ABSTRACT
Transitionstage.Betweenthelate18thandthe early19thcenturyagradualchangeresultingfrom thespreadofhomeindustrycouldbeseeninthe traditionalmealsystemofruralfamilies.Those partsoftheagrarianpopulationreleasedfromthe oldersystemoffoodprovisionenlargedtheirpaletteofnutritionwiththehelpofthenewcashin hand.AsGunterWiegelmannrecentlydemonstrated withmaps,thecrucialchangesofourmealsystem werenotinitiatedmerelybyurbanisationandindustrialisationafterthemiddleofthe19thcentury. The"proto-industrialisation"(FrankMendels)inthe countrysidewasingeneralmoreimportantforthis alteration.Itseemsobviousthatzonesofearly industrialconcentrationarecorrelatedwiththe appearanceoffoodandmealinnovations:potatoes, beetsugar,chicorycoffee,andspiritsbegantobe incorporatedintodailymenusofthe"working classes"after1800.Newregionalmobility,the
There has long been a consensus that such percapita estimates are very inexact, and that numerous ambiguities and possibilities for error seriously reduce the value of such data. Before the founding of the German Reich in 1871, only the larger German states possessed "Statistical Bureaus", and the serial data they produced are of widely varying quality. The gaps become more numerous and the figures more questionable, the further one goes back into the 19th century. In the 18th century one can only rely on chance findings, mostly data of a regional or local nature. As a general conclusion, because of the varying quality and coverage of the statistical material, the various quantitative estimates for the period before the mid 1800's can hardly be compared with one another, and allow safe generalization only about a few selected problems.
