'clock the women who go out to lunch hasten their departure, and the remainder bring forth their lunches from coat rooms or hand bags. Seated alone or in groups of three or four the workers set out their teapots, tumblers or cups, lunch wrappings, food and fruit, holding them in the lap or placing them on the work tables or machines. The food of the 445 women who regularly or frequently brought lunches from home was put up chiefly in wrapping paper, waxed paper or paper bags. Paper and linen napkins were little used. The tin dinner pail and the black or plaid tin box are out of date. Office workers used more of the waxed paper than did those in manu- 36 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. factiiring pursuits. The lunch as carried to-day is a paper-wrapped parcel similar to a shopping bundle. It can be disposed of entirely, and it avoids identif^'ing the carrier as a wage earner. Half of these women (50 per cent.) reported putting up their own lunches, mothers put them up for a third (35.6 per cent.), aunts, sisters and other relatives put them up for 10 (10.5) per cent., and landladies for the remainder. The extensive use of such cooking facilities as were provided proves that the women factory workers craved hot food. The proportion who prepared hot dishes varied with the adequacy of the cooking arrangements (Table 15). A gas range with a four-burner top and an oven, and two double-burner gas plates w^ere found in one factory where 190 women were employed. Twenty-three women who ate lunches in this factory were interviewed, and 22 of these reported that they prepared tea or cocoa, cooked soups and vegetables and baked potatoes or apples. In two other firms that had two gas plates of three burners each, or one burner for each 11 employees, the facilities were used by more than 90 (91.4) per cent, of the Table 15. — Extent of Use of Cooking Facilities by Women and Girls working in Factories and Factory Offices. Total Factory Schedules obtained. Women WHO BROUGHT LuNCHES. Cooking Facilities. Estab- lish- ments. Em- ploy- ees. Num- ber. Not using Facili- ties. USING FACILITIES. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. Total, 49 1,782 521 100.0 445 233 212 47.6 Stoves (gas or electric): — 1 plate, 15 438 146 28.0 118 84 34 28.8 2 plates, 6 137 55 10.6 42 22 20 47.6 3 plates, 6 364 75 14.4 63 19 44 69.8 4 plates 3 161 36 6.9 35 5 30 85.7 6 plates, 131 35 6.7 35 3 32 91.4 Range (4-plate top and oven, also two 2-plate stoves). Stove and oven (detachable). 190 10 24 6 4.6 1,1 23 6 1 2 22 4 95.7 66.7 Iron heaters (40 separate), . 66 26 5.0 26 6 20 76.9 Toaster and teakettle, . 20 10 2.0 9 3 6 66.7 No facilities, .... 13 265 108 20.7 88 88 - - THE NOON LUNCHEON. 37 workers. In addition to tea and soups, eggs, toast, cheese and creamed dishes were prepared. Various kinds of facihties were found in other factories and factory offices. In addition to gas stoves in the workroom, one had a hotwater tank, another a copper cauklron, anotlier an aluminum kettle, and another an electric toaster and kettle. ]\Iost of the apparatus, however, was makeshift in character, and one-fifth (20.7 per cent.) of the women interviewed had no facilities whatever for heating water or warming over food. Co-operative preparation of lunches was a method used in one of the factories where the number of employees was small. The fore- lady or some enterprising member of the group conferred with the others late in the forenoon as to what they should have for luncheon. The office boy was then sent to a near-by restaurant or grocery, the supplies were purchased, and when all was ready the group sat down at a table and ate the luncheon. In still another factory a kind of kitchenette was formed by the arrangement of the sink, stove and shelves. The manager purchased tea, coffee, sugar and canned goods for the workers at wholesale rates. These schemes of co- operative buying and preparation of lunches greatly reduced the expense and increased the attractiveness and sociability of the luncheon. This method of securing a lunch was possible wherever the cooking facilities were adequate, and where economic competi- tion and social dift'erences between the racial elements was not too keenly felt. In a number of places small groups of three or four women prepared tea, coffee or cocoa, or shared the expense of. some special treat. Kinds of Food brought from Home. The influence of nationality is seen in the choice of the 33 kinds of food observed or reported in the lunch menus of the women in factories and factory offices. When it was possible to secure them, the menus of the day on which the interview occurred and of the day before were obtained. The group of 387 women who brought lunches five or six days of the week, and of 58 who brought them occasionally, reported 712 menus with 2,582 food items (Table 16). The characteristic number of food items for each menu was 4, averaging 3.5 for women of English speaking parentage and 3.7 for women of non-English speaking parentage. The typical lunch con- sisted of sandwiches, cake, fruit and tea. There is very little differ- 38 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. I O ^ s «c ff 6 1 -< 5^ ^! O •^ ^ s "^ s s> c a. CO a. j~ 'S ■*- 8 k *- a. < o n LC^COCS^^OC^-^ c=oo 1 1 — 1 f Ol >o O ^ X) 35 C^J lO •pa^jod s o -- to C-1 -^ 1 -8J ;0U ^^B:^^^JBJ C5 t CO -^ 1-1 •»}< -fH 1 1 1 to C-1 1 1 1 1 1 "^ <» t^ to 1 »-i 1 1 to 2 •siaq;o a S si cc 1 =o r^ I CO fo C-) 1 -H 1 1 1 t 1 1 1 r ^^ CO CO CC 1 1 ?> ;h Z ■qeipa-wg a a w < D ». t^ CO 1^ -»< 1 1 C-l 1 1—1 OCO 1 1 1 1 1 C^l •^ O 00— 1 1 — Z o o z •UBTOJOO ? u a o 1 iot--«-*o 1 1 -H Ot)j -A19f)TlSlI0d 2; JO UBTSSny c a N 05 05 ior>--^ csco 1 -^ =0 to _ 1 ^ 1 o „ O) O MM 1 CO Ph s •*oira-*co -^ — H — t to-a<« a ■piox 03 IM« '^ « w ^ J^ 1 r* CO 1 c^^H— H 1 1 Ol — H 1 1 1 r -H 1 CO — IflMi-H — «o 1 1 CO 1 1 1 1 1 1 CO C-1 COM M H UBipBUBQ SO z a 3 ._, ,^ CO O 1 COlO 1 1 to t^cq 1 1 — < 1 oic< CO ot^o>n 1 00 S n to r^ CO r^ -^ — * oi 03 J t^X!M<»M ■* s — t^ CO CO •9 "S ) >> 2 c| • S 0) a o S3 ^ ' ■ ■ ■ -Sao S 3 .1 a -•a-B 1 § S £ 05 o flT3 hlD c3ja a a >: c3 11^.2 |.s g (£ ■a 0.2 u-s-r o'S O D a c3i3 flj *i c3 < 3 eg > DMm&O SO^IhQOO THE NOON LUNCHEON. 39 lO CD ic -^ iO O 1 1 « jsenooo 1 1 1 1 " — Ci CJ 1 1 >:; Mco — -" 1 1 1 1 lO 1 1 « « lO ic CO CO ^ 1 1 ro ■ C-J lO — M TO o I^ -H ~J ^ 1 o o ro O -• Z) 1 Oi t^ CO r^ CO TO CO ■X TO e-) M cooc-jin-poooio O M ^H d *-« ^ -.MOOTOGO C>3 U5CJ<-H 1 1 1 -H ^^ 30— It^ 1 1 o 00 coco -H I -H 1 ■^ CI .-1 1 00 COOS 1 TO TO C-1 " O CO uo 1 o CO ^ ri OO 00 lO C^ -^30"^ ^H t 1 I t I I OSOWOONOCO-H CO OOCiCOCOCO o o CO ^ CS "5 CO t^ Ol -* » lO •^ TO -»< in lO CO CO CO 00 CO f^ OJ ^ •^ CO TO r^ 1^ _ C-l C-l CO C3 TO CO o ^, ■^ CO C5 CO CD r^ ^ TO lO C-1 CO •* TO 3" B ft 2 . 3 ■a ■2 3 m -a 3 T3 ja o J d o n S :ii 3 o O d 1 ? o o J J j2 a 3 d 3 3 3 Z z --*|C^CSI»r^ir5 C/li CC -^ ^ f^ -^ -U5 I --« I CO I ^C. c •* t~ in (N •* 3 3 C Xi K £ t^ x: J2 s s 3 Z •z. 42 FOOD OF WOEKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. Women of all nationalities ate cake, pie, oranges and apples for dessert, except that the Italians and South Europeans did not bring pie. Cake was reported oftenest by Canadians, Germans, Americans and Irish, and the kinds named were chiefly plain, fruit and mocha. The most popular kinds of pie were apple and mince. Fruit forms 32.9 per cent, of the food items of women of non-English speaking parentage, as compared with 18 per cent, of those of English speak- ing parentage, but fruit also is mentioned often by American and Irish women. The quickest and easiest hot beverage to prepare was tea. It was reported oftener than coffee, cocoa and milk together by women of English speaking parentage, but coffee and milk were also used considerably by Jewish women. The Swedish women were the only ones who did not report tea and coffee, but the number of their schedules was too small to justify the statement that they never use them. The Box Lunch and Fruit Venders. Boston has two firms which make a business of putting up box lunches and delivering them in the various places of business for a small sum. One of these companies has an automobile for delivery, but the boxes are also sold on commission by messengers, janitors, office boys or watchmen. A number of combinations are put up, varying in price from 10 to 25 cents, and consisting of two or three sandwiches, cake, pie and fruit, which are wrapped in waxed paper and packed in a light cardboard box. With this possibility of secur- ing a lunch at a low cost it might be supposed that the women who wprk in factories could easily obtain food in an emergency, but those who had tried the box lunches commented thus: "They do it up all right, but it doesn't taste good." "I bought one once, but never again." "It looks all right, but we can't eat it." In nearly every factory inquiry was made as to whether such lunches were pur- chased, and invariably women were not advocates of the "box lunch." Certain kinds of food, even if fresh, cannot be confined without developing a strong odor and, as one girl remarked, it was "factory food and not home cooking." It is also true that most people prefer to choose the dift'erent items of their lunch instead of having a "foreordained" combination. A dift'erent kind of a commercial effort to cater to the lunch needs of factory women is made by the Italian fruit venders. They come THE NOON LUNCHEON. 43 c -2 S "I •5- fc. 2 C5 -TS :s SJ 05 O g O 1 ^ ■^ Sl -o c "J^ .> CS M * o ?< "§ 05 ^> =^ g^ c^ 5^ ^ c en 0:5 O CO i_3 ^ to 30 » (M 1 ' ^ lO >n CO lO 1 1 M o 1 C33 CO o S z O J la s o z 1-:; N xi o CO f^ C> lO 1 s ^ «Q ^ a o t^ r^ CO M CO CO 6 s o o CO t^ r* 1 o ' d '/I a o ^ u io 2 s CO •^ 05 C-l C^l 1 CO CO a B3 8 " 30 B. a 3 :C ^ o Z a o r^ >« "5 00 o o C5 a> f^ 00 PS Ed s 2 OO oi ■^ n^ ■^ - '^ CO 3 a b b s 0) a « fe u ^( 1 _ t^ o ^^ CO lO i« ■M C-) •* CO CO J r» C-1 s ^ &< 3 i a tf . DO ^1 a <«" P3 o Q w f=r d M ,_; -o" 2 .^ •.:> .^ ,^ .»J 43 43 43 43 3 S a a a a a a a a a s -s s g s S3 s s s o u ii ^ 1-, Lh Qt s^ ■^ 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 tT o Q s S s J a S S S a b- 1-1 c tJ ^ ^ -.J 43 V u .« a o S 1 1 1 1 1 s J o < rsJ f^ A^ tf « « « tf 5 ^ 44 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. to town, chiefly from Somerville and Lynn, early in the morning, with their large hampers. They have no stores, but stock up at the markets, and from 10 to 1 o'clock go quickly on regular routes through a number of buildings in which they are given the sole right to sell fruit, chocolate bars, nuts and gum. One vender when ques- tioned said that he had been in the country five years, and "that his profits averaged $2.50 to S3 a day. INIost of the managers en- couraged these venders to come in, and they were reported by the women to be very generally patronized. Two or three managers, however, did not permit them to sell in the factory workroom, for they feared the workers would be tempted to depend upon such purchases for an entire lunch. Another said that the prices of the fruit were too high. "It is cheaper to buy at a fruit store where you can get 2 oranges, bananas or apples for 5 cents, but of course sometimes one forgets to buy or has other bundles." Not many women ate chocolate bars and candies with their noon lunches, and most of them seemed to bring their own fruit. Nevertheless, fruit vending is a resource in an emergency, and as such is to be com- mended. The Luncheon purchased by Factory Workers in Commercial Restaurants. Although the home supplied the lunches of most of the women in factories and factory offices, the commercial restaurant was a lunch- eon resource for a small group of workers who purchased their lunches in town. Of the 521 factory women interviewed, 53 pur- chased their lunches every day, and 5S more bought them frequently or occasionally (Table IS). These buyers of lunches were chiefly oflice women in the higher wage group, who had forty-five or sixty minutes at noon (Table 11). A fourth of them (25.9 per cent.) gave as a reason for buying rather than bringing lunches the inconven- ience of putting up a lunch at home. Nearly a third of them (29.9 per cent.) said they were only occasional buyers because of the cost of the commercial lunches or because of the shortness of the noon hour (Table 9). The restaurant lunch appeared to be more attrac- tive than the home lunch in that it offered hot food and a change of diet instead of a cold, dry lunch. The restaurants patronized by these women were chiefly of the counter or cafeteria type of service. Nine of them were located in THE NOON LUNCHEON. 45 the immediate factory district, or very near, and a string of stores are maintained by the most popular ones. The health department of the city which inspects the 1,500 or more restaurants rates Restau- rants A, B, C and D as superior in methods and equipment to some first-class hotels. Restaurant A (Table IS) had the most attractive equipment and cafeteria service. Restaurants B and C had counter service, and D had table service. Restaurant C was the one most often praised for the flavor of its food, and was regularly patronized by the largest percentage of the buyers of lunches (14.4 per cent.). The variety of foods reported in the menus purchased at the com- mercial restaurants was greater by 7 items than in the lunches brought from home, and the list of vegetables and desserts was longer. The average menu, however, had 3 (2.6) items instead of 4 (3.6), as the home menus had (Tables 16 and 19), but the meal was probably as nourishing and certainly hotter than the home lunch, even though the buyer did not eat as many portions or kinds of food. The most popular items were meat, potatoes and pie. Hot dishes took the place of the sandwiches of the home lunch, and fish was reported oftener but bread was reported in about the same propor- tion. Pie and coffee in the restaurant lunch surpassed cake and tea in popularity. The amount spent for luncheon was chiefly 25 cents, 45.3 per cent, of the buyers giving this as the price actually paid for a luncheon the items of which were also reported (Table 18). In Restaurant A, where there was cafeteria service, lunches were the least expensive, and were purchased at 15 and 20 cents, but in Restaurants B and C, 20 and 25 cents were the prices' quoted, and attendance was more regular in these two because the food was liked. The prices at which the kinds of food were offered in the bills of fare of 8 of the restau- rants patronized by the women interviewed (Table 21) are interest- ing in connection with the make-up of the typical menu and the predominant price paid for it, — 3 food items at 25 cents. The beverage and dessert, reported oftenest, were 5 cents each, and the remaining 15 cents was spent for a hot dish or a hot dish and vege- table. Sandwiches at 5 and 10 cents each were offered frequently and fruit occasionally, but women did not buy them, though both were characteristic of the luncheon brought from home. All the restaurants oftered combinations of food at special prices. One of them offered daily 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 35 cent specials, also a num- 46 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. ber of salad, meat and vegetable combinations for a quarter, a lunch special of a sandwich, cake, ice cream and coffee for a quarter, and a dessert special of ice cream, cake and beverage for 15 cents. The best combination for a quarter was offered at the most popular restaurant, and consisted of meat, potato, a vegetable and any 5- cent dessert. A vegetable dinner was offered here also for a quarter. Table 19. — Number of Times the Kinds of Food appear in the Lunch Menus of Women and Girls working in Factories and Factory Offices, who bought Limches in Commercial Restaurants. Total Times. Kinds of Food. Total Times. Kinds of Food. Num- Per Num- Per ber. Cent. ber. Cent. All foods, 3071 100.0 Desserts, 60 19.5 Cake, 14 - Pie, 20 - Soup, 26 8.4 Ice cream, .... 2 - Doughnuts, .... 3 - Hot dishes, 45 14.7 Coffee jelly, .... 4 - Meat, 26 - Puddings, .... 7 - Spaghetti or macaroni. 2 - French pastry. 4 - Fish 11 - Apple dumplings. 3 - Eggs, 1 - Eclairs, 3 - Cheese and macaroni, 5 - Fruit, etc., 10 3.2 Vegetables, 50 16.3 Oranges, 2 - », Potatoes, 25 - Apples, 1 - Peas, 1 - Bananas, 1 - Corn, 3 - Preserves, .... 1 - Baked beans, .... 1 - Others 5 - Asparagus, .... 4 - Tomatoes, .... 5 - ReUshes, 2 .7 Beans, 2 - , Succotash, .... 2 - Beverages, 74 24.1 Cabbage, 2 - Tea, 18 - Others 5 - Coffee, 49 - Milk, 3 - Salads, 2 .7 Cocoa, 4 - Bread and butter, 3S 12.4 • ' Number of schedules, 111; number of kinds of food, 37; average number of food items per menu, 2.6. Still another restaurant offered eggs cooked in many attractive combinations, and fruits, cereals, cheese and nuts were conspicuous on the bill of fare. The price paid for a luncheon in a commercial restaurant is beyond the means of the average factory worker. The definite sum of 15 cents is firmly established in her mind as an allowance for the noon meal. If she has attended one of the high schools of the city she has been accustomed to pay 10 cents for a satisfactory lunch, and could have purchased a substantial meal for 15 cents, as a recent investigation of the school lunch system has shown. When, as a THE NOON LUNCHEON. 47 working girl, she contributes her pay envelope to the family income she receives back from her mother each day 25 cents for car fare and lunch. If her sister is a salesgirl in a Boston department store she probably buys her luncheon in an employees' cafeteria for 15 cents. Everywhere in the popular mind 15 cents is the standard allow- ance for luncheon for a working girl or woman. Since 1911 the cost of food and of other essentials of the standard of living has been investigated in 12 States as a basis for minimum wage legislation, and in 2 of these separate consideration was given to the lunch problem. Both in New York,^ where investigators called at the homes of the workers for information, and in Ohio,^ where the cost of luncheon was one of the expenditures entered by the women in account books, it was found that 15 cents was the amount most often quoted. Estimates of social workers in Boston^ have also placed the standard allowance at 15 cents. The results of the present investigation indicate that office workers and others in responsible positions who are earning as much as S8 a week on time work are the only ones who patronize the restaurants. They form but one-fifth of the entire group interviewed. For these the commercial restaurant is a convenient resource, but, like the box lunch and the fruit vending, it does not offer to four-fifths of the factory women a satisfactory solution of the problem of securing a luncheon in town when it is desirable or necessary for them to do so. The Luncheon of Women in Department Stores. The women in the department stores of Boston have a far more normal noon hour, and they are surrounded by more of the comforts and amenities of life than are the women working in factories and factory offices. Instead of eating in workrooms at tables or ma- chines, where their lunches are frequently in contact with the goods being manufactured, the saleswomen leave their counters and mer- chandise to spend an hour eating and resting in rooms provided for their use. All of the department stores of Boston city proper have lunch rooms for their employees, and in 7 of them food is sold on the cafeteria plan at cost or at very low prices. Four other department ' Fourth Report of the New York State Factory Investigating Commission, 1915, Vol. IV., p. 512. 2 Cost of Living of Working Women in Ohio, State Department of Investigation and Statistics, Report 14, 1915. ' Report of Massachusetts Commission on Minimum Wage Boards, January, 1912, p. 224. 48 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. stores have rooms where lunches brought from home may be eaten, and one of them has cooking facihties for the use of the employees. The employees' cafeterias of the large department stores are located high up in the store buildings, where there is plenty of light and air. Most of the rooms have hardwood or linoleum floors, white or tinted walls, and curtains or shades at the windows. Usually the tables are bare, but white linen is used in one store, oilcloth covers in another and white vitrolite slabs in another. From 11 until 2 or 3 o'clock groups of employees arrive at the lunch room by elevator. Table 20. — Reasons assigned by Women and Girls working in Department Stores in Boston for huying Lunches in Employees' Cafeterias rather than bringing them from Home. Total Reasons. Women. Cafe- teria A. Cafe- teria B. Cafe- teria C. Cafe- teria D. Cafe- teria E. Cafe- teria F. Lunch Room G.i Num- ber. Per Cent. All reasons, 1452 100.0 25 25 26 25 223 12 3 103 Inconvenience of putting up lunch, 48 33.1 8 12 10 7 7 - 4 Just as cheap to buy as to bring lunch. The quality of the food is good. 27 26 18.6 18.0 6 7 3 4 3 3 4 4 5 2 3 4 3 2 Preference for variety and hot foods, 17 11.7 2 2 4 3 4 2 - Lunch not included in board, . 4 2.8 - - 2 1 - 1 - Other reasons, .... 3 2.0 - - 2 1 - - - No reasons given, .... 20 13.8 2 4 2 5 4 2 1 ' Food was not sold in this lunch room, but buyers purchased their lunches at a commercial lunch room within the store. 