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Abstract
The slow but significant changes in the material culture of European households that took place in the pre-industrial period are visible in several ways, such as in the changing patterns of housing, furnishing and clothing which have been illustrated in several studies. However, most of these studies focus on the pre-industrial economic leaders, often ignoring the changes taking place on the margins of the economic growth centres. This article seeks to rectify this by looking at changes in the material culture in one such ‘marginal’ country, namely Norway. The goods focused upon in this case are sugar, tobacco and coffee, which are often termed as exotic goods. These were new commodities in the 18th century and precisely because of their novelty and foreign origin, it is in many cases possible to trace how they spread in rural society, as well as how they impacted it. The emphasis has been put on rural areas for the simple reason that this was where the overall majority of Norwegians lived at the time.
Notes
1 I am very grateful to Ola H. Grytten for allowing me to use the data on raw prices which he used to calculate his consumer price index (CPI) in Grytten, ‘A Consumer Price Index for Norway’.
2 Albala, Food; Shammas, ‘Impact of European demand’; Roche, A History of Everyday Things, 224; and Braudel, Vardagslivets strukturer, 112.
3 Hoskins, ‘The Rebuilding’, 272–6; De Vries, The Industrious Revolution, 126–33; Campbell, ‘Understanding Traditional and Modern Patterns of Consumption’.
4 Burke, Popular Culture, 339; Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour.
5 Pomeranz and Topik, The World that Trade Created; Pendergrast, Uncommon Grounds; Walwin, Fruits of Empire; Mintz, Sweetness and Power; Clarence-Smith and Topik, The Global Coffee Economy; Goodman, Tobacco in History, 59–70; O'Rourke and Williamson, ‘After Columbus’; Glamann and Oxenbøll, Studier i dansk merkantilisme; Christensen, Det Moderne Projekt; Feldbæk, ‘The Danish Asia Trade’, 3–27.
6 Guldberg, Philodani Undersøgelse; Martfelt, Philocosmi Betaenkninger; Feldbæk, Danmarks økonomiske historie, 144, 147: Bech, ‘Oplysning og Tolerance’, 226–34; Rasch and Sveistrup, Asiatisk Kompagni, 109.
7 Aabent brev 29.6.1632 Om forbud påTubaks Indførsel i Norge [a ban on tobacco was never implemented for Denmark], quoted in Fossem, ‘Tobakksproduksjon’, 138.
8 Fossem, ‘Tobakksproduksjon’, 138; Hodne, ‘Tobakken blir gledesspreder’, 159–61; Johannessen, ‘Krittpipenes kulturhistoire’. I am grateful to Jørgen Johannessen at the Norwegian Maritime History Museum for showing me the clay pipes and explaining the archeological dig.
9 ‘ … konernesis næseborsporte er derfor deylig oc sorte’, Petter Dass quoted in Tranberg, Korn og klasseskille, 202.
10 Grøn, Om kostholdet i Norge, 161–86.
11 Berg, Trondheim før Cicignon, 154–5.
12 The harbours covered in the study are Christiana, Drammen and Trondheim. These were the largest and most significant in the regions.
13 Sixty-six per cent in 1769 and sixty-seven per cent in 1801.
14 Only imports were noted. Goods arriving from domestic ports such as Copenhagen or Christiania were not.
15 Rasch, Dansk toldpolitik, chapter 6.
16 At least 80% of the tobacco in the last decades of the 18th century was imported through Amsterdam or other foreign ports. See, RA, Oslo, Generaltollkammeret, tollregnskap 1780–1795, Kristiania and Trondheim, Oslo.
17 Walwin, Fruits of Empire, 66–88.
18 Tvethe, Norges Statistik, 381.
19 Fløystad, ‘Arbeidsmandens lod, det nødtørftige brød’, 30.
20 Riksarkivaren, Norge i 1743, vol. 1–5.
21 Bassø, ‘Rakkestad’, 249.
22 Strøm, Sunnmøre, 217–18.
23 Smith, ‘Trysil’; Arentz, ‘Sunnfjord’, 28; Lassen quoted in Tranberg, Korn og klasseskille, 202; Gjellebøl, ‘Setesdalen’, 59; Riksarkivaren, Norge i 1743, vol. 5, 199.
24 Thue, ‘Kristiansund’.
25 Den lille tariff; Beretning om sundhedstilstanden og medicinalforholdene i Norge i 1860, 123.
26 SA,Trondheim, Probate invetories (skifteprotokoller), Møre og Romsdal, 22/4 1822 Rasmus Rønneberg. SA,Trondheim, Probate invetories (skifteprotokoller), 31/4 1788 Margrete Rønneberg.
27 Holmsen, Før bonden ble foretningsmann, 65.
28 RA, Oslo, Generaltollkammeret, tollregnskap 1780–1795, Christiania, Drammen, and Trondheim; Wilse, ‘Eidsberg’, 6.
29 Struwe, Dansk Ostindien, 139; Vibæk, Dansk Vestindien; Gøbel, ‘Danish Trade’.
30 RA, Oslo, Generaltollkammeret, tollregnskap 1785–1795, Kristiania, Trondheim; RA, Copenhagen, Rentekammeret og generaltollkammeret, 136 Beregning over tollinteradensbeløp sønnafjeldske tollkontor, 1707–85, shelf 4a10222.
