1920 | Food And Drink
Food And Drink
Average per capita U.S. flour consumption drops to 179 pounds, down from 224 pounds in 1900, as Americans eat more meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables while reducing consumption of baked goods and pasta.
U.S. food prices will fall 72 percent in the next 2 years as farm prices plummet.
The world sugar price drops from 30¢ per pound in August to 8¢ in December.
M. S. Hershey loses $2.5 million in the collapse of world sugar prices and other large sugar consumers also take heavy losses.
A new Life Savers plant opens at Port Chester, N.Y., and Mint Products, Inc., is renamed Life Savers, Inc. (see 1913). Edward J. Noble and Roy Allen have patented the Life Savers design ("Nothing enclosed by a circle"), Allen has traveled the country seeking new salespeople, and Noble brings his mechanical-engineer brother Bob into the firm as head of production. He has increased sales by placing his nickel Life Savers next to the cash register at cigar stores and restaurants, instructing cashiers to include nickels in every customer's change. Americans buy 68 million rolls of Life Savers, up from 914,000 in 1914, 6.7 million in 1915, nearly 22.5 million in 1916, and 39 million in 1918 as Prohibition proves a boon to the candy industry.
National Prohibition of sales of alcoholic beverages in the United States goes into effect January 16 (see 1919). A mock funeral for "John Barleycorn" is held January 15 at Norfolk, Va., by Iowa-born evangelist William Ashley "Billy" Sunday, 57, who has agitated for Prohibition but whose popularity now begins to fade.
Consumption of alcoholic beverages will continue in the United States despite Prohibition through illegal sales of bootleg beer and distilled spirits, legally permissible home-brewed wine, and homemade "bathtub gin." Fewer people will imbibe such beverages, but drinking has been socially acceptable for so long and is so widespread that the ban on selling alcoholic beverages will prove unenforceable.
Australians defeat several attempts to pass Prohibition laws.
Defeat of a proposed Scottish Prohibition law December 5 cheers many Scotsmen. The distillery lobby has dropped "No Change" leaflets from airplanes to back "Wee Dram" supporters, who have used economic arguments to win out over churchmen, especially strict sabbatarians, who deplore the high rate of drunkenness in Scotland, most notably in city slums.
Prohibition in the United States booms sales of coffee, soft drinks, and ice cream sodas.
The Good Humor is created by Youngstown, Ohio, confectioner Harry B. Burt, 44, who has read about the "I-Scream-Bar" patented last year by Christian Nelson and will obtain his own patent for a chocolate-covered ice cream bar on a stick (see 1924).
Pepsi-Cola's Caleb Bradham loses $150,000 (he has bought sugar at 22¢ per pound), and Pepsi-Cola heads toward bankruptcy (see 1907; Guth, 1933).
U.S. hotels begin in many instances to convert their bars into soda fountains and lunch counters in order to comply with Prohibition rules; soda jerks replace bar tenders.
The advent of Prohibition brings an end to the "free lunch" that has been a fixture at virtually every U.S. city bar and saloon (most did not give it away free but generally offered it at a nominal price of a nickel or so while charging 30¢ for a five-course businessman's lunch). The free luncheon buffet at Delmonico's in New York has included hard boiled eggs with caviar, half a lobster, cold cuts, lobster aspic, pickled walnuts, hot roast beef, and Kentucky hams. Other fashionable restaurants have offered similar spreads.