2 One schedule omitted from this table was secured in a store not personally visited. ' Twenty-five schedules from each store were secured, except 26 in C; the remainder of the 25 in E, F and G brought lunches from home. form a "bread line" in front of the food counter, and as they walk along, study the menu for the day, posted on the wall. With tray in hand they receive their orders promptly from the servers, pay the cashier as they leave the line, take silver, glasses and paper napkins, and seat themselves at the tables to eat and converse. The lunch rooms were used by all the employees, whether they brought their lunches from home or purchased them at the lunch- room cafeteria. Of the 25 or more women interviewed in each of the 7 stores, 80 per cent. (Table 23) bought their lunches. Nearly 20 THE NOON LUNCHEON. 49 (18.2) per cent, brought their entire kmcheon from home every day, but they were chiefly employed in 2 stores, in one of which there was no cafeteria equipment and in the other there were complaints of undercooked food. Only two women in the department stores went home to dinner. The reasons given for buying lunches in these employees' cafeterias rather than bringing them from home were chiefly tributes to the convenience of the lunch room and the quahty and inexpensiveness of the food. One-third (33.1 per cent.) of the group said that it took too much time and was too much trouble to put up a lunch in the morning. Nearly one-fifth (18.6 per cent.) said it was just about as cheap to buy a lunch at the cafeteria as it was to bring it, and about a third (29.7 per cent.) more said that the cafeteria food was good, and that they enjoyed having a change from the home diet, or that they liked something hot to eat and drink for luncheon (Table 20). These reasons agree with those given by factory women for buying lunches in the public restaurants as to the greater convenience of doing so (25.9 per cent.), and as to a preference for variety and hot food (Table 9), but they are in marked contrast to the reasons given by the factory women who brought lunches from home and ate them at work tables or machines. These said chiefly (27.8 per cent.) that they preferred home food, and that the commercial lunches were too expensive to buy (Table 10), whereas women who ate lunches at employees' cafeterias said they liked the food, and that it was just as cheap to buy a lunch as to bring one. Only 6 of the 181 women in the stores said that it cost too much to buy a lunch at the cafeterias. Comparison of the Quality and Prices of Food in Restau- rants AND Employees' Cafeterias. The superior quality and the low prices of the food, according to the statements of the women themselves, were reasons for the dift'er- ence in patronage of the commercial restaurants and of the em- ployees' cafeterias. Managers of the cafeterias were well aware of the necessity of pleasing the workers with food of good quality. " They are like one big family, and they'd go somewhere else or bring all their lunch from home if they didn't like the food," said one man- 50 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. ager. Another told how he secured canned vegetables by contract from the producer, and paid the highest prices for fresh vegetables, meat and fish, in order to be sure of getting the best quality. Then, too, the price paid for a satisfactory lunch in the cafeterias was but 15 cents, whereas it was 25 cents in the restaurants. As has been shown, 15 cents is the price a working woman feels she can afford to pay for the noon meal. A comparison of the prices charged per serving in the restaurants with the prices charged in employees' cafeterias explains why it is that the women in the factories and factory oflBces paid 10 cents more when they purchased a luncheon than did women in the de- partment stores. Printed bills of fare were secured from 8 of the Boston restaurants patronized by the factory women, from 6 of the employees' cafeterias in Boston department stores, and by mail from 7 cafeterias in stores, factories and oflBces in other cities. These 21 restaurants and emploj^ees' cafeterias are located in 10 different cities, — Boston, Framingham, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Rochester, Cleveland, Toledo, Buffalo and Indianapolis. Even amounts of money, as 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 cents, etc., were charged for servings in commercial restaurants, but in the employees' cafeterias odd amounts, as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cents up to 10 and 11 cents, were charged. The range in prices (Table 21) in the restaurants was from 5 to 35 cents, whereas in the cafeterias it was from 1 to 20 cents. The prices most often charged in the commercial restaurants were 5, 10 and 15 cents, but those in the cafeterias were 3, 5 and 10 cents. The principal prices for the kinds of food group by group also vary considerably. Hot dishes and sandwiches are 10 and 15 cents in restaurants, while they are 5 cents in cafeterias. Vegetables are 5 and 10 cents in restaurants, but only 3 and 5 in employees' cafe- terias. Salads are 10 to 30 cents in the former, but only 5 and 10 cents in the latter. Bread and butter is 5 cents and 2 cents. Des- serts are 5 and 10 in one, whereas they are but 5 in the other. Beverages are 5 cents in restaurants and only 3 in cafeterias. Special combinations of food for a lunch range from 15 to 35 cents in the restaurants, but from 12 to 20 cents in the cafeterias. The protein foods are 10, 15, 25 and SO cents in restaurants, the one dish alone costing as much if not more than a working girl can afford to pay for her entire lunch. In cafeterias, however, salads alone of the protein group are as much as 10 cents, while for 15 cents a working THE NOON LUNCHEON. 51 Table 21. — Kinds of Food and Prices at which they are offered in Eight Com- mercial Restaurants patronized by Women and Girls working in Boston as compared with Prices at which they are offered in Thirteen Employees^ Cafe- terias in Ten Cities. Kinds of Food. Hot dishes: — Soup, Stew, . Chowder, Broth, . Meat, . Fish, ... Eggs, . Cheese and macaroni. Sandwiches: — Meat, Fish, . Salad roll, Cheese and olive. Egg, . Lettuce, Fruit and nut. Vegetables: — Potatoes, Baked beans, Peas, Corn, Others, . Salads: — Meat, . Fish, . Vegetable, Potato, . Eg?, Fruit, . Bread, rolls, etc.. Butter. . . . Toast or crackers, . Desserts: — Cake, . Pie, Ice cream. Sundaes, Douahnuts, . Jelly, . Pudding, Baked apple, Custards, Fruit: — Oranges, Bananas, Preserves, Relishes: — Pickles, Others, . Eight Commercial Res- taurants IN Boston. Predominant Prices charged per Serving (Cents). Lowest and Highest Prices charged per Serving (Cents). 10 20 10 10 15 10, 15, 20 15,25 10 30 30 15 10 20 15,20 5,10 5, 10 5 5 10 10 5 5 5 5 5,10 5-15 5-25 5-15 10-15 15-35 10-30 10-30 10-15 5-35 5-30 5-20 5-15 10-25 5-15 5-10 5-10 5-15 5-10 5-10 5-10 15-30 15-30 5-20 5-20 15-25 10-25 5-10 5-15 5 5-10 5-15 10 5 5-10 5-10 5-15 5-10 Thirteen Employees' Cafeterias in 10 Cities. Predominant Prices charged per Serving (Cents). Lowest and Highest Prices charged per Serving (Cents). 10 10 5,10 10 5,10 10 1 4 5 5 5 1-2 5 5 5 5 3 2,3 5 2-10 5-12 3-12 4-6 4-20 5-12 5-12 4-5 5-8 3-8 5 5 5 3-5 5 2-6 3-6 3-5 3-5 3 5-20 5-15 4-10 5-10 5-10 4-10 1-5 1-4 4-5 3-8 5 1-2 3-6 3-6 3-5 5 3-5 2-3 3-5 52 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. Table 21. — Kinds of Food and Prices at ivhich they are offered in Eight Com- mercial Restaurants patronized by Women and Girls working in Boston as compared with Prices at which they are offered in Thirteen Employees' Cafe- terias in Ten Cities — Con. Kinds of Food. Beveiaaes: — Tea," . Coffee, . Milk, . Cocoa, . Sodas, . Special combination, Box lunch. Eight Commercial Res- taurants IN Boston. Predominant Prices charged per Serving (Cents). Lowest and Highest Prices charged per Serving (Cents). 5 5 5 5 5-10 15-35 Thirteen Employees' Cafeterias in 10 Cities. Predominant Prices charged per Serving (Cents). Lowest and Highest Prices charged per Serving (Cents). 2-5 2-5 1-5 3-5 12-20 girl can buy one kind of protein food, a vegetable, a dessert and a beverage. This is the same lunch for which she pays 25 cents in the commercial restaurants. It might be thought that the retail prices of food in the different cities would vary according to the cost of production and distribution. Such was not the case on the bills of fare described above. Appar- ently those retail prices which the patron will pay are charged both in the restaurants and employees' cafeterias. Typical bills of fare from 3 employees' cafeterias in Boston, Buffalo and Washington, D. C, follow: — Boston. Cents. Cents. Fish chowder, .... 12 Crackers, 3 for .... 1 Sliced tongue, .... 10 Cookies, 2 for . 1 Potato salad, .... 5 Cake, 3 Broiled sweet potato, . 5 Pie, . 4 Butter heaps, .... 5 Tea, . 2 Sliced tomatoes, 5 Coffee, 3 Sardine sandwich, . 5 Cocoa, 3 Bread pudding and sauce, . 6 Milk, 3 Rolls, 1 Candy, 1 Butter, 1 Crullers, 2 THE NOON LUNCHEON. 53 Washington. Cents. Vegetable soup, .... 5 Roast beef, mashed potatoes, bread and butter, coffee or tea or milk, 15 Frankfurters and potato salad, . 10 Egg salad, rolls and butter, Mashed potatoes, . Stewed tomatoes, . Spaghetti, Ice cream, Cents. 10 3 3 3 5 Buffalo. Cents. Beef croquette, tomato sauce, scalloped potatoes, bread or rolls, coffee or tea or cocoa or milk, pudding or pie or ice cream, .... Clam chowder, Swiss steak, gravy. Cheese souffle. Beef croquette, tomato sauce. Codfish cake, ... Baked beans, . Scalloped potatoes. Steamed squash, Wax beans. Baking powder biscuit, . 20 3 12 5 10 5 3 3 4 3 1 Cents. White bread, 2 Butter, 1 Rye bread, . . . . . 2 Graham bread, .... 2 Grapefruit salad, .... 10 Compote of rice with peaches, . 3 Pineapple pie, 4 Stewed prunes, .... 3 Vanilla ice cream, .... 3 Walnut sundae, .... 6 Coffee, 3 Tea, green or black, with lemon or milk, per cup, . . . .3 Cocoa, whipped cream, ... 3 Milk, 3 Consideration should be given to the fact that the public restau- rant exists as an investment for business profit, whereas the cafeteria in department stores is established to contribute to the efficiency and health of the employees. One is commercial, the other is sub- sidized; one expects to make as much or more profit than the money could earn at interest in the bank, the other expects to cover merely the expense of food and labor and to pay little or nothing of the cost of rent, light, heat and upkeep. Women working in large groups in factories and stores willingly wait on themselves, knowing that this reduces the expense of the daily meal. In some cafeterias they also return the trays and dishes to a counter or dish carriage, thus saving the cost of labor in clearing away. In other places where both self service and table service are used an extra charge of 5 cents is. made for the latter. A number of dairy lunches, lunch counters, "one-arm" ^ places I Restaurants providing chairs with wide arms rather than tables or counters. 54 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. and commercial cafeterias are to be found in Boston, but even in these prices are higher than a working woman can pay regularly for a satisfactory meal at noon. Managers of two of the commercial cafeterias have calculated the average price paid by women in these places to be 18 cents. Their patrons, however, include shoppers as well as working women, and the fact that the price quoted is an average shows that the actual cost of some of the lunches ranged above as well as below the 18 cents, and while this is undoubtedly lower than the restaurant average it is still beyond the price of 15 cents to which the working woman tries to limit herself, and the fact remains that any commercial lunch room cannot be regularly patronized by women who are earning low wages. Composition of the Lunches in the Department Stores. Women working in department stores had, on the whole, a more satisfactory luncheon than did women in the factories. The average number of items per menu was 4.3, as compared with 3.6 in the factories and 2.6 in the commercial restaurants (Tables 16, 19 and 22), and the list of foods was longer than either by 7 items. About 50 (53.6) per cent, of those who bought lunches purchased the entire luncheon, and 46.5 per cent, bought something every day (Table 23). A typical menu purchased entirely in a cafeteria consisted of a hot dish, bread and butter, dessert and a beverage. The principal hot dish chosen was meat, and it was often though not always accompanied by baked potatoes; pie and cake were chosen about equally for desserts; and tea and coffee were reported twice as often as meat, and just as often as all the hot dishes together. These hot beverages were chosen equally in the cafeterias, whereas coffee was found to be the favorite in the restaurants and tea in the factories. Sandwiches were not purchased at all in either place, but bread and butter and desserts were purchased more than they were brought from home. Women in department stores ate their noon meal in the employees' lunch room, but they were not obliged to purchase their food there; 20 per cent, of those interviewed brought their entire lunch from home, and nearly 30 (27.1) per cent, brought the regulation lunch of sandwiches, bread and butter, fruit and dessert, and supplemented THE NOON LUNCHEON. 55 Table 22. — Number of Times the Kinds of Food appear in Lunch Menus of Women and Girls in Department Stores, classified according to Method of obtaining Food. Total Times Number of Times Kinds of Food appeab IN Lunch Menits. Kinds of Food were re- ported IN Lunch Menus BY Women who — Kinds of Food. Number. Per Cent. Bought it in Employees' Cafeterias. Brought it from Home. Allfoods 1,264 > 100.0 725 539 Soup, 34 2.7 24 10 Hot dish 111 8.8 111 _ Meat, 56 5G _ Fish, 24 - 24 _ Eggs 1 - 1 _ Macaroni and cheese, .... 30 - 30 - Sandwiches 144 11.4 _ 144 Meat 73 - _ 73 Fish 17 - _ 17 Eg- 3 _ _ 3 Cheese, 19 - _ 19 Jelly or jam, 20 - _ 20 Nut and sugar, 4 - - 4 Peanut butter 6 _ _ 6 Others 2 - - 2 Vegetables, 113 9.0 98 15 Potatoes, 66 - 55 11 Peas, 12 _ 12 Corn, 8 - 8 _ Lettuce, 8 _ 8 _ Baked beans, 5 - 4 1 Others, 14 - 11 3 Salads 16 1.3 13 3 Bread and butter, 240 19.0 138 102 Desserts 287 22.7 167 120 Cake 126 - 50 76 Pie, 76 - 57 19 29 - 29 _ Doughnuts, 15 - 7 8 Cheese, -. 8 - 7 1 Coffee jelly 10 - 8 2 10 - 7 3 Cookies, 10 - 1 9 French pastry 3 - 1 2 133 10.5 41 92 Oranges, 62 - 15 47 37 - 10 27 Bananas, 17 - 5 12 Preserves, 9 - 7 2 Chocolates 5 - 3 2 Pop corn, 3 - 1 2 Relishes, 11 .8 5 6 Beverages, 175 13.8 128 47 Tea, 89 - 56 33 Coffee, 60 - 54 6 Milk 15 - 14 1 Cocoa 9 - 2 7 Sodas, 2 ~ 2 ~ 1 Number of schedules for above information, 179, which excludes two who go home to dinner; number of menus, 298. Buyers numbered 146 and had 226 menus; bringers numbered 107 and had 158 menus. The average number of items per menu was 4.3. Seventy-four schedules are repeated, since food was both bought and brought. 56 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. &2 S ?!. fel ?!< s^ R, "^ cs S S5 !>=, » o -o «q ^ V. Ct> o' s CO Oi lO s ? ^ ^ ^• E; ,1 rl < o ^ ^ 1 ' gia M (2 St. IS t< o S .o (M M 1 1 ^^ g 2 S W 05 4^ C 6 U5 O - ". f^ B ,^ K *" n< •* o »o ►, K H -nl-l o CL| o s s t^ CO 3 ^ Q 05 • a u r-l -H o n O a a « a^ u f>I ci to n EN WH ement: Lunch: AND L 5 DAT! (2 ^ CM CO S -3 .. !- Z fc Wo SUPI Home 1 Da tha 3 o o: >o c^ ^ S " • o oo lO o O B w 05 O (TO o N o Women wh ought Ent] Luncheon Day and l rHAN 5 Dai >o o cs o XI S g o 05 « T^ 3 ^ 2 E K, " OJ t^ ci t^ O c» CO ^ o E f^ Z^ !m Women w: BROUGHT En LuNCHEO 5 TO 6 Da 1 p.* o a 3 ?§ o - O O -M O OOO ooo n^o-^ O OOOOO I I o JO lO '^ o o o o ^OO DO ^ c^ to t^ 3 ^ oj c^ ro i-H oo oo (Mi-HC^i-HC oooooo C5 "-I »o O O O ZO> ca c^ lO lo t^ 00 -*< csoo wot W5 0OIO (NO t cOt^iO O O t (MOOOiOWS '-' O o DO cq o o Xi t>- CO «) oi CO coco W Ttl ^-t C^ lO O ■-*i lO i—i t^Mt^ iOO Ci OOO re o o ooo i-H o o OOiO CC o o ^1 O CO tM »cooo o -M O O O C^ -H t^o oco c^ C^ T-H -1 CiO CO — a o • =3 =i,o-a o o 2f^ a.^ .^ ooo CO o o ooo »-« o o lOOO Tt«co r* ^ooooo CO 'Tj* CO "O O SO Tji CO -H 1— I CiO CO 2 2« s -^ >- iij Qj ajj— 1 O *H 10^0*0 ^«-*-io OOOOiOO ooo ocoo O C^l TJ* TJ< -»J< l>- '»J<-^'MiO'*t^OiOC, OOOOfOOOOOO OOOOCOCjOOOOO C^COCOt>-»— 1»— *cOiOl"*iO i '^J* -<5< to -^ OiOOOOOOOO cor-cioooooo too 0*^10 CO S o fci >, c « ooc^ioc^ooooo OO^HOt^OiOCOOO OTjo 2 r* 2 FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 75 Table 31. — Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from their Families spent for Food, by Wage Groups. Number of Schedules. Average Weekly Expend- iture FOR Food. Amount. Per Cent, of Income. Total, .... 261 S3 63 31.4 Less than S6, 21 2 73 68.6 S6 and less than S8, 31 2 77 41.4 88 and less than -SIO, . 61 3 36 39.4 $10 and less than $12, 32 3 55 35.2 S12 and less than .?14, 29 3 80 31.0 $14 and less than $16, 31 3 97 26.9 $16 and less than $18, 14 4 68 27.7 $18 and more. 33 4 66 21.2 Not reported, i 9 - - 1 Including those not r eporting \ vages and those not reporting expenditure for food. Effect of Place of Residence on Expenditure for Food and Rent. Although Boston is made up of sections differing very greatly in character, place of residence seems to affect very little the amount of money spent for food (Table 32). The number of those paying less than S3. 50 a week for board was in excess of the number paying more than $3.50 in the South End, pre-eminently the rooming-house district, and in South Boston, inhabited almost entirely by working- class families. The price of board in the suburbs seems to be, in general, higher than the price in Boston proper. If a working woman is obliged to economize in expenditure for food she will find one sec- tion of the city almost as expensive as another. The South End, with its numerous restaurants, delicatessen and boarding-houses, oft'ers more easily found accommodations for women "adrift" than do other sections. In individual instances it was found possible to live more cheaply there and in South Boston and Roxbury than in other districts. Place of residence does, however, decidedly influence the ex- penditure for rent (Table 32). Only one-fifth of the women living in the Back Bay and Fenway — the section offering accommodations 76 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. to great numbers of students as well as wage-earning women — paid less than S2.50 a week for rent. Residents of the suburbs were almost equally divided, about half paying less than $2.50 a week. On the other hand, the majority of women living in the South End, South Boston, the West End and Roxbury spent less than S2.50 a week for rooms. The largest number interviewed in Dorchester, Roxbury and South Boston spent less than S2. Of the 52 women paying less than $1.50 for rent, 17 lived in Roxbury and Dorchester, 10 in South Boston and 9 in the West End. Since these places, with the exception of the last, are at some distance from the business district, car fare must be added to rent, making the total expenditure approximately the same in these more distant places as in the South End. Expenditure for rent varied less with changes of income than expenditure for food. The increase of both was fairly regular except at the point of transition from wages of $10 a week and less than $12, to $12 and less than $14, where the average amount of rent paid increased 72 cents, or 38 per cent. (Table 33). This probably indicates a change in the standard of living. Usually a woman moved to a more desirable neighborhood rather than to a better room in the same neighborhood. Women living in a given block generally were found to be receiving approximately the same wages. It is interesting to note that while the largest increase in expenditure for food came between the groups receiving, respectively, $6 to $8 and $8 to $10, rent did not increase materially until a much higher wage group was reached. Evidently the added income was used first for food, and expenditure for rent increased when the more imperative want was met. In the case of food, Engel's law was substantiated, — the greater the income, the smaller the percentage of outlay. The second state- ment, that the percentage of income expended for lodging remains the same whatever the income, was not proved. The percentage for lodging varied with a general downward tendency, from 30.9 per cent, for women receiving $5 and less than $6, to 15.7 per cent, for those receiving $18 and more. In the study made in 1906 it was found that the variation ranged from 21.6 per cent, in the case of women earning less than $5 to 13 per cent, for women earning $15 and more.^ ' Bosworth, L. Marion: The Living Wage of Women Workers, p. 17. FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 77 Table 32. — Number of Women living awmj from their Families expending Specified Amounts for Food and Rent, by Places of Residence. Residence. Number of Women spending FOR Food — Number of Women spending FOR Rent — Total. Less than $3.50. $3.50 and more. Total. Less than $2.50. $2.50 and more. Total, Boston, Back Bay, .... South End, .... South Boston, .... West End, Roxbury, etc.,' Near-by suburbs, Brookline Cambridge, .... Somerville, .... Other suburbs Suburbs, 10 miles or more distant, Not reported, 2 .... 