31 Rönnbäck, Commerce and Colonisation, 115.
32 RA, Copenhagen, Vest-Indiske kompagni.
33 I am grateful to Knut Sprauten for the argument of freight rates from his unpublished doctoral manuscript.
34 Grytten, ‘A Consumer Price Index’. I am very grateful to Ola H. Grytten for permitting me to use his data.
35 Ola H. Grytten has kindly permitted me to use the raw data of prices between 1830 and 1850 which he used for his CPI calculations in Grytten, ‘A Consumer Price Index’.
36 Rönnbäck, ‘Transforming Consumption’.
37 Little is known about Norwegian honey production, but so far neither sources covering domestic agricultural production nor dietary information indicate that it was used in substantial quantities. There is one reference to honey cakes as prizes at the annual fair, Momarkedet, in the topographic literature. Likely, the use of honey was limited to festive occasions and special feasts.
38 Hammer, ‘Hadeland’, 113.
39 Recipes such as bigat, ‘a ragout of cow muzzle and feet in a sweet soup of sugar or syrup, currants and bits of apple’, and strawberry soup, ‘made of strawberries boiled in water, sieved through a cloth, mixed with some flour, sugar, wine and cinnamon. Eaten with diced rye or wheat bread which has been fried in butter’, Hammer, Norsk Koge-Bok.
40 Bull, ‘Handelshistorie som bindeledd’.
41 SA. Bergen, Privatarkiv, Movinkel, (Ms 814 B 18 og 19, UBB). I am grateful to Stein Tveite for letting me use his notes of these items and prices.
42 RA. Oslo, Pram, C.: Inberetning til det Kongelige General land Oeconomie og Commerce Collegium, Kommerciekollegiet, Produksjons- og fiskerifagets sekretariat, Chr. Prams innberetninger, nr. 1322.
43 Norske Inteligenssedler, no. 1–12 (1763).
44 Clausen and Rist, Memoire og Breve, 2–3.
45 Den lille tariff.
46 Holmsen, Før bonden ble foretningsmann, 65; Bull, ‘Handelshistorie som bindeledd’.
47 Maren E. Bang, quoted in Notaker, Ganens makt, 220.
48 Notaker, Ganens makt, 181; see also Notaker, Fra Kalvedans til bankebiff.
49 Quoted in Notaker, Ganens makt, 120, 233.
50 Norske Inteligenz-Sedler, nr. 2/1770.
51 In the records of the Chamber of Commerce the production was termed ‘sjokolade og lac’. The first means chocolate, but the meaning of the latter term is more unclear. ‘Lac’ can mean varnish or sealing wax, but it can also have meant ‘lake’, as in ‘sukkerlake’, that is, melted sugar which is used in sugar candy. Both products require much heat to be produced. Probably, they meant the latter since there are few other commonalities than heat between chocolate and varnish.
52 Næss, Erichsens konditori, 7.
53 In the early 1780s, 94% of the coffee imported in Norway arrived via Copenhagen; in 1795, 63% were imported, mostly from Amsterdam and possibly from the Dutch coffee plantations on Java. RA. Oslo, Generaltollkammeret, tollregnskap 1780–1795, Christiania, Drammen, Trondheim.
54 RA. Oslo, Generaltollkammeret, tollregnskap 1780–1795, Kristiania and Trondheim, Oslo.
55 Clarence-Smith and Topik, The Global Coffee Economy, 29–30.
56 Fløystad, Agders historie, 123.
57 RA. Oslo. Pram, C.: Inberetning til det Kongelige General land Oeconomie og Commerce Collegium, Kommerciekollegiet, Produksjons- og fiskerifagets sekretariat, Chr. Prams innberetninger, nr. 1322; Madam Ø.’s letters printed in Norske Inteligenssedler, no. 4–9, 1763.
58 ‘When she has dressed, she drinks tea, coffee and chocolate, until the clock is just eleven. Then the table and plates are set … ’ Quoted in Notaker, Ganens makt, 120, 233.
59 Schwach, Erindringer.
60 Coffee is mentioned in ‘Gjerdum prestegjeld’ and tea is mentioned in ‘Øvre Romerike’ and ‘Odalen sorenskriveri’; Riksarkivaren, Norge i 1743, vol. 1, 414, 402.
61 For. 20.1.1783: Ang. Overdaadigheds-Indskrænknin for Danmark, in Schou, Chronologisk Register, vol. VIII, 362–70.
62 Sommerfeldt, ‘Christiansamt’; Strøm, Eiker.
63 Smith, ‘Trysil’, 15.
64 RA. Oslo. Privatarkiv no. 87, Andreas Schiøller, dagbøker, Oslo.
65 Clarence-Smith and Topik, The Global Coffee Economy, 29–30.
66 Den lille tariff.
67 Budstikken, no. 67 and 68, 1818.
68 Holmsen, Før bonden ble foretningsmann, 65.
69 Amtmannsberetningene, Beretninger om den Oeconomiske Tilstand, Table 14.
70 Cichorie-Roden.
71 Beretning om sundhedstilstanden og medicinalforholdene i Norge i 1860, 42–3.
72 Sundt, Om Sædeligheds-Tilstanden, chapter 8.
73 Grøn, Om kostholdet i Norge.
74 Tranberg, Korn og klasseskille; Hutchinson, Disse tider, 246–52; Fløystad, Agders historie, 121–7; Eliassen, ‘Den førindustrielle byen’.
