Just a quick Google of the term "chicken consumption" calls up a bunch of
interesting info for the modern commerical meat industry in the US, at
least for the 20th century (especially post-WWII), which naturally does not
take into account consumption one's own yardbirds. I doubt that there are
any meaningful national data prior to that time, and one would have to
research regional and local trends.
Stats showing US per capita consumption by year from 1960 to 2007 (showing
a tripling of consumption over that period):
http://www.foodreference.com/html/f-chick-consp.html
An interesting article on industrial trends since 1955:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3284/is_n1_v12/ai_7678605
Neat graph comparing consumtion of beef, pork, and chicken in US from 1909
to 1999.
http://www.nass.usda.gov/ms/beef.pdf
Bob Genheimer
<BGenheimer@CINCY To: [log in to unmask]
MUSEUM.ORG> cc: (bcc: Vergil Noble/MWAC/NPS)
Sent by: Subject: Re: poultry consumption
HISTORICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
<[log in to unmask]
>
08/30/2007 04:11
PM AST
Please respond to
HISTORICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
I must say that none of this discussion has convinced me that chicken is
the province of the wealthy or higher socio-economic status, or at least in
any demonstrable and consistent fashion. There are simply too many
variables to control for in these anecdotal comparisons. What was the
availability of chicken and poultry in these various markets? How were
decisions made based on self-raised vs. store bought? How representative
are these features of the people who contributed to them and broader
national trends in meat consumption? It is certainly possible that urban
dwellers at the time who did not keep their own fowl might have weighed the
choice between beef, pork, and bird, and simply chose a greater percentage
of the first two. And, the rich widow with all the chicken bones, may have
simply really liked chicken!
What I would really like to see is a comprehensive study on the
availability and comparative pricing of beef, pork, sheep, and bird from
the last half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. I'm sure
one of you will tell me it has been done!
Bob Genheimer
George Rieveschl Curator of Archaeology
Cincinnati Museum Center
1301 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
513-455-7161
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Wendy
Nettles
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 12:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: poultry consumption
Meli,
I may have some information on poultry consumption that may be of help. We
recently have completed two large urban archaeological data recovery
projects in California. The first was in Sacramento, where we tested two
city blocks (for those interested, between Q and R streets, 3rd through 5th
streets). A total of 35 features were recovered, primarily privies and
trash pits, with most deposition dates between 1891 and 1907 (There were a
few earlier (1871) and later (1930s)). This was a residential
neighborhood,
very middle-class and cosmopolitan. We did faunal and macrobotanical
dietary analysis and had some interesting results. Poultry, including
chicken, goose, turkey, and duck, composed about 13% of faunal assemblage
in
two analytical units (both turn of the 20th century). The faunal
assemblage
from another feature in that project area, a wealthy widow's privy with a
TPQ of 1873,was dominated by chicken (74%!!). We could only attribute this
to her economic status.
The other project was in downtown San Luis Obispo, CA. Feature
associations
in that project were a bit more varied, with faunal assemblages from a
residence, a saloon/lunchroom, and a brothel. The faunal assemblage from
the residence came from two discrete features, one dating to 1890, the
other
to 1904. In the earlier feature, poultry included chicken, quail, and
turkey, comprising about 4% of the assemblage. In the later feature,
poultry included chicken, quail, turkey, and duck, and comprised about 9.5%
of the assemblage. Other meat cuts and artifacts in the features suggested
that the resident's wealth increased through time, and he was purchasing
better meat cuts and household items later in his life. We attributed the
increase in chicken to an increase in wealth. In the saloon/lunchroom
feature (1905), 8% of the assemblage was chicken. The brothel privy
(1890)was dominated by chicken - 33%. The next highest percentage was beef
at 22%. The brothel privy contained quite a variety of artifacts, and they
were indicative of a large amount of income. Again, we attributed the
presence of that much chicken was an economic indicator.
These are very quick summaries of these projects. I would be glad to send
you a copy of each report, but they are very large (even in pdf), so I
would
have to mail you a cd. If you think they may be helpful, just let me know
and I can get them to you.
You may also want to peruse the reports put out by the Anthropological
Studies Center at Sonoma State University. Quite a few of their projects
were in urban contexts from the late 19th and early 20th century. A list
of
publications is at http://www.sonoma.edu/asc/publications/index.html
Wendy M. Nettles
Staff Archaeologist
Applied EarthWorks, Inc.
5090 N. Fruit Ave.
Suite 101
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 229-1856 ext 13
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