261 206 24 70 21 25 66 35 9 15 8 3 14 6 113 100 10 36 12 10 32 11 4 3 2 2 2 142 106 14 34 9 15 34 24 5 12 6 1 12 261 209 25 70 21 25 68 35 9 15 8 3 15 2 153 128 5 42 19 15 47 18 4 8 5 1 7 106 81 20 28 2 10 21 17 5 7 3 2 8 ' Includes Roxbury, Allston, Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale. 2 Two did not report place of residence; 4 did not report amount expended for food. Table 33. — Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from their Families spent for Rent, by Wage Groups. Number of Schedules. Aver.\ge Weekly Expenditure for Rent. Amount. Per Cent, of Income. Total 261 $2 26 19.4 Less than $6, 21 1 84 46.1 $6 and less than $8, 31 1 49 22.2 $8 and less than $10, . 61 1 66 19.5 $10 and less than $12, 33 1 88 18.6 $12 and less than $14, 30 2 60 21.2 S14 and less than $16, 31 2 86 19.4 $16 and less than .$18, 14 2 99 17.7 $18 and more. 35 3 51 15.7 Not reported, ' 5 - - 1 Including those i ot re port! ng w ages and h ose not reporting amount .spent f or rent. 78 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. One means of economizing on rent is to take a roommate. The arrangement is frequently more a matter of convenience than of desire for congenial company. Each roommate usually went her own way, with little regard for the other. "I hardly ever spoke to the old lady I roomed with," remarked a shoe saleswoman. "She was peculiar in lots of ways, and kept all her things locked up in her trunk for fear I would know what she had. I was glad when she left, because the landlord didn't raise the rent on me, but let me have the room for what my share had been and 50 cents more." More than two-thirds (67.8 per cent.) of the women interviewed had no roommates, and one-fourth (25.3 per cent.) had one. The single room is the standard for expenditure, and working women as a rule are very unwilling to sacrifice their privacy. Expenditure for Living Expenses. While the amounts spent for board and room combined (Table 34) show a steady and fairly regular increase, this is not caused by similar regularity in increase of both board and lodging. Although these two items grow larger, as already noted, one does not increase in the same wage groups as the other. The increase for the two Table 34. — Per Cent, of the Average Weekly Income of Women living away from their Families spent for Food and Lodging, hy Wage Groups. Average Weekly Wages. Number of Schedules. Total, . Less than $6, $6 and less than SS, $8 and less than SIO, $10 and less than $12, $12 and less than $14, $14 and less than $16, $16 and less than $18, $18 and more, Not reported. Average Weekly Expenditure for Food AND Lodging. Amount. S5 89 4 57 4 26 5 03 5 43 6 45 6 84 7 67 8 18 Per Cent, of Was:es, 51.0 114.7 63.6 58. 9 53.7 52.6 46.4 45.5 37.2 FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 79 items alternate, but changes in expenditures for food precede those for rent. Thus larger payments for food were found when the tran- sition was made from the $6 to $8 wage group to the $8 to $10 group, and also when the woman began earning $16 to $18; while changes in rent were observed at the times when the woman passed from the $10 to $12 wage group to the $12 to $14 group, and when she earned $18 or over. The general assumption that increase in the price of living means simultaneous increase in expenditure for rent and for food was not found to be true of the women included in this study. Table 35. — Average Weekly Expenditures for Food and Lodging of Women living in New York City and in Ohio, by Wage Groups. New York City. ' Ohio. 2 Weekly Wages. Number of Women reporting. Average Ex- penditure for Room and Board. Number of Women reporting. Average Ex- penditure for Room and Board. Total, Less than $6, . $6 and less than 88, $8 and less than $10, $10 and less than $12, $12 and less than $14, $14 and less than $16, $16 and less than $18, $18 and more, . - 153 12 43 54 22 6 14 1 1 $5 13 3 50 4 41 5 04 5 79 6 43 7 14 6 50 9 20 208 22 72 68 46 SJ 02 3 31 3 79 4 09 4 63 1 Fourth Report of the Factory Investigating Commission, 1915, State of New York, Vol. IV., pp. 1539, 1775. 2 Cost of Living of Working Women in Ohio, The Industrial Commission of Ohio, 1915, Report No. 14, p. 41. The average expenditure was $5.89, first reached when the wages were from $12 to $14. The percentage of income spent for food and rent declined steadily with increasing wages (Table 34). The largest decrease came when a woman began to earn from $6 to $8 a week, and the smallest when she was paid $12 to $14 a week. The steady increase in the sum spent indicates that more generous wages were spent for better living conditions, not chiefly for clothes and in- cidentals, as has sometimes been claimed. 80 FOOD OF WOKKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. The expenditure for living expenses by working women was the subject of studies made in 1915 for New York City by the Factory Investigating Commission, and for Ohio by the Industrial Commis- sion. The amounts spent for food and lodging by women in New York differ very little in the several wage groups from similar ex- penditure in Boston (Table 35). In the wage groups S8 to SIO and $12 to $14 they are almost identical. The New York figures are slightly higher in the groups earning $G and less than $8, $10 and less than $12, and $14 and less than $1G. In Ohio the prices were de- cidedly lower. In Boston women receiving from $8 to $10 a week paid on an average $5.04 for board and room, while in Ohio they paid an average of $4.09. No doubt the lower cost of food in the Middle West accounts for this difference in expenditure. New York and Boston retail prices are more nearly alike (Tables 4 and 5). Living costs more for a woman "adrift" than for a member of a family group. In Massachusetts the cost of food was $1.35 a week for each individual in a normal family, while rent, light and heat cost 86 cents, a total expenditure for living expenses of $2,21.^ No women living "adrift" were found in the course of this study whose expenditures were as low as this. Two sisters managed by the most rigid economy to keep expenses as low as $2.88 a week each. They lived in two small back rooms in an undesirable neighborhood, doing all their own cooking on a range which also suppHed their heat. They bought meat and eggs from a relative in the country at whole- sale prices, worked all day in a candy factory and spent their even- ings in studying at night school or washing and ironing their clothes at home. Both had been going at intervals to a dispensary because of various troubles due to overwork. Evidently their health was suffering, but they could spend no more on living, because they were in seasonal work, and never in busy weeks earned more than $8. Young and unusually ambitious, they were mortgaging their future by a ceaseless round of work, and both were losing their fitness to fill positions paying better wages. None of the other women interviewed even approached an expenditure so low as theirs. Family standards of expenditure are not applicable to women adrift. Any sort of legislation inaugurated for the welfare of workers should take into ' Eighteenth Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of Labor, 1903, p. 540. Tf this amount is "■weighted" by adding 18 per cent, to the price of food, the difference between retail prices from 1907 to 1915, the total living expenses would amount to $2.45. See Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 184, Retail Prices, 1907 to June, 1915 (November, 1915) p. 8. FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 81 account the fact that a woman hving away from home earning less than $8 a week is economically below the standard maintained by the ordinary working class family in Massachusetts, a standard not commonly considered too high for the best welfare of the community. Besides the expenditure for board and room, laundry may legiti- mately be considered a living expense. Women "adrift" economize consistently on this item. One hundred and twenty-three of the women interviewed did all of their washing and ironing, 4 others had their washing done free at the laundry where they were em- ployed and ironed the clothes at home. Forty-nine women, many of them earning high wages, did part of their laundry; their average weekly expenditure was 3G cents. Only SO women reported sending out all their washing, for which they paid an average of 54 cents a week.^ Like food and rent, this expenditure increased as wages in- creased; the average for women earning less than SO a week was 3 cents; for those receiving SIO to .S12, 17 cents; for those earning $18 or more, 40 cents. Washing and ironing are done in the evening and on Sundays. There is some question as to whether working women should spend their brief leisure in this sort of work. The evident savings effected commonly outweigh in importance any possible future danger to health resulting from the greater strain of heavy evening work after long hours of regular employment. The amounts spent by women in different wage groups for food, rent and laundry show^n in Table 36 indicate a fairly regular in- crease in expenditure, with considerable individual variation. About one-tenth of the women spent less than $4 a week for all living ex- penses; all of these were earning less than $10. More than two- thirds (68.(3 per cent.) spent less than $1 a day; this group included about one-fifth of the women earning $16 or more a week. The greatest number of women spent from $5 to $6. The amount spent by the "median group" was $5.74. The number spending less than this amount was the same as the number spending more than this sum. The average expenditure was $6.13. 1 Three women sent their washing home by express. Two others furnished no information about laundry. 82 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 0^ S5. «»_a5 ►3 « o 11. o 1 1 C^l 00 CM 1 I b cS-^S*-* CO » s ^** K «9-_2 c S -0 S » ? §^2 M 1 Ol b.. «o ■* CM '"' 1 1 1 as** c H •a S C jS . o 1 ■. 13 d if C' 1 CC' <^ Tj* 1 1 1 1 1 _ C "3 rt C X . CO J ^ »— • c^ ^H 1 1 1 1 1 c3 -WW „.«»• w» y «»_o S cn<«- CO 1 N 1 t I 1 « C 1-5 « ■5 C3 •^ o CC r^ CM O ai ^ CO cq TT o T}< CM O M H B ; C ; Z cT g , XI -B ■B 13 •^ ■c 13 c o > ' '^ c C C e c c C ci ^ t « o K C3 ci c3 ci ci ci c3 o c H »3 ^ lO 00 OS •z 9» e& » » «# e% fe ^ FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 83 Plans of Living. Women living away from tlieir families develop great ingenuity in devising methods of economical living. Since the expenditure for food always exceeds that for rent and laundry combined, plan of living means plan for obtaining food. The more usual of the plans adopted by the 261 women interviewed are shown in Table 37. The women paying least for food prepare all meals in their rooms, and carry their noon lunches to eat in their places of employment. Pre- paring meals in the room did not necessitate an expensive equip- ment; the usual custom seemed to be to buy what was absolutely necessary at the 10-cent store, and to dispense with all superfluous utensils and furniture. A one or two burner gas plate or oil stove on an oilcloth-covered box or table, dishes kept on the closet shelf or in a bureau drawer, a dining table that was sometimes a desk, sometimes a cutting table and sometimes the lamp stand, — these furnished all that was indispensable for bedroom housekeeping. The tablecloth was usually a newspaper or piece of wrapping paper. Table 37. — Average Weekhj Wage and Average Weekly Expenditure for Food classified by Plans of Living of Women away from their Families. Places where Food was obtained. Number of Women. Average Weekly Wage. Average Weekly Ex- penditure for Food. Total, Room, or room and workroom Room, or room and workroom and — Boarding house, Restaurant, ....... Restaurant and boarding house, Restaurant, or restaurant and workroom, . Restaurant, workroom and boarding; house. Boarding house, or boarding house and workroom, "Home" 'and — Room or workroom, Restaurant, ....... Boarding house, ...... Co-operative housekeeping, .... Not reported, 2 261 24 8 47 5 30 44 54 $11 54 7 63 11 07 13 67 9 20 13 40 12 64 8 87 10 30 10 00 18 83 12 83 S3 63 3 74 3 84 3 44 4 38 4 19 3 23 2 61 5 25 4 12 ' Home: meals eaten with friends and not paid for, or obtained during week-end visits to their homes. 2 Including those not reporting wages and those not reporting expenditure for food. 84 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. occasionally a red table cover or white oilcloth. Service dishes were, as a general thing, dispensed with, the saucepan used in cooking serving as a vegetable dish and the paper sack in which prepared meat or cake had been purchased being used in lieu of a special plate. Some of the women who could afford kitchenette apartments had more care for details, but the crowded condition of many of the bedrooms where cooking was done made real housekeeping methods an absolute impossibility; the equipment was often meager and the service anything but dainty. Obtaining all meals at a boarding house is somewhat more ex- pensive. A boarding house is often managed by a woman who keeps no accounts and has no way of knowing whether she is gaining or losing money. Doing her own work she pays little for service. For these reasons the difference in amounts expended by women eating in their own rooms and those depending on boarding houses was somewhat smaller than might be expected. Several women boarding-house keepers were interviewed, and all acknowledged that they were covering their own expenses and that was about all. High-class roomers pay well, and many women give board in order to keep permanent and desirable lodgers. They say that all the profit is made on rooms, not on the food. Women who eat part of their meals at a boarding house and part at a restaurant and the rest in their rooms pay somewhat more. The most expensive plan of living is at restaurants. A number of women, most of them receiving high wages, have adopted this method, because they are free to go where they please, and have not the trouble of deciding in advance what they will have to eat. One sales- woman remarked that she never ate any two successive meals in the same restaurant. " The food tastes better if you move around," she said. Several workers felt that there is need in Boston for more restaurants of the better type, with more restful atmosphere than can be found in most commercial places. A number expressed the wish for well-cooked food at moderate prices, which they said they had difficulty in finding. These women felt that they must conserve time and strength, and could not afford to do any of their own cooking, even if the rules of the houses where they lived permitted the practice. The combination preferred by many of the highest wage group is partly restaurant living and partly preparation of meals at home. FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 85 Usually this means cooking of breakfast or breakfast and supper in their rooms, and lunching at a restaurant. Those who claim that the motive for housekeeping is quite as often the housekeeping instinct and the desire for a quiet, restful place in which to eat as the neces- sity for economy are doubtless correct in some measure. Women in all wage groups do both laundry work and cooking, although it is significant that 17 out of the 24 workers who prepared all of their own food were earning less than $9 a week. To know that meals may be cooked at home gives a pleasant sense of independence; but women who can afford to choose their manner of living prefer not to make the exertion all the time. About 60 per cent, of all the women prepared no meals in their rooms. Of the 58 women earning S15 a week or more, 33 went out for all meals, while 25 prepared some meals in their rooms. The latter preferred this manner of living, since their incomes were large enough to enable them to do as they pleased. Some of these women doing light housekeeping buy raw materials and do all of the preparation. While many landladies make no extra charge for gas, the usual price seems to be about 50 cents a month. One woman showed with pride a shelf of jelly and marma- lade put up by herself during her evenings. Having been reared on a farm in the Middle West she had a taste for preserving, and liked her own cooking best. As a rule, however, women living thus de- pend on delicatessen shops and bakeries for cooked supplies. On Wednesdays and Saturdays South End delicatessen stores sell hot baked beans at 20 cents a quart, and on Thursdays boiled dinner for the same price. A pint of boiled dinner, with its corned beef and vegetables, is quite enough for a meal for two persons. A bewilder- ing variety of cooked meats and bake-shop cakes and cookies are always displayed. Some women purchase supplies at the markets on Saturday afternoons. The number of articles that can be cooked on a one or two burner gas plate is limited. Canned soups are a staple food, and, with bread and hermits from the bakery and oranges from the Italian at the corner, make an easily prepared meal. The difficulty of buying in small quantities is a real one: "You tire of your corn before you are able to eat up a can." Women preparing all of their meals in their rooms expended only 60.5 per cent, as much for food as those eating always at restaurants. The difference is not necessarily due to variations in quality or 86 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. quantity of fare. The woman doing all of her own work paid noth- ing for service, "overhead charges," or restaurant keepers' profit, which obviously formed a considerable part of the price paid by the worker buying at a restaurant. The carefully kept records of the School Lunch Department of the Women's Educational and Indus- trial Union, a department pledged to sell noon lunches at cost to high school pupils, showed in 1914 to 1915 that 58.5 per cent, of the total expenditure had been for raw materials, 24.5 per cent, for wages and the rest for overhead expenses. Women living at boarding houses pay only 21.9 per 'cent, more than those doing all of their own cooking. The lack of business training of landladies, previously noted, the less efficient service, the smaller variety of food offered and the lowered "fixed charges" account for the difference in price of restaurant and boarding-house living. If a working woman must economize she is forced to do all of her own cooking. Again we are confronted with the question of the wisdom of this procedure, requiring a considerable expenditure of physical energy at the close of a working day. Whether in the long run it is profitable for a working woman who must depend on her- self for advancement in her work, who must have strength for long hours of labor, extending as far into the future as she can see, to employ what leisure she has in washing, ironing and cooking, with consequent loss of rest and recreation, — this is a problem to be considered. Since 3 out of every 5 women interviewed did none of their cooking, and since women with good wages preferred an ar- rangement which allowed them to choose whether they should pre- pare their own meals or not, it is safe to assume that the majority of women have learned that for them the immediate saving is not worth the ultimate cost. Probably two-fifths of the women at work like housekeeping, and will do some of it whether or not the neces- sity for strict economy exists. A few of the women interviewed ate meals with friends at frequent intervals, with consequent saving in the cost of board. Some of them seemed to count on this method of reducing expenses, but these cases were too few and too irregular to be considered important. Besides the ways of living just discussed, co-operative plans have been tried by a number of working women. Co-operative living meant, for purposes of this study, co-operation in the matter of food. FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 87 Thirty-one women, of all ages, reported living in this fashion, 7 of them with sisters, aunts or other relatives, and the remainder with strangers. The average wage of the 30 who reported on this matter was $12.83, although 8 of the women received less than $9 a week. The average expenditure for food was $3.25, for rent, $2.49. The amount paid for both, an average of So. 74, was lower than the amount paid by women falling in the §12 to $14 salary group (Table 34). The expenditure for living expenses represents 44.7 per cent, of the income, a lower proportion than that spent by any women except those earning $18 or more. Most of the women interviewed acknowledged the financial advantages of co-operative housekeeping, but seemed to lack the personal qualities which living in this fashion demands. Many were unwilling to give up their absolute inde- pendence, or were suspicious and feared that some one of the group might prove to be a shirker and increase the burdens of the rest. Some had tried the plan and found it a failure. The reasons for its lack of success were summed up by one sample maker in a waist manufacturing establishment. After remarking that she was 40 years old, she added, "You know, we get harder to live with as we become older. Ten years ago I was lots better tempered than I am now, when the least little thing irritates me." The 12 students from whom schedules were obtained, all living in much the same way as the working women interviewed, paid an average of $4.09 a week for board, $3.78 for room, and 39 cents for washing, a total of all living expenses of $8.26 a week, about the sum paid by women in the highest wage group. Their food ex- penditure equaled that of the women earning $15 a week, while for room rent they paid more than any of the women except those in the highest wage group. The relatively high prices paid by the small number of students from whom information was received suggests the difficulty of finding desirable accommodations at a moderate price in a strange city. It means that the smaller expenditure made by most of the working women is the result of careful consideration and experience arising from necessity. The comparison also suggests the conclusion that many needy students probably are expending their energy in earning enough to pay for expensive quarters. A little knowledge of working-class conditions would enable them to live for much less without sacrificing any of the essentials of fairly comfortable living. 