75 Bassø, ‘Rakkestad’, 85
76 Fløystad, ‘Arbeidsmandens lod, det nødtørftige brød’, 230–1.
77 Næs ironworks were located in southwestern Norway. This is presently the only price available. Even though much indicates that eastern Norway tended to have higher prices and wages than western Norway, the discrepancies would likely not constitute a dramatic difference in this sort of approximate study.
78 Smith, ‘Trysil’.
79 His opinion was that tobacco as well as the outsourcing of work to external artisans were unsound ways to spend resources.
80 Fløystad, ‘Arbeidsmandens lod, det nødtørftige brød’, 230–1.
81 Strøm, Sunnmøre, 217–18.
82 Price of one pound of coffee paid by Ole Olsen, Sætren in Østerdalen, 23 November 1799, to the Christiania merchant Andreas Schiøller. It should be noted that the merchant would not have been permitted to sell coffee in rural areas until 1799. RA Oslo. Privatarkiv no. 87, Andreas Schiøller.
83 Shammas, The Pre-industrial Consumer, 79; Rönnbäck, ‘Transforming Consumption’; De Vries, The Industrious Revolution, 182.
84 Schweigaard, Norges Statistik; Tvethe, Norges Statistik, 380.; De Vries, The Industrious Revolution, 184.
85 Shammas, The Pre-industrial Consumer, 77–83.
86 Ibid., 83.
87 It should be noted that KlasRönnbäck's estimates for Denmark (using the Sound tolls) differ significantly from older estimates by Sveistrup and Willerslev: 1745, 0.09; 1770, 0.88; 1798, 1.25; 1834, 2.50; 1836–9, 3.75; 1840, 4.00; 1846–8, 6.99; 1849–51, 7.55; 1856, 8.27; 1858, 7.98; 1865–7, 9.79; 1866–70, 9.92; 1871–3, 12.62. Sveistrup and Willerslev, Den danske Sukkerhandels og Sukkerproduksjons Historie, p. 367. (I am grateful to Rasmus Glenthøy for helping me find the last reference.)
88 De Vries, The Industrious Revolution, 184.
89 Shammas, The Pre-industrial Consumer, 79; De Vries, The Industrious Revolution, 182.
90 Schweigaard, Norges Statistik.
91 Customs records for Trondheim and Christiania, divided by the populations in these districts.
92 Shammas, The Pre-industrial Consumer, 77–83.
93 Campbell, ‘Understanding Traditional and Modern Patterns’; Breen, ‘The Meaning of Things’; Porter, Enlightenment, 18.
94 Riksarkivaren, Norge i 1743, vol. 4, Gloppen prestegjeld; Smith, ‘Trysil’, 103–4; Strøm, Sunnmøre; Goodman, Tobacco in History, chapter 3; Wallwin, Fruits of Empire.
95 Weatherill, ‘The Meaning of Consumer Behavior’.
96 Fossem, ‘Tobakksproduksjon’, 144; Clausen and Rist, Memoirer og Breve.
97 Wilk, ‘Consumer Culture’
98 Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour.
99 Holm, ‘Lister og Mandals Amter’.
100 Strøm, Eiker, 233; ‘Dorper’ is not a norwegian word. Hans Strøm likely used it in the German meaning of a small town.
101 The correct spelling was ‘congou tea’ and ‘bohea tea’, but either the printer or the salesman misspelled them. The mistake may be explained by the distance from the main teadrinking market, England, as well as to China, but a more likely explanation the lack standardized orthography in the 18th century.
102 RA, Oslo, Generaltollkammeret, tollregnskap 1780–1795, Christiania, Drammen, and Trondheim; Adverts in Norske inteligenssedler 1763, 1773 and 1823.
103 Placat 26/3 1761: Placat ang. Priiserne i Købh. Hovedmagasin.. og prisene som detaljhandlerne igjen skal selge den, in Kong Fredrik V allernaadigste Forordninger og Aabne Breve, 52–5.
104 Riise, ed. Historisk-geographisk Archiv, ‘Et besøk hos en Chineser i Préanger-Regentskapet paa Java’.
105 SA, Trondheim, Trondheim Magistrat, Tobakksfabrikasjon og salg 1778–1786, boks Fe 21.
106 Riksarkivaren, Norge i 1743, vol. 2, Toten prestegjeld; Hoff, ‘Om Fredrikshald’.
107 Smith, ‘Trysil’, 30.
108 Tvethe, Norges Statistik, 115.
109 Strøm, Sunnmøre, 217–18.
110 Smith, ‘Trysil’, 30.
111 Holmsen, Før bonden ble foretningsmann, 64.
112 Shammas, The Pre-industrial consumer.