88 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. Expenditures of Women receiving Low Wages. The wages mentioned throughout this discussion represent maxi- mum employment income, since the schedules were collected during the busy season and in a year when most kinds of business were prosperous. Eleven of the women were not working when inter- viewed, 3 because of dull seasons in their industry and 4 because of illness. One had lately been discharged because she was considered by the foreman too old to work in the laundry where she had been employed. One claimed to have been thrown out of work by the operation -of the minimum wage law.^ Two candy workers whose weekly wage was somewhat less than $8 a week had saved enough to tide them over the dull season. The laundry worker also had savings enough to keep her for a little while, but had no prospect of permanent employment, and no relatives on whom she could depend. Another woman, a saleswoman, was being "trusted" by her landlady, with whom she had lived some time. Two of the women who were ill were receiving charitable assistance; another had been paid accident insurance; and the fourth had received help from her sister. Almost all industries have dull seasons of vary- ing length; the teacher paid for ten months has the same kind of difficulties in making her salary cover annual expenses as do the worker in fur, the day cleaner and the home laundress. Other studies have shown in a striking way both variation between apparent and actual income and diflBculties of dovetailing occupations.^ As far as could be learned by questioning the persons inter- viewed, savings are one method of meeting irregularity of employ- ment, and credit the other. This means that the landlady waits for her money until the worker is able to earn enough to cover all arrears. If long illness comes, and no relative can be called on for help, the burden of support falls squarely on the community at large. Old age, as well as illness, has a sinister aspect for the worker. Two women well past middle age, met during the course of this study, were in a pitiable condition. With slight earning powers they were really "adrift," and unable to hope for any improvement in > Two women did not give the reason for their unemployment. 2 Andrews, Irene Osgood: The Relation of Irregular Employment to the Li\-ing Wage for Women, Fourth Report of the New York Factory Investigating Commission, Vol. II., pp. 497-635. Regularity of Employment in the Women's Ready-to-Wear Garment Industries, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 183. FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 89 conditions. Like the man, the woman in industry is "scrapped" when she has reached an age at which a woman in the professions is nearing the very highest of her working powers. Illness, old age and the privations of dull seasons are all hard enough for members of a family group; women deprived of the safeguard which numbers assure feel that the situation as it stands is really hopeless. Of the 21 women whose wages were below S6 a week, 7 were part- time workers and 2, day workers. Twelve were working regular hours at regular occupations, so that the sums they earned repre- sented normal incomes. Eleven of the group were forty years of age or over. The expenditure for these workers is entirely abnormal. Those whose wages were less than $5 spent 143.5 per cent, of their income for board and rent; those receiving $5 and less than S6 spent 85.7 per cent, of the amount they earned for these living expenses. The former were subsidized by relatives, friends or the community at large, or were using up small savings; the latter, spending nine-tenths of all they earned on food and rent, were evidently potential receivers of charitable aid. Is it not reasonable to assume that on wages of less than $6 a week no woman living away from her family is really self-supporting? She is either a bur- den on the community already, or will become a burden when over- taken by the slightest misfortune, or when she reaches an age when her productive powers begin to weaken. No matter how great her ingenuity in making ends meet, she is sure to fail at last. And the income of S6 a week must be earned for every week in the year, if it is to be sufficient to cover the most imperative needs of living. The two-thirds of income spent for board and room by the women earning from $6 to $8 a week (Table 34) allows too narrow a margin to permit of either dull season or of even a few weeks' unemploy- ment. Variety of Food eaten in One Week by Working Women living away from their families. The increased expenditure for food accompanying increased wages is spent in securing a larger variety in the weekly menu. If coffee and tea be omitted from the list of foods consumed, this increase in variety is fairly regular (Table 39). Protein consumption varies the least from wage group to wage group. Foods characterized by car- 90 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. bohydrates and by minerals become increasingly important in the higher wage groups. Contrary to the general impression, working women seem to care very little for pickles, the average number re- ported representing about one serving in ten weeks. The consumption of cocoa and of milk depends very little on the wages received. Soup shows a general tendency to become more popular as women earn larger wages. The total variety of food is really surprisingly large; the average number of items in the menus for one week is about 70, and this average is reached when a woman begins to earn SIO a week. As has been shown (Table 31) the amount expended for food in- creased very greatly between the groups earning from S6 to S8 and from $8 to $10, respectively. This increase in expenditure means a more satisfying variety. The large increase in the variety of food consumed by women earning $16 to $18 may be due to personal idiosyncrasy, since the number of schedules tabulated for this wage group was small. If the group of food items be considered as a whole, one-fifth of all the foods consumed in a week were characterized by protein, more than two-fifths by carbohydrates, one-fourth by minerals, and the remainder were divided among soup, cocoa and milk. Protein food was eaten about twice a day by all the women. The consumption of meat was large, an average of 8 times a week. No large group had meat less than once a day. Beef was eaten about the same number of times by women in all wage groups. The con- sumption of pork, including bacon and ham, was largest in the group receiving the lowest wage. Although fish is cheap and plentiful in Boston, it was eaten on an average somewhat less than once a week, about as frequently as mutton. Eggs, which were high in price at the time the schedules were obtained, were mentioned as often as beef. The women reported eating beans about once a week and cheese somewhat less than once in two weeks. The consumption of carbohydrate food increased with the increase in wages. Not until a woman earned $8 a week did she reach the average, somewhat over 4 times a day. Bread, eaten at 6 meals out of 7, formed the largest part of this kind of food. It furnished one- third of the total variety eaten by the lowest paid women and one- fifth of the variety eaten by the best paid. While all kinds of bread were reported, white bread was regarded by most of the women as a staple. Cereals, including ordinary breakfast foods and rice, were FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 91 mentioned somewhat less than 3 times a week. Their use increased as wages grew larger. Several women keeping house in their rooms cooked their oatmeal in the evening, reheating it next morning w^hile they were dressing. In the group of women earning $16 and less than $18, carbohydrate food was to some extent substituted for protein food. These women showed an especial liking for cereals and cake. Macaroni was seldom reported by any of the women. Sweets of all kinds appeared on the menus about 10 times a week. Cake formed from 5 to 7 per cent, of the total variety, pastry Table 38. — Frequency of Use in One Week of Tea and Coffee by Two Hundred and Sixty-one Women living away from their Families, by Wage Groups. Number of Women reporting. AvER.^GE Number of Times a Week THE Women drank — Both Beverages. Tea. Coffee. Total, Less than S6, . S6 and less than SS, SS and less than SIO, 810 and less than S12, 812 and less than S14, $14 and less than 816, 816 and less than S18, S18 and more, . Not reported, . 261 .21 31 61 33 30 31 14 35 5 13.1 14.3 12.1 16.3 13.4 13.4 11.7 8.0 10.5 10.6 7.4 10.3 8.0 11.5 7.2 5.5 6.0 1.7 3.9 .3 5.7 4.0 4.1 4.8 6.2 7.9 5.7 6.3 6.6 10.3 from 3 to 4 per cent. Because of their relatively high price, desserts, including puddings and ices, were eaten more by the high-wage than by the low-wage group. Women receiving less than $6 a week bought desserts about once a week, while those receiving $16 or more ate them 5 times. The favorite form of pastry was apple pie, often used as the main dish at luncheon. In the $16 to $18 wage group the average consumption of all sweets was twice a day; in the lowest wage group they were mentioned once a day (Table 41). The largest variations were found in the consumption of vegetables and fruit (Table 42). Women in the low-wage groups ate few vegetables except potatoes. Like bread and meat, potatoes were eaten with similar frequency by women of all wage groups. The use of other vegetables increased steadily with increasing income. Salads appear about once a week on the menus of women earning $14 or more. Much has been written about the value of fruit to workers. The diets of working women interviewed for this study indicated that 92 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 0:J Si, <^ i ^ o .H V-, oo c^ 'W ry sr e ^ ^. i« 'ir^ «: ?? O S s te! cc r n < CO « ^ CJ tC CO CM o c p.^ o Pu 1 CO 1 CM CM 1 ^^ m „ o? W5 CO CO OO CO O f [2 S n ^ CO !N ■"J- CM ■«" •>* IM CM H 2 < . W o £ ^ c «n o OC o on •o ■* O « 3 2 M IM N CO CO CM tf z-^ t» W5 CO t^ O) CM CO o CM O CM Q I CO CM CO CM CO T}< ■^ CO tn in O O n z Si-- ■* M CO l« CO o Oi •o t^ CM 3 o CO CM CM CO CO < K z-^ tH < < 5 o to 00 LO C^ lO CO 00 CM CM lO w CM CM CO IM e^ w o o is z-° o 00 -9< •n ■* 05 CO •«»; ^ O Tt" cc "-I — ' ^ CO „ >o CM CM o O) Ttl 00 ^_, H m O CO CO CO o ^^ m , fo ■* •V •»< ■^ tP •^ •o o P3 5 is a £ c 1- o to ^ t~ CM f^ CM c-i CO CO CO CO CO z w a -1 •n 00 co' o o o >ffl CO o a> 00 z < C K i^ 00 ■O OO m •* CO o CO in 03 o [V o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o J o o o o o o o s 2 < o 6h 1- -^ C2 •«< Tj< o CO CO t>. C5 (M o 00 o in t^ CO 1 .« c ' C O O t!^ • .n CO M CO 0! < c ■^ «.> ff t^ c 'T-. <« sr s~. O ^ s •3 •ri. te3 o < ^^ ^^ Tr ^_, 2; ■%a9j Mj ^ - - « H n •jaquin^ -< '- " - CO 11 fr 05 •;uao jaj: ^ g ■* si •J8qtnn|^ H ■:>uao laj •* fO »o to in •fl" •W (M CO ■o 13 IS ■i 14 CO c^ ^^ ^ ^, CO •iaqmn{«j cc N « M. " M CO _^ CO IC s K ■%U3Z) i^d (N M e-j e< n oo OC H §5 •^090 WJ e^ M IN ^ ^ cj eq CO S^ B < •jaqran^ - ci - cm' oi K ir; < C^ •:>n3Q ja < •»uaO "d CM « m e^ s 2 = OS a 00 t.2 (O in ■* o 00 00 CO oo OC' CO t>- en o rt >o (N 00 to „ lO o o 00 •;aao jaj ^ ^ ^' c^ o o C5 o o f^ £^ N IM (M l-M "" 2 t" "; « 00 o 00 w? ■* OJ CO o ^^ o •jaqtnn^ 2 2 2 to M* •* •* " 2 o •3UU jodaj o JJ CO s CO ^ CO z CO « U 31H0\\ JO wqnin^ OC b: c > oc" cT «• K s !- s& c C c cl CJ C3 ^ J= j: JZ 9% m ^ S o £ c k . ■e s c o a c J C3 C3 00 o c! to C5 00 z FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 95- 05 <» <» ;s ^ r: 5^ ^ -Ci S^ cc -C "<*a s -5: k, 1*. S "« ^ 4 t» =^ ►Ci !^ H r< •^ <^ ';^'^ s= -y e S 'S fe, ►J < t^ ^ ^ CC ^ 00 ^ *?« c CC cS " cc •<»• cc ■0. CC CM •o •^ to to '^ to 00 < >• S t: ^ t^ 00 CC 00 CC 01 to CM 3 01 Tf cc ^ CC ■* T). 10 ■* 10 c J^-" H K a B fee n. ^0 t~ ' - CC in < s < S^ in 1 ■- m 00 CM t^ -r 00 CC Q = s C z- fo « Ed ^1 CM cr: 00 m 5 ■* ■>J< M T»< CM CC "" t>- ^ to •>! 0} PS s K e ^ 00 "■"^ CM ^ t^ ■^ ■* CM t^ CM CM CC H Z-" u. fV 0) CO ■0 CM r^ to CC ■* ca CO 00 00 to CO C 1^ IM cc CM CM CM CM « E t: ". ^ ■^ '°. -^ ~ t^ " 3 i K Z^ " ' ■* ^ '"' CM "^ '"' ^ ' * "^ > < . ■* •0 •«: 1 H is IC CM •— ' CC t~" CM ,_4 to ,^ ,—1 ,_, CC 4-i rr, •>*> 10 CC CC CC CC tt . . _. oc" c QC" 2 y^ QC. < B c e B ■^ r: Cl c ^ j: X X >- 5^- ■5 ■^ 01 .J 9& cr ^ ^ E a c f£ -n •n T-! •n -0 OJ • B B B B e cS Cl cl cl C3 a; to 00 H ^ «e o& e© «9 e® » :< 96 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. every morning. The beverage and bread of some kind formed the breakfast of many of the women interviewed. Only 6 reported no bread for breakfast; the rest mentioned it every morning. Some- what more than half the women, 137, ate no cereal in the morning. Evidently even the attractive advertising of breakfast-food con- cerns and the ease with which many of these cereals can be prepared do not serve to make their use universal. Meat, fish or eggs were used at breakfast by about three-fourths (72.4 per cent.) of the w^orkers. Seventy-two reported no one of these articles used at breakfast during the week. The rest had one or the other of them, and sometimes more than one, six mornings out of seven. Three-fourths of the women in professional service and in trade and transportation, and two-thirds of those in other occupa- tions, ate the "heavy" breakfast indicated by the consumption of meat or other protein food. Forty-five reported the use of potatoes. One hundred and forty-six women used no fruit of any kind in the morning. The largest number of these were in manufacturing and mechanical occupations in which the working day begins early. Almost all the women in professional pursuits and in domestic and personal service, and half of those in trade and transportation, had fruit for breakfast. . A number of local customs were revealed by the inquiry; 47 of the women reported having doughnuts, 34 baked beans and 5 pie in the morning. Doughnuts are served regularly in many families, and Sunday morning breakfast is considered quite incom- plete by many if beans are not the principal dish. Pie for breakfast, at least among w^orking women in Boston, seems to be more of a tradition than a reality. Most of the women interview^ed ate a substantial and nourishing, if somewhat monotonous, breakfast, the choice of food conforming to habits and tradition rather than to in- telligent selection. Some discussion of individual menus for a week may be of interest exhibiting more concretely the variety of food eaten. Case A was a Russian Jewess, nineteen years of age, earning SO. 50 a week as a candy packer. She spent SI. 25 a week for room and S2.25 for meals. She prepared her own breakfasts and lunches and ate her dinner at a boarding house. Her menus for the week of Jan. 30, 1916, were as follows : — FOOD 01 WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 97 Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Monday, Cocoa. Bread and butter. Cream cheese sandwich. Orange. Apple. Fried meat. Potatoes. Beans. Tuesday, Cocoa. Bread and butter. American cheese sandwich. Orange. Meat. Soup. Potatoes. Bread. Wednesday, Cocoa. Bread and butter. Egg sandwich. Orange. Cooked meat. Soup. Beans. Thursday, . Cocoa. Bread and butter. Salmon sandwich. Orange. Apple. Fried meat. Potatoes. Friday, Cocoa. Bread and butter. Salmon sandwich. Orange. Fish. Cooked meat. Beans. Saturday, . Tea. Cake. Beef. Soup. Orange. Baked potatoes. Bread and butter. Tea. Sunday, Orange. Cocoa. Bread and butter. Fried meat. Soup. Tea. Fried egg. Milk. Case B was a salesgirl of English parentage. She earned $8.50 a week in a department store, and spent $1 a week for her room and $3.95 for board, including lunches at a restaurant. Her other meals she ate at a boarding house. Her menu for the week ending March 22, 1916, was as follows: — Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Thursday, Oatmeal. Beans. Fruit. Toast. Rolls. Hash. Tea. Pudding. Pickles. Cake. Tea. Friday, .... Oatmeal. Creamed carrots. Baked macaroni. Toast. Potatoes. Tomato. Tea. Bread and butter. Bread and butter. Apple pie. Fruit cake. Tea. Saturday, Oatmeal. Fish cakes. Beef stew. Toast. Mashed potatoes. Bread and butter. Tea. Bread and butter. Cake. Custard pie. Tea. Sunday, .... Grapefruit. Boiled dinner. Beans. Chops. Hot biscuit. Bread. Beans. Rice pudding. Peaches. Bread. Tea. Cake. Tea. Tea. Monday, Oatmeal. Creamed carrots. Boiled dinner. Toast. Mashed potatoes. Sliced peaches. Tea. Raised biscuits. Bread. Apple pie. Tea. Tuesday, Oatmeal. Beans. Cold meat. Toast. Biscuits. Vegetables. ..Tea. Custard pie. Tea. Fruit. Wednesday, . Oatmeal. Clam chowder. Salmon loaf. Toast. Bread and butter. Currant buns. Tea. Tapioca pudding. Bread. Tea. Fruit. 98 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. o CO ■ii ^ > O «u e? Is ta &. s «J :s) =^ rO »u ^ p^ «o *u '<>> ■^ .^ s c-i (VI &H S .h l'^ 03 ^ 'g •^ O K k, CS "S?"^ ^ IC CJ LT CO Tf 01 p ^O < R D fa K i K fa 1- ■* o •«• CO oc CO •^ >o ■rt CO ■J < 2 fe-g N — ■« CO o 00 o o '^o fe o •* T(. oc ^ t^ t~ „ o o > >ffl CO ■«• Tt> ■<»> o rf. 1> o l« § ^ CO o - CO c~ CO (N - (^ CO o: o: C-. o 00 c. c: o 00 o m •^o "■ o c 5 s h p ■^ o 00 5D o 5D SO CO ^ CO CO p o •< K s^^ o «-o ^ t>^ CO (M cs (M ta >i ^O C>1 Cl »• •V •* CI •^ CO i^ I^ -^ ^ S- I ,M ,_) ^H ,_■ ,_) % PI 1" cq 05 H o •< , IM TJ* CO oc is c C t- tJ c, d c3 C3 >j ^ ^ j: J= SI ■^ K tn m E o £ o H & c CJ S )?^ ■^ . ■73 c C ■0 s c a (T. C5 ci C3 cS C3 l-J H •» a» ^ e^ «^ z FOOD OF WOMEN LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES. 99 Certain foods seemed uniformly omitted from the menus ob- tained for this study, among them cheese, cornmeal products, maca- roni and rice. Cheese is a cheap protein food, and the others supply carbohydrates at a low cost. Their unpopularity may be due in part to their lack of distinctive flavors and in part to ignorance of their food value. One woman explained that she considered corn meal a "cheap" food, and she thought cheap foods were not as nourishing as expensive ones. Spinach appeared very seldom on the menu, and bacon was little used. It is hard to account for the small consump- tion of fish. Many people dislike the flavor of boiled fish, and few know how to make appetizing sauces to improve this flat taste. Frying and broiling seem means of preparation used but seldom. Conclusions. Although the women living away from their homes in Boston who were studied in this investigation were engaged in various occupa- tions, and differed greatly in age and in nationality, they had evolved a real standard of living suited to their needs. As wages advanced, expenditures for food and for rent increased, but not at the same time. Given a larger income, a working woman spent it first for food, then for rent. The average for both was attained about the time the wages reached from SIO to $12 a week. No matter what her income, the average working woman did not spend more than $4.70 for food; in the matter of rent she did not reach a limit to ex- penditure that was so apparent; rent increased as long as wages increased. Place of residence affected the amount spent for rent, but influenced to no great extent the expenditure for food. Wages of $6 a week will cover the average amounts spent for food and shelter, but will leave nothing for clothing, medical care, recrea- tions and incidentals. With an income of $8 to $10 a woman can live in accordance with the standards of an ordinary working-class family. Women doing all of their own cooking spent the least for food; those living at restaurants spent the most. Working women forced to economize saved on service at every turn; they did their own washing and bought and prepared their own food. This saving on service was effected at the expense of physical energy at the close of a working day, which is usually longest for the lowest paid and necessarily most economical worker. While co-operative housekeep- 100 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. ing offers obvious financial advantages, there were found but few working women who adopted this fashion of living. Judged by variety alone, the food of working women of all wage groups was adequate. Protein food was consumed practically the same number of times a week by all women except those in the group earning less than $6 a week. The use of sweets and vegetables increased with better wages, making the total variety eaten much larger in the high than in the low wage groups. The standard dietary was meat, bread and potatoes, which were consumed with much the same frequency by women of all wage groups. Since women adrift cannot live as cheaply as members of a family group, family standards should not be considered in attempting to gain an understanding of the woman who is living away from her parents and relatives. The need of a clear comprehension of the situation of this class of w^omen workers is apparent when it is realized that in Boston they form at least 24.4 per cent, of the whole number of women workers, a conservative estimate placing the number at between 18,000 and 20,000. When their needs are fully understood much of the present uncertainty with regard to the necessity for such measures as the minimum wage, old age and sickness insurance, and special legislation affecting women workers' hours, will disappear. An adequate comprehension of the whole situation must be reached by the woman worker herself as well as by the community as a whole. FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 101 CHAPTER IV. THE FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. The purpose of this part of the study is, first, to discover the vari- ety, adequacy and cost of food suppUed to women Hving in organ- ized houses under the management of persons interested in their welfare; second, to examine the general living conditions in the different houses; and third, to decide whether it would be well to encourage a greater development of this method of providing food and lodging for these women. Information was obtained from 39 houses of which 22 are in Bos- ton and vicinity and 17 are in Lowell, Lynn, Springfield, Waltham and Wellesley, Mass., and in New York City and Chicago.^ Of the 22 houses in Boston and vicinity 4 accommodate students only. These will be referred to simply for comparison. The remaining 18, which provide accommodations for working women, will form the basis for this part of the study. These houses may be classified as follows : — 1. Subsidized houses where a part of the cost of maintenance is supplied by donations. 2. Co-operative houses where all expenses are shared by the occupants. 3. Houses which are self-supporting but not commercial. 4. Commercial houses, or those where a profit is expected. 1. There are 13 houses in Boston and vicinity which belong to the first class. They are designated as subsidized, since they pay no taxels and depend upon assistance from philanthropic individuals when the income from guests is insufficient to cover all expenses. Historically these represent the first type of organized houses. Their foundation dates back to the days of the early factory system, when the owners of large factories in small towns were compelled to provide homes for the young women whom they induced to come from the country districts to work in their mills. The houses were under the supervision of the factory owners, who dictated to the per- sons in charge the prices of room and board and the rules of manage- ment. ' For form of inquiry, see Appendix A, No. 4. 102 FOOD OF WOKKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. The boarding house estabHshed by the Waltham Watch Factory about fifty years ago is the only house of this kind that was visited. In this house, which is in charge of a matron, about 300 women are accommodated. Room and board are furnished at S3 per week. While this amount does not cover the cost of maintaining the house, the authorities consider it a paying investment. When rates as low as these are charged the women are not likely to seek accommodations elsewhere. This enables the factory to have close supervision over its women employees. The factory boarding house has never existed in Boston. It was not until the period of the civil war that the establishment of organ- ized houses for working women was agitated. With the scarcity of male labor due to the Vv'ar, women came in large numbers to Boston. Because of low wages and being unacquainted with the city they were often compelled to live under deplorable conditions. Through missionary relief work these facts were brought to the attention of a group of philanthropic w^omen. After many discouragements these women succeeded in raising sufficient money in 1S66 to establish the first boarding house for working women in Boston. The object of this was to "provide for the temporal, moral and religious welfare of young women who are dependent on their own exertions for sup- port."^ Following this example similar houses were established by religious, organizations and philanthropic individuals until 1906, when there were 12 subsidized houses in Boston and vicinity which offered accommodations to working women. 2. About this time there seems to have been a feeling on the part of some that subsidized houses were not the best type of boarding home. This resulted in the establishment of the second class, of which there are 2 in Boston. One was opened in 1906 and the other in 1913. These houses are managed co-operatively, the expenses as well as the responsibility of management being shared by the occu- pants. They aim to be entirely self-supporting, paying taxes as well as all other expenses. 3. A third class, differing slightly from the first and second, also had its beginning about 1906. These houses were founded by a cor- poration or group of individuals for the purpose of providing self- supporting homes for students and working women. As no returns on the investments are expected, the prices charged cover the cost of ' Wilson, Elizabeth: Fifty Years of Association Work, pp. 29, 32. FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 103 maintenance only, except in the case of 2, which also pay taxes. At present there are 5 houses of this class in Boston; one of these ac- commodates working women, the others students only. Similar ex- periments are being made by the Eleanor Association in Chicago and by the Young Women's Christian Association in Brooklyn and in New York City. 4. To the fourth class belong the houses which have been estab- lished for commercial purposes. There are 2 of these in Boston, v/hich are occupied for the most part by professional women who pay higher prices than the average working woman can afford. Table 43. — Capacity of the Different Types of Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity, and the Number of Occupants at the Time of the Investigation. Types of Houses. Capacity of House. Occupants at the Time of THE Investigation. Number. Per Cent, of Capacity. All the houses, Subsidized Co-operative, Non-commercial, Commercial, 2,077 1,660 61 61 295 1,946 1,544 60 61 281 93.7 93.0 9S.4 100.0 95.3 Women living in Organized Houses. The 18 organized houses in Boston and vicinity which furnish the basis of this study provide accommodations for 2,077 women, the number in the different houses varying from 14 to 850 persons. When the visits were made only 93.7 per cent, of these accommoda- tions were utilized. As is shown in Table 43 the subsidized houses have the smallest percentage, which is no doubt the maximum, since the visits were made during the winter months when the number of guests is usually the largest. In a similar study recently made in New York City the percentage of accommodations utilized is about the same, being 93.6 per cent.^ Of the total number of women living in the 18 Boston houses it will be seen in Table 44 that 15.8 per cent, are students, 40.9 per 1 Packard, Esther: A Study of Living Conditions of Self-supporting Women in New York City, p. 104 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. cent, are engaged in occupations which belong to the general class of trade and transportation, while only 13.9 per cent, are engaged in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. According to the United States Census for 1900 and 1910 the total number of women engaged in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits in Boston is larger than the number in trade and transportation. Table 45 shows that only Table 44. — Occupations of Women living in Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity. Occupations. Women living in Organ- ized Houses. Number. Per Cent. All occupations, Professional service, Teachers and musicians. Trained nurses, . Other professional service, . Domestic and personal service. Laundresses, Servants, .... Other domestic service. Trade and transportation. Office work, .... Saleswomen, Telephone operators, . Other occupations. Manufacturing and meclaanical pursuits Confectionery, Clothing manufacturing. Dressmaking, millinery, etc.. Printing and publishing. Other manufacturing pursuits. Students, .... 1,7191 347 79 232 36 157 2 99 56 703 543 lis 41 1 240 2 70 119 35 14 100.0 20.2 4.6 13.5 2.1 9.2 .1 5.8 3.3 40.9 31.5 6.9 2.4 .1 13.9 .1 4.1 6.9 2.0 15.8 21.6 per cent, of the women in trade and transportation live away from their families, while the percentage of women living thus who are engaged in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits is 24.5 per cent. It was also found in an investigation of 1,086 establishments in 8 Massachusetts industries belonging to these classes that 53 per cent, of all the female employees earned less than $8.^ About 18 per cent, of the residents living in the subsidized houses earned less than S8. It will be seen that Institution One (Table 46), 1 The occupations were not reported for 224, and 3 were unemployed; these must be added in order to make the total of 1,946 found in the organized houses at the time of this investigation. 2 Report of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission, January, 1916, Bulletin No. 11, p. 9; table computed from data in the Annual Report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics, Statistics oi Manufactures for the Year 1913, pp. 2-11; 84-123. FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 105 Table 45. — The Proportion of Wo77ien Sixteen Years of Age and over in Selected Occupations in Boston, living away from their Families in 1900 and in 1910. Occupations. All the occupations, .... Professional service, .... Domestic and personal service, Trade and transportation, Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. Other occupations, Total Number of Women in — 1900. 45,882 5,827 2,865 14,485 16,181 6,524 1910.3 68,733 9,365 4,178 24,498 21,162 9,530 Women living away from THEIR Families. ' Number in 1900. 12,372 2,873 927 3,125 3,969 1,478 Per Cent. Esti- mated Number in 1910. < 27.0 49.3 32.4 21.6 24.5 22.7 18,612 4,618 1,354 5,292 5,185 2,163 1 Since the classification of occupations in the census for 1910 differs slightly from that of 1900, the number of women who are shown in the different classes as living away from their families is an approxi- mation. 2 Twelfth United States Census, 1900, Statistics of Women at Work, p. 222. 3 Thirteenth United States Census, 1910, Vol. IV., pp. 540, 541. ^ An estimate based op the number of women in the different occupations shown by the census of 1910, assuming that the percentage of women Uving away from their families in 1910 was the same as in 1900. Table 46. — Weekly Earnings of Eight Hundred and Eighteen Women living in Seven Subsidized Houses.^ Women earning — Houses. under $8. UNDER $12. UNDER $16. $16 AND OVER. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. All the houses, .... Institution One, .... Institution Two, .... Institution Three, ^ . . . Institution Four Institution Five, .... Institution Six Institution Seven, s . . . 147 10 31 71 6 10 19 18.0 22.2 100.0 12.2 12.0 22.2 70.4 709 3 43 31 520 46 39 27 87.0 9.1 95.6 100.0 89.0 92.0 86.7 100.0 805 31 45 31 576 50 45 27 98.8 93.9 100.0 100.0 98.6 100.0 100.0 100.0 10 2 8 1.2 6.1 1.4 1 The total number of women living in the 7 houses was 1,072, of whom 232 were students, 4 were out of work and for 18 there were no data. 2 In this house wages range from ?4.50 to $7 per week. » In this house wages were reported as ranging from $4 to 810 per week. The distribution has been estimated by classifying the occupations of residents. 106 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. which is a heavily subsidized house, has no guest who earns less than $8 per week, and only 9 per cent, of all the guests earn less than $12 per week. Institution Seven is also heavily subsidized, but none of its guests earns over SIO, and some earn as low as $4 per week. In- stitution Three is subsidized to the extent of SI. 275 per guest per week, but it will not accept any person who earns more than $7, and it has guests who earn only $4.50 per week. While such assistance is needed by some residents of these houses, it is evident that the ma- jority earn wages which would make self-support possible. While the majority of persons living in the organized houses are not those who receive low wages, they are the younger working women. Since there were no complete records regarding the exact ages of the guests, it was not possible to determine their average age. However, it is estimated that most of them are between twenty and thirty-five years of age, a few being older and some younger. This is due to the fact that many of the houses do not take women who are over thirty or thirty-five. Food supplied in the Boston Houses. In the efforts which were made to discover the food supplied to the 1,946 women living in the 18 organized houses, both personal visits and schedules to be filled in by those in charge were used. In addition to the general information shown in Table 47 the schedules called for the amount of raw food materials furnished during one week, the menus and the total number of people served for the same period. While 8 of the houses supplied complete information, part of it was estimated by the persons in charge. In all of the houses there was lack of an adequate system of book- keeping. In some of them no records whatever were kept regarding the amount of materials used, nor of the exact number of people served at each meal. In addition to these difficulties it was some- times hard to gain any information because the persons in charge did not seem to realize the semi-public character of the houses. Pub- licity of facts was feared and a general dislike for statistics was ex- pressed. On these grounds information was refused. In several cases at least six visits had to be made before the desired data could be obtained. Much less difficulty was experienced in finding the variety of the food served. Menus showing a week's bill of fare were obtained from FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 107 ^Im o ^ o f^ M r^ C i- , S rt :o .^ 10 ^j* 1=^1^-3 ""^ *^ ^-o-SB Pni". _ ", i^ .' tl-T^ i> t- -3 a tH "O ID o -d *0 en ^33 S 3'3 "0 M 3 tu s a ?> S o M M ■§ M a t- O .k^ k4 S> S-. '-^ i^^ 2 s- g-^ >> g"" ►H a SS .3 ^s ■2. ^s ■B 3-w-u S° ^i >>o :^ eo >> ^ « co<« s 3 cj "3 a > tc^^ 1^ 3 3 3 y ill tc 3 § 3 3 BP Hi 3 g 1 3 2|gi 33 s a & .3-3 2 tH 3£ :3 S ^ 1-1 ^ 2; 2; ^ ^ ^ ^ ./t; 5> >i i^ -^'-ti .;;'*-' -^ ^"^^ 1 ' u - £ O H-2 a 2 o ?: 2 as° g§ g 3.3 ^ 11 a III 2 3 ^ -o 2--3S. 1- 3 ■^ s3 w 3 ,- *"* a -3 •^ c^ '"' '"' ^-s ■a §°l ijl ■ji a |.g .OQ.O 3 c3 3 33 3 S-2 3 to . 3 r3 M o M . g rt M 3 -" a "m ^i§ 3 g a) C3 3|g 3 3_ • 3 a o iff. B-« a g 3— • ill g 3 3 M3 ^3p ^ai o - 3 S -3338 - 3 S ■3 ggg 2.^r% ^gs "O r- M 3 gl^S §1^ §I. 3 d o 2 2 2- "si O— 3 c3 a-a'o fc." JL 1^ 33 "S" 3 -i -■si SSS5 c .J, a Sags 3.2 go ^^^^ 1^31 " 5 SS o a 3 .2 3 O d 3 o S§235' 3.2 3 O ^ '^ ^ to 3 2 o-B a'a 2 ^ a tj 3^^3-^ 3v2 rt .^ " 03 °a3 2 S a c3 m|! 3 a g -3'*j 3 'oEl ^11 3lo 2 ® 2 g^g 33^ to 2^3 r3 d Sc; .2 g c3 a a 3 ;lri h h H H H h H H - ■^ __!_ 3 03 3 m ^ d 3 3 •1 1 3 ,3 2 3 1 3 a o 3 g % > ■g 3 2 i o H 2 >^ '^ «' _2 a 0) a rf a "o 3 ,1-3 3 1-5 "^'tH 3 3 o .2 o 5^ p a a Lh rt O I s O 3.2 XI >5 -1* t^^ c^ C3 1;^ 0-^ X/ » M CO 00 =0 - 3 , 3 >, „ J 3 3 la d" 'C o ^ 3 ^ (H u .3 Li J3J2 ^% o >a - i " 0> "0 3 3 a "3 i 3 >■ H >^ « » >H m £ 108 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON, CQ is te; c f^ P3 < ber sons can om- ted. o ^ o o l.'S i--^ =. O ss-l-g o cc C^J C-l 3 CO N t^ o K , — 'J-. C o ^ g o " s b£ a o .0 C3 .S 'S bC c '■2 o o D -.it rt & 1 3 ^ o ft ft 1 1 1 ^ 01 1 E a) g "s wv2 "3 "s "3 "3 "s > ^ ft .&§5f A _ft ,ft _a .£■ o c 0.2 S o s Oi Oi 1-1 o c C o c o O ft o "o fi o "c ct o o c "o ^ Ei! U IS 2; O Z 2; •z 2; 1 CJ " 0) • o-^ ^ O ^'— 1 , , , Q; — , X, £| £e S|S sg° 8^ 'o OJi S^ s§^ 'gJ o a c. 8-2 0.9 "^ g.2 O O y cS M M c£ Ceo M ^ 3 " c " c _ c •-' c — ''■ ?. c; o "S -d o . o £3 0& E^i O C M o b£ 1 c Si Si- i'r « ."s .is ci C s -is c5 c o2 o C3 Ci bT BL bC ,^ • U r- .^ c •C o ft ,„ > ft +^ QQ M o T3 C3 . rt oi rt^ CD a mo S c*^ p» , « S ft £ o £ I a o S 1 li if ss^ ill. = .| ^ g' £| £ 3-3 ^ i ^. 4s 2.^ «|1 "^1 _ ft C5 = O to — ft gg °1| •roc « 3 o ■» C3 S2 gl> M C .s °^ lii "f = s ^2i s s £ o o rt li u o ^ ■q o fS III '^"^ b£ bC c s ft=* 11 o— P -e c >> c5 ^ . a) C £t-? c ^-5 •^ l"^ £-£ ftc3 O o "c £ o 3 3 H H H h H h E- H H PC K, u C bS •- C •Sg' C £ 1 t. Tl 3 — . 3 C3 o > o p £ 9 O a M X m '^ .s >> X ^ _3 5 O £ 1 Jj o c >. _o ■a s '> a) s ft S £f c.s sId O -* Gi P3 3 s .S'5 1 J3 3 1 "o £ c c 5 c o |o o ft 3 2 a i ft 3 g 3 X q & "F P gii 3 -a ill ^£ o "ft i a O o « H S a H § u T3 3 lit „ i .2 O o B S* .M s .2 >i H •^ J3 3 .c 3 o 3 £ 3 j: 3 . ^ H o C3 3 C O "c p a §.2 1.2 £ c 1 E o ll & a < ^.2 H ^.2 %^ 3 C3 C3 C3 •z 2 •s o .s M o §8 IZ ■2 S| g 2 11 el £g 8 ■1 b fo s >« K m o 15 1 £ FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 109 all except 2 of the 18 houses. From one of these menus for 14 meals were obtained; from the other only one day's bill of fare was secured. The menus for Wednesday of the week reported by each house are presented in Table 48, Since these menus do not include any special meals, such as might be served on holidays, it is felt they are typical of the variety of food supplied in the several houses. In a comparison of the meals served in the large and small as well as in the high and low priced houses, it is surprising to find how slight is the variation, the chief difference being that the large and high-priced houses serve a greater variety at each meal, permitting a choice of cereals, soups, fish and meats, and in some cases a choice of desserts. Soups as well as fruits and vegetables out of season are furnished in the more expensive houses. Those charging an average price of less than $4 supply meat from 11 to 19 times per week, and those charg- ing the highest rates offer it from 11 to 21 times. The meats fur- nished consist chiefly of beef, both fresh and corned, and lamb, and 9 of the more expensive houses supply chicken once a week. Fish is served in most of the houses at least 4 times a week. Since the cost of meat is so much higher in Boston than in other large cities of the United States (Table 4) it would be better to buy less meat and sub- stitute in its place the more frequent use of cheese and eggs. It is surprising to note that only 5 houses served cheese, and in only one of these is it served more than once a week. While most of the houses supply eggs once or tw'ice a week, 3 of those charging the higher rates serve them from 5 to 10 times, and 3 of the least expensive houses do not furnish them at all. However,' it is probable that all supply eggs more frequently when they are not so high in price. Both fresh and canned fruits are served in all but one of the houses; 9 serve dried fruits, such as prunes, apricots and peaches, and in 7 of these they are served only once a week. The least expen- sive houses offer fruit of some kind from 6 to 8 times a week; the most expensive serve it from 9 to 12 times, and one house charging an intermediate price serves it only once a week. Apples in some form or other are the chief kind of fresh fruit offered, and in a few cases oranges, bananas, grapes and grapefruit are supplied. All of the houses serve white potatoes from 8 to 14 times a week, other vegetables from 6 to 23 times, and 10 of them furnish sweet po- tatoes once or twice a week. The kinds of vegetables supplied during no FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. eq ct — — -C « s -0_O _rt ~ ft.. a c3 o o c C ii °.£-| o o g-- ft fe M ^-"■^ c c-f ..1 o o ■£|- c-u ?a «J a 1- g s .-^— ti •- • - ^ — 3 S 5 g IB d m =3 ==■„■" c S — Q K O 5 ai^sa Is" £ gS o c ao B &§ ^ S^ 7^ u O a:. O C3 *j aj~ (n t' e *^ •- o .is §-^ = "o-s o br » cs o o (u --js > fe< O "o 5.2 £ g > o s-s t- C3-3 s S o -• ^ <"a (S FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. Ill .2" 2 m c S= -^ 3 » C 55 = ■S ^ en £j2 2 g c JS^ to "" BS S 0) S bB o ^ o (5 moo COM <« E P C3^ C o ot: o o i j2-t^ m „ C3 .. C3 y-rt"s c 2 « f? *j O C 1Z5«g rtxiTr g_ fei .-a p o -S atoos ombi late 'hipp ..^.1 = m-o +^ o O P o rt O^t O O-B =3 o e t- a ■E S MX! S £ ..£ o $ m a -C o § o cJ o § ■sis ffl S o o u C3 ^ C 1 TT C 5 g 3 c? :< 0. o 2 O •-♦^ 5 =3 " m § « 2 e o CO 0-3 • -cag- J= o S ^ ^£^« •— C3,— O O o WJ2 •S •- c c ag .- o^ 5-5 a c3 a o oja o 3 ti a ■- o O « O 0.2 ■c i s a a 3 5 o j5Je ■S o £ii 5-- "..« o-a ^ d il^so si "J i giSagg > 0) o c? o I iT o 5 4^ a-^S*" asi"". OD O c-S 0*0 a o ■* 3 P O C3 a .-S q -o -S . d O 0-!, o; S o .So" — 112 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. o O cq ^•3 a ■B q o 2 on S ^ ■B o-s-3 M Til a^ o ..a o. an °3 g abD *« c3 O P O M «^ •-J3 fl-3 o3 g ag'-o 5) " M U C 2 OD C3 ■*^ S? O 3 § 3 O 1 ^ a ^ M ° rt o S C3 « U ^ O o o o 9 ^ ^ - a o "n" a 2 >- O C3 o S 5 " — o o ci "--S3 3 g ' a t^-! g o a: in 2 ^^ i°a 03 O o bC .. 03 §8 OS 3 e u '^-S o 8 ^ ..§,■=«" -8 £ ° O rtJ3 > o s - o a >> 3" -a j1 c <»^ - o a o'2 5 OJ3 o a •- tJ 0'3 S o a ra -.J o « C3 h O "S ''-a O o o ata s a » • -'< a ■«^« r ^^ M-a a C o -a o M " " ® ^ a g'rt S |2"S ag o o a as " §■§ s° -S Ei3 § e o S'to a t. ao O » 03 o H Cs a C3 O ^ I'' M^ a •- •=•■=! "•BO a -S 03"^ .. t- O o rt "~ "S-^ a •-5 M 03 a1o2 g a*^ o CO o c3 ^ 2*0 °'a M ^ S a c:S 2 ■- ■.::-3 «-§ 2 ••,,■■3 -3 3 £ a S 0) c3 d .--*J t-l a.'a en 03 gisa o a a »-' c fi o *^ H u .. u, =58 111 g-0 8 ":a iJ S o a " o 3 " c3 c3 a 53 &SJ8 ^ 03 a-2-crd oga-3 "3 i =3 § 03 o 2 g's'S " 03^ o S^a§ *J fc. o o lis 3'goo "3 c3 o ego sa-.- •5 2 S 5 aS p o M 2"m a a> C3 J Or"^ o ^oS.2i£§ 8 O cq < =3-5 2 OtH > S^J o t. 03 a.-^ 5 *=-a-^ a FOOD OF WOKKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 113 one week in the several houses vary in number from 5 to 13. They consist chiefly of string beans, peas, tomatoes, corn, squash, celery, onions and carrots, and baked beans are served from 1 to 4 times a week in all except 2 houses. Salads are used in 15 of the houses from 1 to 9 times a week; the more expensive houses frequently offer them in the place of vegetables. In 9 houses macaroni is also used as a substitute for vegetables once or twice a week. Hot cereals are served for breakfast by all, and in 8 houses both hot and cold cereals are offered. The kind of bread supplied cannot be discussed, since none of the houses furnished complete information regarding this. All of the houses furnish hot beverages at least once a day. Coffee is served at every meal in one house, in 2 houses twice a day, in 11 houses for breakfast only and in one house it is served only once a week as a special treat. Two houses do not serve any tea; the others offer it from 3 to 21 times a week. In 11 of the houses milk may be had at all meals. The amount of food which will be served to each person at regular meals is not limited in any house. Guests are permitted to have as many servings as they desire. Since the food was not sampled in all of the houses the quality cannot be discussed. A comparison of the general variety and of the kinds of food served at each meal during one day will be found in Table 48. Lunches are put up in 7 of the houses to be taken out by those who cannot return during the noon hour. These lunches consist chiefly of sandwiches, fruit and cake, and 2 furnish small bottles of milk. All aim to vary from day to day the kinds of sandwiches which they supply. One large house provides a choice of 12 different kinds of sandwiches, crackers, cake, fruit and chocolates. Each arti- cle is separately priced, and any combination may be chosen to the amount of 14 cents. In this house about 280 lunches are put up daily; of this number, which were served on a particular day, 176, or 63 per cent., represent choice of substantial and well-balanced lunches; 37 were all fruit or all candy, or both fruit and candy; and 67 were combinations of crackers, fruit, cake and candy. The fol- lowing represents a typical lunch: — 1 ham sandwich, $0.05 1 jam sandwich, 03 1 orange, 03 1 piece nut cake, 03 $0.14 114 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. These houses are to be commended for their successful efforts in securing a good variety of food. In a similar study in New York emphasis is placed on the necessity of planning meals with regard to attractiveness of combinations of food. "One of the first rules to be observed," says this report, "is to secure contrasts in color, consist- ency and flavor."^ It also warns against serving the same meats and vegetables at two consecutive meals. ^ To this might be added that it is well to avoid serving similar menus on the same days of consecu- tive weeks. For instance, the menu which is offered on Monday should not be the same as was served on Monday of the previous week. The combinations of food offered from day to day in the sev- eral houses show that care has been taken to avoid unattractiveness and monotony. Adequacy of the Food supplied. Adequacy is perhaps more important than variety in the diet of working women. To ascertain whether the food offered is adequate it is necessary to determine whether it is of such character that each person may have the proper food values. The reports of the raw materials used in preparing the week's menus supplied were utilized for this purpose. As has been stated, 8 houses fur- nished the desired data. In 5 of these houses the quantities were estimated by the persons who planned the meals. Three of the houses gave the amounts of raw materials used during one month. In one case the information was in the form of monthly statements from the firms which furnish supplies. From these statements the amounts used during one week were ascertained. Another house, having a large central storeroom from which all supplies must be obtained by a written daily order, permitted all the food orders for one month to be copied. The menus served during the same period were also secured. By comparing storeroom orders and the menus for 7 consecutive daj^s it was easy to estimate the amount of raw food materials used during one week. Although every effort was made to secure complete records, the striking variation shown in Table 49 makes it doubtful whether the amounts are entirely correct. However, the information thus secured is as exact as could be obtained, where it is not possible to follow the I Corbet, Florence R.: Dietaries for Cliaritable Institutions, State Board of Charities, New York, 1906, p. 21. s Ibid., p. 19. FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 115 Table 49. — Amount of Protein and Value of Calories of Food furnished by Eight Organized Houses in Boston and Vicinity. Based on Supplies used during One Week. Average per Person per Dat. Amount charged per Week for Room AND Board. Grams of Protein supplied. Grams of Protein con- sumed. ' Value in Calories of Food supplied. Value in Calories of Food consumed. Institution One, $3 for 3 meals per day, Institution Two, 83 for 3 meals per day, . Institution Three, S4 to S5 for 2 meals per day, Institution Four, $4 to $5.50 for 3 meals per day, Institution Five, S4.50 to $5 for 3 meals per day. Institution Six, 84.50 to $6 for 3 meals per day. Institution Seven, 84.25 to 810 for 3 meals per day, . Institution Eight, 87.90 for 3 meals per day. 76.5 81.0 91.5 = 65.1 79.1 111.2 106.3 95.9 68.9 72.9 82.42 58.6 71.2 100.1 95.7 86.3 2,180.8 2,702.7 2,665.82 1,955.3 2,542.0 3,722.2 3,045.0 2,718.0 1,962.8 2,432.4 2,399.22 1,759.8 2,287.8 3,350.0 2,740.5 2,690.8 method used in certain dietary studies made in Philadelphia and Baltimore.^ In making these studies the investigators spent a week at each institution. All stock on hand at the beginning of the week was weighed and recorded. An account was kept of all supplies purchased or taken from the storeroom, of materials on hand at the end of the week and of the weight of table waste each day. By de- ducting the amount wasted from the amount supplied it was possible to obtain an accurate estimate of the amount consumed per person for each day of the period studied.^ In obtaining the estimate of the food supplied in the Boston houses the amount of protein and the value in calories were calcu- lated, and this was divided by the total number served, including in this number both guests and employees. Ten per cent, of the amount supplied was allowed for waste in serving, as this percentage of waste was found in the dietary studies to which reference has been made,^ and has been accepted in similar studies by Ellen F. Rich- 1 Amount supplied less 10 per cent, for table and kitchen waste. 2 These figures are estimates based on the assumption that the 2 meals served per day represent three- fourths of the total amount of food eaten in 1 day. 3 Smedley, Emma, and Milner, R. D., Dietary Studies in Public Institutions in Philadelphia, Pa., and Knight, H. L., Pratt, H. A., and Langworthy, C. F., Dietary Studies in Public Institutions in Baltimore, Md., United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 223. * Ibid., p. 9. 5 United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 223, p. 49. 116 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. ards, Marion Talbot and Mary Swartz Rose. The results of this study show the striking lack of standardization of the dietary in these houses, as the protein supplied per person for one day varies from 65 to 111 grams, and the calories from 1,760 to 3,350 (Table 49). The exact dietary needs of the residents of these houses cannot be determined, as the food requirements are dependent on such com- plex factors as the age and weight of the women, the degree of mus- cular activity of their occupations, and the amount of walking and standing, during the day. Previous investigations indicate that the total bodily fuel needed would be 2,200 to 2,400 calories. In a care- Table 50. — Metabolism of Women engaged in Different Occupations.^ Age. Height. Weight in Pounds. Calories per Hour. Total Calories per Day, Eight Hours' Work, Sixteen Hours' Rest. Occupation. Feet. Inches. At Rest. At Work. Hand sewer. Hand sewer. Machine sewer, Machine sewer, . Wash woman, . Wash woman, . Waitress, . Waitress, . Bookbinder, Bookbinder, 53 35 53 19 43 19 43 19 22 22 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 6 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 139 143 139 110 125 110 125 110 105 112 75 64 75 64 75 64 75 64 70 61 83 88 103 119 285 186 228 143 98 127 1,864 1,728 2,024 1,976 3,480 2,512 3,024 2,168 1.904 1,992 ■ ful dietary study made in a home for aged women the average value of the food consumed by each person in one day was found to be 2,206 calories.^ The younger, more active women of the Boston houses would require more nourishment. A recent careful calorimeter study of the amounts consumed in a day divided betw^een 8 hours' work and 16 hours' rest gave the results reported in Table 50. As some additional allowance would be necessary on account of possible faulty assimilation, and because of the fact that residents of the organized houses often have a nine-hour work day, and rarely rest 1 Quoted by Fisher and Fisk in How to Live, p. 195. The figures are the results of calorimeter tests by Becker and Hamalainen at the University of Helsingfors, Finland. For complete report see Skan- dina\'isches Archiv fur Physiologic, XXX^I., Band 1, 2 u. 3 Heft. Leipzig, 1914. 2 Ibid., p. 53. FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 117 during the entire period of freedom from their wage-earning employ- ment, a somewhat larger food supply would be required. Even these additional needs would not justify such an extravagant amount of food as is supplied in Institutions Six and Seven. The dietaries in these houses show a tendency to an excessiv^e use of expensive protein foods. Very few of their residents were at an age when protein food was needed for growth, and the majority were not engaged in occupations resulting in large muscular development. Their bodily needs would have been satisfied with 60 to 70 grams of protein per day, instead of the larger amounts supplied in the ma- jority of the houses. The investigation was made during the colder months of the year, when the large consumption of protein may have been prompted by an instinctive desire to profit by its heating quali- ties. But few authorities would consider the amounts supplied de- sirable, and many would claim that the excess was positively injuri- ous. Cost of Food. One of the chief points upon which information was desired was the actual cost of providing food for women living in these organized houses. In the attempts to get this information several methods were used; the houses were first requested to state the prices charged for board alone; second, to furnish data regarding all expenditures connected with the food as served; and third, to submit copies of their last published financial statements. The first method did not give the exact information desired for two reasons, — first, because room and board are rated together; second, because, in establishing these rates, the same lack of business effi- ciency was evinced as was noted in the failure to keep accurate records of the quantities of raw materials used. In all of the subsi- dized houses there seems to be no definite basis for the rates charged. The persons in charge of the houses apparently make the rates agree with what they feel the women are able to pay. In a few of the houses there is a definite schedule of adjustment between wages and prices. Others objected to this arrangement because in the absence of accurate information it is difficult to know the wages each resident receives. The chief basis of variation in all of the houses is not the cost of food but the location, size and number of occupants of each room. The varying rates which are charged are shown in Table 48. 118 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. A A s ^ s cq 'Jtf' s • S' o hq Cn s£ .S V. ;=5 Q ■TS ?i. s s &3 fe"S •<»i r» >o t^ 00 ■<»< to lO p^o CO ■^i " " CO (N "M a a ^ S ■^l^ Ss^ M t~ t^ o CO •^ >o M o ^- ^^ CO ^ '^ CO C3 C) Q . *- "S 00 o CO M. CS ^ « ^ "A to •^o o o ■o IM -* oo 5 J ■ K 1 SI 1- CO »o o o t^ 1-H CO ■^ o y oo B ^t Eq FU p w K S s^- — (M r* cq CO -H >•- > tri O H H 1^ 1^ m M w a d a s £3 3 3 o o o o o O O o 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 ^ l-H 1 3 a 3 3 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 119 When these rates do not cover all expenditures bazaars are held and donations solicited to make up the deficit. In the co-operative and self-supporting houses the prices charged are reckoned on the total expense of maintaining the house. These rates must be large enough to cover all expenses. The second method of requesting definite data regarding the ex- penditures for raw food materials and for light, heat, laundry, service and supervision during one week or month proved as unsatisfactory as the first. In some of the houses there were no records to show the exact amounts expended for raw food materials during any definite period. Since there was no segregation in the records of expenses chargeable to the dining-room account for light, heat, laundry, etc., these amounts were only estimates. While 7 houses furnished all of the data, it was felt the information was not sufficiently accurate to make deductions possible for all of the houses. Owing to the failure to obtain the exact information desired by the first and second methods, the plan finally used was to make computa- tions from the last published financial statement of each house. The only expenditures in these statements which can be chargeable to food alone are those for " provisions and supphes." While it is realized that these amounts may contain the cost of supplies other than raw food materials, they were the only figures available for all of the houses. Upon these figures the average cost per person per day of raw food materials was calculated. This was done by dividing the amounts expended for "provisions and supplies" by the number of meals served in each house during the year, as given in the annual reports or by estimates made in the case of other houses, when the number of meals served was not given in their reports. In making these estimates it is assumed that houses serving 3 meals a day would serve 1,095 meals to each guest in a year, or when only 15 meals are served in a week, that 780 meals would be served to each guest in the same period. These factors when multiplied by the number of guests and employees give the estimated number of the total meals served in one year. While these estimates are fairly accurate, it is probable that the actual number of meals served during the year reported was somewhat less, since the investigation was made during the winter months, when the houses usually have the largest number of guests. The variations of the cost of raw food materials in the several 120 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. houses, as is shown by these calculations in Table 48, were found, with the exception of Institutions Two and Eighteen, to be very slight. Institution Two is a heavily subsidized house, and serves somewhat elaborate menus, and Institution Eighteen is a house which accommodates students only, and does not serve any meals during the summer months when foodstuffs are usually the cheapest. These slight variations do not seem to follow any rule. For in- stance, in the larger houses where food can be bought in wholesale quantities, the raw materials do not cost less per person than in the smaller houses. There was no evidence to show whether this indi- cates that the smaller houses are more careful of waste or that the larger houses serve more expensive foods. The average total cost of maintaining each house per capita per week was also estimated from these financial statements. This was done by dividing the total annual expenditures of the several houses by 52 times the number of guests living in each house when visited. The results of these calculations will be seen also in Table 48. By examining the average cost per capita in the several houses it will be noticed, with the exception of Institution Ten, that 2 of the self- supporting houses have the least per capita cost. This is no doubt due to the fact that the number of guests per employee is larger than in any other house, less service being required because the guests have a small share of the household duties to perform. Since it has been seen that there is little variation in the average cost per person of raw food materials in the several houses, the variation of the total per capita cost of maintenance is probably due to the difference in the amounts expended for service as well as to methods of management. The savings, which are supposed to result from the advantages gained by dealing with large groups, are not evident when a comparison of the per capita cost in the small and large houses is made. This may be due in some houses to lack of good management, and in others to the fact that the buildings are old and do not have modern equipment, thus requiring more service. The prices charged by some of the Boston houses, which are sub- sidized, are higher than those charged by 6 houses in Chicago and 2 in New York which are self-supporting. The Chicago houses charge from $3 to $5.50 for a room and 15 meals per week. They severally accommodate from 60 to 150 women, are self-supporting and pay a small return on the investment. One of the New York houses. FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 121 which accommodates 212 women, charges from S3. 50 to S7 per week for a room and 3 meals per day, and is able to cover all expenses. The other New York house charges from $4.50 to $7.50 per week for room and 2 meals per day, and accommodates 326 guests. Until September, 1915, the prices charged by this house ranged from $4 to $6; with the advance in the cost of foodstuffs an increase of 50 cents per guest per week was found necessary. It is not only self-supporting, but pays 4 per cent, interest on the investment. This house and 1 commercial, the 2 co-operative and 2 self-supporting houses in Bos- ton are the only houses of the 39 studied which pay taxes. While the price of foodstuffs in Boston is somewhat higher than in New York and Chicago,^ it is not clear why 13 of the Boston houses must depend on endowments and donations to cover their expenses, when the houses just referred to can be self-supporting. Serving of Food. The variation in the equipment of the houses and the methods of serving foods affect both the cost of service and the value of the food supplied. Foods attractively served have not only an aesthetic value, but a physiological one as well. It is a generally accepted fact that attractiveness of service promotes the ease and rapidity of the assimi- lation of food by creating a pleasurable anticipation which causes the digestive fluids to flow more freely. There are a number of factors which influence botb the attractiveness of service and its cost. Of these the most important are, first, the location and general appear- ance of the dining room; second, the methods of serving the food; and third, the time of service. The location and general appearance of the dining room in the non-commercial houses is too often a secondary consideration. A room which is partly below the street level is very difficult to venti- late and to light properly. When ventilation is poor and little or no sunlight is admitted the room is likely to contain odors of stale cooking and to be damp and uninviting. A number of the houses have basement dining rooms with long institutional tables, giving the room an unattractive and unhomelike appearance. Several of the houses, however, have well-ventilated and well-lighted rooms, with curtains at the window^s, plants or flowers and clean linen on the tables, which are mostly round, seating from 6 to 8 persons. » See Table 4. 122 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. The second factor which plays an important part in this phase of the food suppHed is the method of service. The two ways of serving food in the Boston houses are individual service and the family method. Eleven houses provide individual service at all meals, which means that the food is served in the kitchen in separate dishes, which are taken by waitresses directly to each guest. This insures hot food, but requires more service and more dishes than the family method. With two exceptions the latter method is used only in the smaller houses, and in 6 of these dinner only is served thus. By this method the food is placed by waitresses on the table in large dishes from which each person is served by the head. A unique method of service is used by a house accommodating 212 women which has recently been opened in New York City. In this house breakfast and lunch are served cafeteria style and dinner by indi- vidual service. At breakfast and lunch each article of food is priced separately, and those who pay board by the week are permitted to order to the amount of 20 cents for breakfast and 25 cents for lunch. Dinner is served in individual servings by waitresses who also act as chambermaids, since no dining-room service is required of them at breakfast and lunch. The third factor is the time during which the meals are served. Since all of the women who live in these houses are not engaged in the same occupations, their hours for beginning work vary. In order to meet as nearly as possible the convenience of the guests, meals are served during different periods. Those for breakfast and lunch vary from three-fourths of an hour to two hours, and dinner from one to one and one-half hours. In 6 of the houses the latter meal is served at a stated time, when all guests are supposed to be present and thus form a family group. In some places a number of the waitresses are students, who give their services for certain hours each day in return for their rooms and board. This enables the houses to provide at small cost the extra amount of service needed when all guests are not served at the same time. Factors influencing the Utilization of these Houses. The disposition of women to avail themselves of the adequate and varied food supplied at such small cost is affected by other considera- tions, such as the general accommodations offered; the rules and the limitations regarding admission; the recreation provided; and the FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 123 accommodations for laundry and sewing. Most of the houses are attractive and homehke places in which to live. With one exception all of the subsidized and co-operative houses furnish both room and board. The one exception is a small house for colored women which furnishes rooms and a kitchen where cooking may be done. Other non-commercial and commercial houses either furnish rooms and a restaurant where meals may be secured, or rooms which have light- housekeeping accommodations. Since most of the subsidized houses were founded by religious organizations, or by persons with a religious motive in view, some of the rules governing those who may be admitted show traces of this influence. While none of the houses has any stipulated religious limitations, some of them discriminate against women of certain religious behefs, who they feel will not be in sympathy with their custom of conducting daily prayers. In two of the smaller houses all guests are required to be present at these services; in other houses, which follow this custom, attendance is optional. Aside from these customs which affect the religious liberties of the guests there are other rules which are resented by some. For in- stance, many women do not like to feel that they must be in at a certain hour in the evening, or explain why they were not in at that time. Some of the houses also require all applying for accommoda- tions to furnish names of one or more persons who will vouch for their good characters. Women who are strangers in the city, or who have lived independent lives for some time, dislike to have their friends troubled by a request which seems to them unnecessary. The fact that a number of the houses are known to be subsidized makes some people feel that they are undesirable places in w^hich to live. A self-supporting woman does not like to feel that she is a recipient of charity. While these conditions are disliked by some, they are welcomed by others. There are many young women who come as strangers to the city, and are grateful to find a home where such pro- tection is offered and a place where living can be secured at such low rates. Aside from these rather personal feelings regarding the houses there are other reasons which limit the women who may live in them. With two exceptions the houses aim to reach only young women receiving low wages^ Three houses state that they will not take women earning over Slo per week; one house will not take any one 124 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. earning more than SI 2, and another limits its accommodations to women earning $7 and less per week. There is an age limit in 4 houses over which no one will be admitted as a permanent guest. In 2 houses this is thirty years and in the others thirty-five. All of the houses make efforts to furnish some forms of recreation for their guests. Most of them provide some sort of a library with books, current magazines and daily papers. All have one or more parlors where callers may be received, and some of the large houses have small parlors which may be engaged in advance. A large room or recreation hall is provided where guests may assemble for parties, dances or entertainments. In some of the houses amusements are furnished as often as once in every two weeks, and in others special entertainments and parties are given at least twice a year. In addition to the small charge made for room and board there are other accommodations which offer the guests opportunities for re- ducing the cost of living. All of the houses provide laundries where both washing and ironing may be done. Two charge 10 cents and one charges 15 cents each time the laundry is used; the others per- mit its use free of charge. With one exception all furnish one or more sewing machines for free use of the guests. That these accom- modations are appreciated is shown by the fact that they are used by one-half to three-fourths of the guests. Every effort is made by these houses to promote the health of their guests. In 3 of them a physician gives his services free or for a moderate charge. Four provide a trained nurse; one large house has a well-equipped infirmary with trained nurses constantly on duty; and all keep medicines for emergencies. Conclusions. Notwithstanding these facts there are no long waiting lists of women desiring admission. As was shown in the early part of the chapter the houses when visited were not filled to their capacity, and during the summer months the number of vacancies is often quite large. With a single room and board to be obtained for S6 and less per week, and accommodations which cannot be secured in any pri- vate boarding house for the same money, why are these houses not flooded with persons desiring admission? No definite answer can be given. The fact that most of the houses depend upon their guests or other interested persons to inform women of their existence, instead FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN ORGANIZED HOUSES. 125 of advertising their accommodations, as well as the rules and limita- tions already discussed, may have something to do with their failure to attract a larger number of women. While the houses should be criticized for the unbusinesslike way in which many of them are managed, it must be recognized that they have performed a noble service to the working women of Boston. The food provided seems to be of a sufficient variety and of an ade- quate amount; the accommodations offered cannot be found at the prices charged in any private boarding or lodging house; the limita- tions explained do not appear unreasonable; and the value of the protection offered to young women who come as strangers to the city cannot be overestimated. 126 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. CHAPTER V. FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. The selection of food made by women suffering from preventable diseases, generally conceded to be related to diet, is an interesting phase of this study of the food of working women. Since the dis- pensaries of Boston have educated the public to make use of the advantages offered, it seems probable that low-wage women suffering from ill health would seek their assistance. The variety and charac- ter of the food selected, habits of food consumption, hygienic habits and home and work conditions will be considered in their relation to the health of these women. Patients coming to Dispensaries. In order to appreciate the significance of the 126 cases studied in detail some consideration of dispensary patients as a group is neces- Table 52. — Patients coming to Eight Dispensaries in Boston classified by Number of New Patients and Total Number of Visits from All Patients in One Year} Dispensary. Total Number of Visits. New Patients. Total Massachusetts General Hospital, Jan. 1, 1915, to Dec. 31, 1915 Boston Dispensary, Oct. 1, 1914, to Sept. 30, 1915 Carney Hospital, Dec. 1, 1913, to Nov. 30, 1914, Peter Bent Brigham, Jan. 1, 1914, to Dec. 31, 1914 Mount Sinai Hospital, Jan. 1, 1914, to Dec. 31, 1914 Cambridge Hospital, Jan. 1, 1915, to Dec. 31, 1915 Maverick Dispensary, Sept. 1, 1914, to Aug. 31, 1915, . ' New England Dispensary for Women and Children, Oct. 1, 1914, to Sept. 30, 1915, 450,361 190,627 122,776 50,992 30,434 27,680 6,647 7,044 14,161 90,132 29,213 25,694 15,506 8,347 5,566 1,985 1,960 1,861 1 Data obtained from the Fifty-third Annual Report of the New England Hospital for Women and Children, its Training School for Nurses and Dispensary, Sept. 20, 1915, p. 30; One Hundred and Second Annual Report of the Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital, 1915, Section B, p. 67; Report of the One Hundred and Nineteenth Year of the Boston Dispensary, 1916, p. 49; Fifty-first Annual Report of Carney Hospital, 1914, p. 20; First Annual Report of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, 1915, p. 15; Thirteenth Annual Report of Mount Sinai Hospital, 1915, p. 15; Report of the Trustees of the Cambridge Hospital, January, 1916, p. 49; Sixth Annual Report of the Maverick Dispensary, 1915, p. 6. FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 127 CO e en :-s an < -M o Ol o CO CO lO ^ o to CO CO CO c^ ^ ■V Ch f-^ > ^ t^ 00 CO CO CO ll; t- iO '<1< Q £ t^ o_ C5 lO a z 3 2; m '^ < CO +i ■*. o ==; 00 o o CO N c-i z M CO Tf 'J' n 3 CO 2: ^ ^ , u: cc Q «-< o c ►^ ffi c: cs 1-5 >-5 'a C3 .1 C 1^ c ft ■ft o •3 a o E C3 ft © ^ 5 (5 1= CO £ 2 c o PQ ■* o c ci h o 1 3 CG _s JS o C3 ■s H H s s ^ 128 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. sary. The records of the new patients coming to 4 dispensaries dur- ing periods of one to eight months were tabulated (Tables 52-57). The 9 dispensaries^ in Boston from which cases were selected reach a large number of people, as is shown in Table -52. Although the esti- mated cost of the service ranges from 33 to 49 cents a visit,- a fee of only 10 cents is charged in order to reach the group most in need of medical treatment. Wage-earning women formed only one-ninth (11.6 per cent.) of the total attendance (Table 54). The high per- centage of Russian Jews and others of foreign birth, shown in Table 55, makes it evident that nationality is an important consideration in discussing the diet of this group. The largest proportion were young, unmarried women engaged in manufacturing pursuits (Table 56). Cases for this study were found in the medical departments (Table 57). About one-third (36.7 per cent.) of the women coming to the dispensaries were referred to the medical departments, and the sev- eral occupation groups were proportionately represented in this num- ber. Women in domestic service who were not included in this study formed two-fifths (40.4 per cent.) of the attendance at the medical departments. Scope and Method of the Study.^ Some 20,000 records covering periods ranging from three to six months for each of the 9 dispensaries were examined. From these records 192 cases of women in industry suffering from preventable diseases possibly complicated by diet were selected for further study. Sixty-six of these cases were not included in this study, as 51 could not be located and 15 were not pertinent. By personal visits infor- mation was obtained from 126 women. In these interviews 2 schedules were used, — the first concerning the food, the second, an inquiry into social and industrial conditions.^ Information for form of in- quiry No. 5, as well as menus for two days, were obtained at the time of the interview. The method of keeping this food schedule ' All dispensaries in Boston were visited, though complete records were available only from these 9 dispensaries. - Massachusetts General Hospital, One Hundred and Second Annual Report of the Trustees, 1915, Section B, p. 22; Mount Sinai Hospital, Thirteenth Annual Report, 1915, p. 15; Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, First Annual Report, 1915, p. 16. ' For forms of inquiry, see Appendix A, Nos. 5 and 6. * The questions on the second schedule were suggested by the one used in a study made by the Massa- chusetts General Hospital of the hygienic conditions of working girls who came as patients to the hos- pital. All unmarried girls under twenty-one (80) who came to the medical department during eight months were studied. Sixth Annual Report of the Social Service Department of the Massachusetts General Hospital, 1912. FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 129 Si, :-s e CIS « < ,J ^ p a> 00 C5 o to t^ 2 .^ O ^ ^ ■^ o CO >o '^l to C o -* CO ^ "5 ^ rl 2 QJ si dn H J < 04 c^ 2 D 02 (J o Q o J o ■^ m O Tj* O !>. «o n vi 3 12; 5 ~ a -I:i z S Ci CD so uo *— 1 '"' O ro ^ ■^ ^ o6 H 2 Q so •O CO to >ra 2 C5 S •<; S GJ ^ g i s _ t^ to o cc t--. ' C32 03 3 M 2 C O o o Q o o o o 2 o o o , J ^ o to C3 to 02 '" _o C5 " — to '^ CO 2 S 2 ^J 3 S :3 a! i-J o S a P £i _o ■<1 "^ '2, fe E5 2 O) ca o H '"' ci -h^ '"' a. 2 N >> 'a oo" *H P "3 3 c 1-5 c« C3 i-i •-^ "3 2 1-4 i 'a S a O E S a K CO 'Zt c 'S o H a c ^ (5 c 3 J3 3 u pq M< _o 3 c4 i^ J3 s 3 o 1 o H m s S (S 130 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. CO m .• 1 ?L> t- q; '1 ^ « o t^ t~ o CO CO M 1 1 1 1 i C ■^ ec -a s§ ?a. CO Q §t3 t. CO CO 1 CO o t^ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ^ S 3 § o o fc. m i^ f^ S_"* Ct~ t* •0" o ■* o UO 1 1 1 1 1 g ^g^ 00 ^ '^ e "S 2 <=» Q C5 cc ^ era - - 1 1 c. ^ 1 - 1 " 1 -- -^ - ■^ M 3 Oi -t^ '^ flJ 'O t. o _ o "^ CO •*J* (M 1^ 1 ym^ ,—1 1 CJ 1— t 1 1 1 «-l c o (M " ;=> « 3 ■g K^ ■c^ e a'O u. •o C-1 o C) (M N CO IM re 1 1 1 ■o C "T to :^ « 3 >) -o !» lO 'TS ^ CO o o CO 1 o (M 1 ■^ >o ■^ 03-a »o •* o CO ^ n »-' O «0 e ■c^ Tl 3 "e 5a, S Ui • g 3) m 00 CO •^ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 '"' O 1 ;~ §S ^ '« ■* ■* CO -^ 1 ^ o ^c 00 CO 00 CO ^ r^ 1-^ 1-H t. o •»< ^ V X! oo OS 00 UO o t^ e-1 o OS OS CO 00 S CO CJ ca o 'r» c^_ o C-) 3 "e z •"■ CL, ;=5 « CO s <» 5i. CO •c* Q ^ ><■ 'c H ,., S > s" « S 1 •< fi 3 o 1-3 1 m -2 03 'i 3 — cf c e (3 c "3 .3 3 c -0 1) B ■a B c3 t4 .3 'a s 3 o 13 G 03 "5 fi j3 1 Eh H p tf ^ o « ni < CK c w M £ (^ K PL, o 7^ FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 131 Q I- ?a. a' . fl- ee (M *-t < S H w O fe 'Z 132 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. was explained to the woman so that she could fill in a similar blank for the five days remaining in the week. Over half (51.6 per cent.) completed the menu for five or more days, and more than three- fourths (78.5 per cent.) of this number finished the week, making in all reports of 1,703 meals. Difficulties peculiar to this subject arose from the necessity of ex- plaining the reasons for the inquiries concerning the food to ignorant and suspicious women, persuading them to keep their menus for a week, and from the personal nature of the questions which had to be asked often in the presence of persons of varying ages and both sexes. The inability to write English prevented the completion of the food schedules in some instances. Characteristics of the Patients Studied. The group selected for further study resembled the wage-earning women in the total dispensary group in age, occupation and nation- ality. These 126 patients were largely young women, native born or Russian Jewesses, engaged in manufacturing pursuits. The average age, twenty-two years (21.9), represented the trend for the group, since four-fifths (79.4 per cent.) were under twenty-five years of age (Table 58). One-half (50.8 per cent.) were native born. One-tenth (10.3 per cent.) of the total number were native born of native parents; one-third (33.3 per cent.), native born of foreign parents; and one-fifteenth (7.2 per cent.), native born of mixed parentage. More than one-fifth (21 per cent.) of the foreign born had been in this country two years or less, and one-half (56.5 per cent.) for five years or less. Although the majority were in the semi-skilled manufacturing occupations, the clerical, selling and telephone operating positions of one-fourth (29.4 per cent.) demand skill and a higher degree of intelli- gence. Their weekly wages ranged from $3 to $14.50, with an aver- age for the group of less than $8 ($7.77) (Table 59). Telephone oper- ating had the highest average wage, almost $10 ($9.97), clerical work slightly over $9 ($9.10), selling and manufacturing occupations be- tween $7 and $8 ($7.50 and $7.43), and the miscellaneous personal service occupations less than $6.50 ($6.30). It is quite apparent that the majority of these women could make no provision from their earnings for private medical care. While their homes were located in all parts of Boston, living conditions did not vary greatly. Seven- eighths (87.3 per cent.) lived as part of their own families, 91 with FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 133 Q CC Q Si, 1<- < Q a « ? o o s 1 1 1 1 1 ' • 1 § 1 1 1 1 ^^ o « s^- eq „ 1 1 ^ m a 3 o ■< z ^6 o o CO C5 1 05 1 1 CO CO CO CI CO 1 o « " o t^ CO 1 OO 1 1 '■' CO *■* '^ CM •"* 1 o t^ o -, CO o 00 o lO „ OS r~ 1 o s C5 o CI ^ ' ' t~ a> -^ CM 00 o Q 3 O 00 § o; 2 1 1 CO o o ■* CO - ^-^ 1 _J o o CO CO t^ CO ■9> 00 ra o 00 < o o CO -^ o CO o CO >o CM s 3 « Oi •^ w CO 00 ^^ ^ O-l o '-• 2^ I ."1 o CO ■* 00 CO t~ CO Ol CJ CM 1 o Ifl OO CO C4 ' ' , ^ 1 o z ^O CO ■"* " '~' 1 hj Ife t^ „ to C-J _ U3 1 1 ^ ^ 1 m '"' ^^ '^ ^^ ii fee" s W3 tra « g o 1 1 1 1 o 1 •o . 1 f^r'^ K e< ^fe s « CO CO ^ (M 1 1 1 1 CM 1 - 1 1 1 HO ^^ n^g o cs t. 05 t^ 00 OO T.. 00 •o CO eq D o ITS •* CO ^H ^>, ,_, H '^O ' ' ' ^ ^ £^- ;2: o ^ o 03 ^ ^ z ■o oa < 3 O S Z^ .«! o t^ OO CO „ -J< ^ o (, CO ^^ «n o CO to _, ' ' CO CM 1 , ^r^^ >j <; o 1- 00 i o CO C-J t~ ' 1 •^ t- CO CO 00 CM -^ o CM E- z m e S a E- S C3 < a. Q "3 "3 o 3 OS o -0 c CO i 3 o 3 u .2 IS a >1 CO 4)" a o t-t o 03 "3 c hi 12; 3 8 3 i 1 a o 134 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. Table 58. — Distribution by Age and Nativity of One Hundred and Twenty-six Dispensary Patients. Birthplace. Total, United States, . Russia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Other foreign countries, ' Total. Num- ber. 126 64 49 5 2 2 4 Per Cent. 100.0 50.8 38.9 3.9 1.6 1.6 3.2 16 Years and under 21. Number of Patients — 21 Years and under 25. 25 Years and under 30. 30 Years and under 35. 35 Years and under 40. One each from Austria, Azores, Barbadoes, Portugal. Table 59. — Distribution by Occupation and Wage of One Hundred and Ticenty- six Dispensary Patients. Weekly Wages. Total. Manufac- turing. Clerical. Selling. Telephone Operating. Miscella- neous. Total 126 86 16 14 7 3 Less than $5, . . . 3 1 - 2 - S5 and less than S6, 16 14 - 1 - 1 $6 and less than S7, . 27 23 2 1 - 1 S7 and less than $8, . 19 17 - 1 - 1 $8 and less than $9, . 19 9 5 4 1 - $9 and less than $10, . 11 5 2 2 2 - SIO and less than $12, 18 10 4 - 4 - $12 and less than $14, 6 3 2 1 - - $14 and more, 2 2 - - - - Not reported. 5 2 1 2 - - their fathers or mothers or both, 16 with other relatives, and 3 were married and living in homes of their own. The 16 Hving with stran- gers formed part of the family group in most instances. These women were suffering from a variety of diseases of which constipation was the most prevalent (Table 60). Nearly two-fifths FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 135 (38.1 per cent.) were suffering from constipation, 17 (17.4) per cent, from a run-down condition, 16 (15.9) per cent, from debility, 15 (15.1) per cent, from digestive disorders and 13 (13.5) per cent, from ansemia. The appearance of these women was so influenced by racial characteristics that it was difficult for the casual observer to discern the effect of the different disorders. Recent arrivals from Russia remarked on their loss of weight, poor color and trouble with their teeth since leaving the old country. Of all the immigrants the Rus- sians, who formed the greatest proportion of the foreign-born women studied, seemed least able to adapt themselves physically to the changed conditions. Table 60. — Occupations and Dispensary Diagnoses of One Hundred and Twenty-six Patients. Total. Number OF Patients in — Diagnoses. Num- ber. Per Cent. Manu- factur- ing. Clerical. Selling. Tele- phone Oper- ating. Miscella- neous. ' Total, Constipation, Run-down condition, . Debility Digestive disorders, Anmmia, .... 126 48 22 20 19 17 100.0 38.1 17.4 15.9 15.1 13.5 86 34 15 10 16 11 16 6 3 4 1 2 14 6 4 4 7 2 1 2 2 3 1 2 Food eaten in One Week. For the purposes of this study the 1,703 meals were reduced for each person to the food eaten in one week.^ The unit of measure- ment was the number of times any article of food occurs during this week, making the total variety the sum of the different articles of food. Since the use of tea and coffee was subject to extreme varia- tions, these beverages were excluded from the total variety of food. Percentages were used to indicate the proportion any food forms of the total variety. The classification of food was a convenient one suggested by Dr. C. F. Langworthy.^ ' Theatre usher, hairdresser, salad maker. 2 See Appendix C for method of tabulation. ' See Appendix C for discussion of the limitations of this plan of classification. 136 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. -S a. §.Q 4 S M in ■* „ ^ to fe c or. (^o It; o Oh is ■o «5 ^ >J c C ci (m' ci C! o im' K "^Q — < •* K o C-. CM CO f- oc o W o e^ o ^^ *"■ w 1^ N to c-> tM t~ t^ C to t- t- lO o ■* O O f^ '^. E t^ 00 (M C-. t^ — . o 3 o cc CO CO CO Tt* TP < ^^ H u t--S ^^ *— ' to tn <" s _ o CO 2^ o ^ fc c ^ o o o J ^6 O H s ^ f^ c: -r CO o cc 3 e. C^l 2- 'J- U5 o t^ £°i ^ tc tr. Ij^g a il% 8 o" o" « n ? f^ B ° 5 H c c JZ C3 1 'IP c c; JZ m •r- s o ■w •3 _2 s •< « C c c m oj C3 o O l-H U5 FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 137 CJ5 ^ ?= S &H 6^ n » w g § n a » S B < » ■< n S » D ;z: s a < z CO t^ ■* t^ -- C^J 12; -^ r^ 00 — 00 cr- CO w fee 00 CO -^ CO t^ " •* t^ CO M< CO 03 fee ^0 >o « 01 t^ ,< « CO ■*■«<■ t-.; to P CO 10 CO — c Tf « CJ c^ UO M^ :^ -- CO c^ «n •* CO •* (m' 1- CO •-< iO ca t^ co K 0. 1- in C-. ro -H 00 Si; 1- 00 CO ■^ Ci CO -^ GO ^ CO -^ ^ CO < E- - 11 CO 22.3 26.2 25.0 20.1 21.8 |i s 9.4 14.2 16.0 18.7 18.7 i |2 1 ;h S CO ?3 S S§ 2 2 6 C n 12 a i. <; e2 Less than 50, . 50 and less than 60, 60 and less than 70, 70 and less than 80, 80 and more, . 138 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. Taking the average for all schedules, the total variety of food for a week was 61 (60.7) items, as shown in Table 61, classified as foods characterized by proteins, carbohydrates and minerals, and a miscel- laneous group consisting of soups, milk or cocoa and pickles. ]\Ieats, fish, eggs and all other protein foods constituted one-fourth (24.8 per cent.) of this variety. The median variety was 15 times a week; in other words, there were as many women Having a greater variety of proteins than this as there were having a smaller. The usual fre- quency was twice a day. The average distribution of the items com- posing this group (Table 62) indicated meat 8 (8.2) times, fish twice (2.3), eggs 3 times (3.1), beans once (1), and cheese less than once (.5) a week. In the case of meat the predominant number of times a week was 7, or once a day. Since meat was the one item in very general use, and since eggs, fish, cheese and beans are often used in- terchangeably, it was not to be expected that all of the schedules would include all of these items. ]More than one-third (34.9 per cent.) of the menus for a week were without eggs, two-fifths (38.9 per cent.) without fish, two-thirds (64.3 per cent.) without beans, and three-fourths (77.8 per cent.) without cheese. Breads, cereals and all other foods characterized by carbohydrates formed two-fifths (38.1 per cent.) of the variety for the week (Table 63). While the average tor the week was 23 times, or slightly more than once a meal, there was a tendency to have one of these foods at every meal. Of those who departed from this rule there Avere as many who served more than one article of carbohydrate food at a meal as there were who served less. The most important article of food in this group, bread, was used an average of 17 (16.7) times a week. The other articles showed smaller averages. Three-fifths (57.9 per cent.) of the group used no cereals, six-sevenths (84.9 per cent.) no macaroni, three-sevenths (42.9 per cent.) no cake, two-thirds (69.8 per cent.) no desserts, and the same proportion (68.3 per cent.) no pastry. Vegetables and fruits formed one-fifth (21 per cent.) of the average weekly variety (Table 64). They were eaten less than twice a day (12.7 times a week). The composition of this group in the various food schedules was influenced by individual preferences. Potatoes were eaten by four-fifths (81 per cent.), fruit by five-sevenths (71.4 per cent.), other vegetables by five-ninths (56.3 per cent.), and salads by less than one-twelfth (7.9 per cent.) of the women reporting. FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 139 0= s. .'■^ J-. Q «s « ITll •fo p -e -§■ !» s 00 bs 5:3 g ;:i fc. < L- -^^ •# 00 OJ « U5 >• £,fe '^ - c^ K H 05 •< ft. S c 00 -9< M5 o >o CO 3 0) ,.^ ._, ,_, ;s-° z H H < ^ .4-a C^ 05 *-l c^ t^ a r£ 3 "^ '^ '^ e^ c^ kc o >« >o to to CO a < 15^ a 1" X o £3 d x> ,-1 .^ t^ o n ■* C-1 CO lO ■w TJH « <; O «* > EC \n t?q t^ M rtc o CO CO S iz;-^ fc- -*^ w> to >» to to N « -a a o < ^d a! n S EC CO CO Dl ■^ •<*' =^^ Z^ fe M a *- "t^ == m t>. t^ c^ C: ^ CO IM CO C^ OJ CO C-5 < S « a S c t^ lO lO r>. CO >o H 1-^ " '^ *"■ "^ M e-) E4 H . +J ■* CO CO o o n ,"g t^ CO o r^ D o "O 2 < a PS H EC 00 _ « CO 00 rt g O to -* to t^ ;^^ '^ ' ' ■"^ ^^ > < t.-S -H CO •* CO OO o J ^c3 CO s CO OO CO CO CO < p 1 Eh EC 3 S o o OJ c<< o ■<*l CO OD o '^ ^■^ 3 t, o 5 to 00 to CO CO ii^§ o .11 o o o S fe 5, W i] ° 2 a B IB ^ a S a z> i J a^ e a a c ca T) £ o E •0 <; SS c a a a eS cs rt C3 1 ^ g o g o 00 140 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. Potatoes were used an average of 5 (4.7) times, other vegetables 3 (2.6) times, fresh fruit 4 (4.2) times, and stewed fruit once (1.1) a week. Foods characterized by protein, carbohydrates and minerals formed five-sixths (83.9 per cent.) of the total number of items eaten in a week. Soups, milk, cocoa and pickles formed the remaining sixth (16.1 per cent.) (Table 61). Pickles were an item of little impor- tance, since less than one-tenth (9.5 per cent.) of the women used them. Soup was served at 4 (3.8) meals, and milk and cocoa at 6 (5.9) meals during a week. The somewdiat extensive use of cocoa and milk is to be attributed, no doubt, to advice received at the dispensa- ries. The 67 women who used cocoa drank it about once a day (6.4 times a week), and the 58 women who used milk drank it about 5 (5.3) times a week. Although this analysis shows a considerable variety for the aver- age, there was a decided monotony in the diet of the individual women, since bread, meat and potatoes were the only items occurring in practically every menu. Some women, on the other hand, had a considerably greater variety than the average. The fluctuations show no connection with the nationality or type of disease, as the average variety for the three nationality groups (Table 65) dift'ered by less thaji 3 items, and the groups with the varied disorders had practically the same average variety of food. In a general way an increased range of food seemed to accompany an upward trend in wages. Since these women live as part of a family group the rela- tionship was not always consistent. A decided increase appeared in the number of times in a week items of food were chosen by women w^hose work required more training and intelligence. Less than one- sixth (15.6 per cent.) of the women in the semi-skilled occupations, with an average weekly wage of $7.39, had more than 70 items of food in a week, while almost one-half (45.9 per cent.) of the women in the more sliilled positions, with an average weekly wage of S8.71, had this variety. Perhaps the better occupations of the women were due to higher family standards, and these standards also determined the wider range of food. Some analysis of the character of this greater variety may prove interesting. Did the increasing number of items take the form of a repetition of staple articles or the addition of what might be called luxuries? The menus were composed largely of the staple foods; the FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 141 W CO C3 ;ri ^ E^ 2^ *r^ "W ^ 5= C3^ 1 r^ ^ en <^ -W >?* O s fe. ►J H ^ M C-) 00 c<< QJ a 3 ^6 '"' '^ ^^ *"* CO N Ed <: a a 1- - "5 t^ M (M a SB ^6 °° CO CO to ■X! a z H 3 ta to . ■>J< a CO a •s CO a « •>S< c-i 00 to CO 2 < a z >< to ^'1 oq 1 C) M -^ '^. n Q a < a < M m SlH- rl » ~-l CO CO S 3 1 a 1-^ < < X fc- "^ CO ■* 01 CO « ■^ t/J ^ a a a 1 a f^a M< e^ >« to §fe CO ^ ^ « a ;» 3 S C-j *"* CO CO « ■ IM (M < H 1- t^ CO CO to 2 to 03 CO to ■^ M Lri (^ .^ 05 to CJ C-1 CO CO '-' 3 t z (1 M gi a a ri a " z SO 0" ■. UO C ^1 to C) ITS cn o '^o g o OQ S t: 00 O CO CO 5 o cc ^ CO o s O "J ^S o •^ m t^ \^ 5 o ^G (N "" K « 5 < 1- o >o o 1 00 CO cq Q H » 00 n CO C-- CO 00 CO fa si ■^ CO o e H tf w •< < 5« li o CO cvi Oi m o • a ;=■- H f "^i ct > ■^ ^rS a i.2 en M^ _ "5 1= 0; 1 3 TfC c o C- a tf 1 H w z P4 FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 143 so-called extras, such as desserts, cakes, pastry and salads, formed but one-twentieth (4.9 per cent.) of the total variety when less than 60 items were consumed in the week. (Tables 63 and 64.) The protein, mineral and carbohydrate groups were used a greater num- ber of times in the increasing ranges until the average variety became 72 items. At this point the appetite for protein and carbohydrate food seemed to be satisfied. The use of vegetables other than pota- toes, fresh fruit, milk and cocoa more than doubled when the total variety increased from an average of 72 to 86 (85.8) items for a week. The marked differences in the diets of the three nationality groups, designated for convenience as the English speaking, non-English speaking and Russian, as shown in Table 65, were the greater use of brefads, cereals, cakes, desserts and pastry in the English speaking, the lack of vegetables in the Russian, and the extensive use of soup, milk and cocoa by the non-English speaking and Russian groups. Although the Russians used fresh fruit oftener than either of the other groups this did not compensate for the lack of vegetables. There was a striking similarity in the number of times protein foods were used in the three groups (Table 66), but the distribution of the items within the group differed. The average Russian diet in- cluded meat once a day (7 times a week), fish every other day (3.7 times a week), eggs three (3.1) times a week. The English and non-English groups used meat 9 (9.3) times, fish once (1), eggs three (3.1) times and beans once (1.2 and 1.9) a week. Cheese formed a small portion of any diet. Beef and chicken were practically the only meats used by the Russian Jews, while the other nationalities showed a fair proportion of all meats, with beef predominating. The Eng- lish-speaking group consumed more cereals, cakes, desserts and pas- try. Sweets of any kind were practically lacking in the Russian diet. Cereals, a cheap form of carbohydrate food containing the val- uable vitamines, were little used by any group. Perhaps the unwise clinging to Old World standards under New World industrial condi- tions occasioned the disorders of nutrition from which so many of the Russian Jewesses were suffering. Fats were lacking in the Rus- sian diet. Adherence to the Jewish religion prevented the use of butter when meat was served, and prohibited the use of such fatty meats as bacon and salt pork. The high protein diet of the Russians, well adapted to outdoor work, was not modified by the increased 144 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. S .- a, S ^f o ^ I n < fee » C5 o o ^ ^ ^ g ^O < ^ o CI o to a C t- 1- « s 00 to w. o ^ a Eh Ed a *^a S c W5 ^ « to 1- ■ ,_, o ^ z to ■« ■* UO a o J S H s ^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ a 1-^ M CO Ph n a 00 SO t~ CO S a b S^ n o o "^ < 1- < a .^.i o cc ca cs o H -" s ,^ o o p C^l r-3 c<5 o < OO C2 O t^ a &: • < -^ OO » to 00 H n 1-^ CO CO CO fee ^6 00 CO « ^ IJ5 .J c^ H-< ;< b. •^S 3 .^ H C M o ^ . ? CT C5 > J3 rrW-E IE ^ f- C3 ■ — =i i 3 3 » M c r z H w Z rt FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 145 0^ \ ?^ C»D^ 1 ^ CO Q ^ Ci rO ""^ J- 5* c r^ O '^ f^ o " " CO ^ a i: o -H r~ t~ Q t/3 3 » 1^ Q a o H C<1 M . n 1- c •* H (M CO -H e! < to s Pi O is t- CO (N ■* H 1-° o OS g"S to to to "5 QO Q f^a (M ■^ "^ OS n CO to (M CO CO to ^ «i r-. CO to 00 00 CO to CO J ^cS CO TT CO CO < o 1- o C<5 Ci 00 to c^ go 3 t- to o to o 3 i o ^ to I^P Hg 1 hC bC CO H g .s.s ?5 o -a-o fa o 03 _3 OS <: Ph .s ^^ b IS X a s S H to M-- '« ;^ ■S oita s |;| 1 ;3 0) 1 3 tf 1 tf 146 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. consumption of bread or cereals and vegetables. The effect of this lack of vegetables is so evident in the case of the Russians that it is a common sajdng at dispensaries that it would be safe to prescribe Russian oil for every patient of that nationality. Constipation is so generally recognized to be the cause of other disorders that the results of its prevalence among such a large group of women workers are very far-reaching. Since more than three-fifths (63,3 per cent.) of the Russians stud- ied had constipation, the similarity between the diet of the women suffering from constipation and the Russian diet was to be expected (Tables 65 and 69). In comparison with that of the women suffering from other diseases, the diet of the constipation cases consisted of a higher proportion of protein foods, a much larger proportion of liquid foods, soup, milk, cocoa, and a smaller proportion of vegetables, all of which were directly conducive to constipation. It was often ig- norance that led to an aggravation of this trouble, because as soon as the symptoms appeared some of the Russian women began consuming boiled milk and soups and omitting solid food in the hope of regain- ing their normal health. The small use of water, as estimated by the women interviewed, perhaps explains this prevalence of constipation among some of them. The usual number of glasses of water a day, from 1 to 2 for the constipation group, was hardly enough to cleanse their systems, and from 2 to 3 glasses for the women with other disorders was slightly better. Tea, coffee, milk, cocoa were substituted for water to an equal extent in each group. A general feeling existed that it was a hardship to drink water except in the summer. One reason given was that cold water hurt the teeth, which was pertinent, since almost half (48.7 per cent.) of the women complained of the poor condition of their teeth. A second reason for not drinking more water was found in the statement of several women that the drinking of water between meals necessitated leaving their work at intervals during the day, and piece workers in particular did not wish to lose the time. These causes of the prevalence of constipation were substantiated by the findings of Dr. J. W. Schereschewsky in a study of the health of garment workers in New York City. More than one-fourth (26.8 per cent.) of the 1,000 women examined were suffering from chronic constipation. More than one-fifth (22.6 per cent.) had de- FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 147 CO ^ Q H 1-5 n < B ^c3 Ol ts. to 00 ^1 2 ^ rt 02 et ^ o> t^ ■* 00 m ej CO •* t^ 00 H Z P la g w , n P m '1 OS to N >j < -^^ (M M w ■-< m «J n Q H «! 1 s DO Sm- '^ ■^ ^ rt « 3 o ^•^ O ^ j ^ o C<1 CO W U5 H 00* § O « H , O 1- to lO CO T)i CO o fee ^(3 o ^ CO t^ « ^ ■* co t- H >- < (M IM a op M S ■< ^ a-S- . Z 3 "31 a W 2 rt 148 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. ^C5 ts s « CO s S J o £ |i Tf M fc- "^ o OO -f. ^; >J oi ci t^ ^ ^ O < •<" K 8- h c C5 1^ M O 3 D 1^ to W5 B C-. to to CO Q fee o CO ■* O Cu O O D (^ g CO is 00 ^ < 1-^ ^i Ij o t^ CO K <; p t^ ■* «o 1 10 '^ '"' ^ CO >• K n ^ o HH H . -^.i *"• oo '— ' H N J S c CO ^ TO fe m cc cc o <: X o 3 QJ o (^ cc 1^ 55 " c O oo ec ^ O fe g ^6 ■«* o ra •* 1-^ o o "p o o o Jl ^o H O H £ tH* t^ o -^ 3 0) o o 1^ CO S O i m t. O g to 00 00 3 ;z; ^^S in H tc ^ a m o c o c <; tc -♦-> 2 ■3 C 3 tM a o c j5 o o H O o 1 FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 149 fective teeth. '^ The causes for this large proportion suffering from constipation were summarized as follows:^ — In addition to purely occupational conditions, such as defective posture and the sitting position which favor habitual constipation, it would seem that certain dietetic factors in the case of garment workers predispose to this condition. The use of green vegetables and fresh fruit among garment workers was small, and milk was very generally drunk, especially at lunch time. Perhaps, however, the most important personal factor in inducing this condition was the very general neglect on the part of garment workers of forming regular habits of defecation. Leaving their homes for their work hurriedly in the morning, the visit to the toilet is put off for some more convenient time, and is too often forgotten in the stress of work at the shop. The data collected for the study seemed to disprove the common assumption that women suffering from unwise selections of food are excessive users of tea and coffee. Since over half (50.8 per cent.) of the women omit coffee and one-fourth (23 per cent.) tea, the average for those drinking these beverages is once a day (6.7 times a week) for coffee and 8 (8.4) times a week for tea. With a few exceptions the excessive use of candy very evidently has little connection with the ill health of these women, since less than one-eighth (12.5 per cent.) reported regular consumption of this confection. The use of the average in this food discussion resulted in the shortcomings of one menu correcting to a certain extent the short- comings of others. This average shows the family standard of living of a low wage, predominantly immigrant group. The monotonous diet of bread, meat and potatoes, prepared with little knowledge of skillful cookery, characterized in general the choice of food of this group. There were, however, striking variations among the menus submitted, as are shown in the accompanying samples. A twenty-year-old telephone operator, native born of Irish parents, suffering from stomach trouble, reported Menu I., and a twenty- two- year-old Russian Jewess who had been in this country for eight years, a bowmaker in a candy factory, with the prevalent disorder, constipation, reported Menu II. The total varieties differ by but one item, and approximate the average variety for the group. The ' United States Public Health Service, Bulletin No. 71, May, 1915, Studies in Vocational Diseases, I., The Health of Garment Workers, by J. W. Schereschewsky, p. 55. 2 Ibid, p. 64. 150 FOOD OF WORKING WOMEN IN BOSTON. 05 ^ia 8 ■§ ft CO J~ S ^• fe- g o I to to ^ <=*i3:j n 1 -*-> CO ^ U5 « s ^ ^ ^ < •^o » 6^ 1- o a 00 o t- H ^O a » P "5 >o W ^ o ^ ^ >o •o ■* Z C5 M a a >^ - ■Tj* OS 5 9. M ^ 1-^ n n CO 00 CO •* CO K b S ^ CO e» 05 » ^- V < K -i in m OO n 5 » s CO = - o •< 1^ 00 t~ 00 H » < a li "^ "^ ^fe o >o CO 3 « o ] , J ^- , "5 ■* CO ^5^ S fe t= O 1-^ s S H B O > < O 1- b » s^^ OO «; CO m z-^ _^^ 00 « t^ s CM s S^: 1- " P o . ^ S Hg OD M o o C o c to Q a '5 C3 fl ^ H U O C3 05 to o fa -< 1 o s^ Oh ^ to CO 'tS Oh o O Si to 00 1 « -I, & ^ I v.. ^ ^ S !<< P3 < S"S -^ CO lo •f ^C^ a, H B. is 00 - 5 ."1 « CM c^ B ^ ^c3 H H ^ B is < a n ^-^ OJ t- t>- o n < < ^o n g^: »n '^ ■* CJ Q ;|-^ « w lO CO CD < O w < to < s^ CO Q O O 2;^ ^ U H «1 Ol »^ t^ H ss ^O < S3 c 00 ^' ^^c3 CO eo Eh O tH 1- ,— ■ F O r •^ 3 ;^ t g ^^^ ^s to H to O O c o c bl Q ft -3 -S Xi H U O FOOD OF CERTAIN DISPENSARY PATIENTS. 151 lii "^ ■iS Q '^ 5.^ -«■ ;s o 2 '§ c e 51 Ss o ■is w "Sf .», 00 O i'g^ CO <» Is a, -iC 'S s: ^ c <» O s= s ^ tt3 so ^ w s ^^ g^ -s^ •*«:> <5"> <^ S r\ n < H fee' OS ffi o g ^6 1-H '"' " b. Q H Sfe -- CO o 3 0) 1-^ *-i " ^~' «« » 00 m g o C5 50 to in U B! b H S n H e t; CJ t~ o CO H fo 3 S 1-° ^ -a< " >j < n z fee IM ^ (M n ^ N (0 Sfe '^ >-; '^. s 3 ffi a 2;-^ e < a < B . -*^ CC c^ to u 05 q3 c § ^c3- ■^ (N tK o §3 a.; o tn M > 1- IN M 09 C<3 s fe"S t- to ^^ H m a f^6 t>- in ^ |i< o H ■< a H , n O 1- 00 M O PS o to 05 00 -t; O Eh a c t- ■* to 3 » CKi ^ cc ;s^ t- -: Ui •f-i t^ < H < t. "^ -- « c. H £ c H ^- ^^ '^ '^ - d W H H K 1 Cs CO 00 b 'i ci ^;-^ «| ^ •* (M K H ^0 z J >>$ £ *^ CO " < H CO ^^ CO rt Sb' 00 00 t^ H ^c3 CO -5 , c^ Q H ^;-^ >o IC ^ ,H 00 t^ >— < c •0 ■^ •0 . < ^a H B^ Pi p CO 1 oc U3 il CO C^ •* w z^ , ^ tc <&i 00 00 <; ^0 '" , (^ •* g 1 S a c 3 s M cq 1 H !- m iz;- fe « ^• t-; CO < H § %i rt C-) 10 UO 1-^ a J ^0 < H CO cc H gfe c^i c» t^ Z^ 1 .- c 1 ^^ CO g ■^ 1.-3 0! b » s: a & a ft 3 6 S i. i. ►J bC bC < ^ H "3 s "rt S 1