What was the food basket in the Russian Empire

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

During periods of crisis for the Russian economy, the term "food basket" becomes a popular term. It is interesting to see what the people had for their livelihood in past eras. For example, before the revolution.

Who is considered a simple Russian?

First of all, let's decide whose standard of living will interest us. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, the bulk of the country's population was made up of peasants. However, their consumer basket was filled mainly with products of their own production - peasants produced food and clothing for themselves at the beginning of the 20th century, and in the 19th and 18th centuries, and were little dependent on the market.

It is more interesting to study the consumer basket of other large segments of the population - factory workers, city officials and the military. The consumer basket of the middle class from these strata will be an adequate reflection of reality.

Tsarist time

“Life under the Tsar” is a kind of myth that has long been rooted in our minds. In fact, the living standards of workers in the 1880s and 1910s differed greatly. After the Morozov strike of 1885, the living conditions of the workers gradually began to improve. Child labor was banned, night work was limited, and wages began to rise. After the 1905 revolution, wages began to grow even more strongly, significantly outstripping inflation. Finally, from 1914 to 1917, prices rose 300%. Wages increased to the same extent, but there were changes in the consumer basket: some products became scarce, and sugar cards were introduced.

Housing issue

The consumer basket is highly dependent on the amount of money that needs to be spent on housing. Before the construction of communal apartments and Khrushchev houses, there was almost no mass housing for townspeople in Russia, and what was was expensive. In big cities, this problem was solved by the owners of enterprises: after 1885 (and especially after the revolution of 1905-1907), manufacturers began to allocate significant funds for the construction and arrangement of housing for workers. This made it possible to reduce the cost of housing, and thereby improve the consumer basket of townspeople. Thus, according to data from 1908-1913, workers in St. Petersburg, Bogorodsk, Baku and Kiev spent only 10 to 20% of their monthly wages on housing.

Taxes, agriculture and qualifications

Another difference in tsarist Russia was the small taxes paid by the townspeople - until 1914 this amount was kept at about 3 rubles a month. Also, the consumer basket at that time cost less (for the same quality) due to the cheapness of many agricultural products.

Milk, bread, onions, beets, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, even in the capital cities, were very cheap. By the way, the maximum mark-up on food that was transported from the Moscow region to the capital was only 10%.

The qualifications of the worker played an important role: unskilled workers at the Obukhov plant in Petrograd in January 1917 received 160 rubles, and the rest - from 220 to 400 rubles a month. Historians estimate that food for workers in capitals and provincial cities improved significantly between 1885 and 1914.

If in 1885 a man spent 34 to 45% of his earnings on food (and a woman about 57%), then in 1914 a man spent only 25% of his salary on food, and a woman - 33%.

Expenditures on clothing, footwear, housing improvements, newspapers, magazines, books, theater, as well as education for children and transport - then the city tram and train - increased. Thus, the translation of prices into modern rubles, which can often be found on the Internet, is rarely correct. In such cases, it is better to refer to the primary sources.

What the average official ate at the turn of the century

A good illustration of the consumer basket of the average person at the beginning of the last century is provided by the book of expenses, which was kept by an official from Uglich in 1903 (the document is kept in the city museum of everyday life in Uglich).

His salary consisted of 45 rubles a month, he paid 5 rubles for an apartment. 50 kopecks The official ate not very varied, but his food basket included meat, fish, fresh vegetables, milk, cereals, bakery products.

For his earnings, he paid little for these products: a loaf cost 2 kopecks, a jar of milk - 6 kopecks, a bucket of cabbage - 25, and a bag of potatoes - 35 kopecks (you could bargain for 30). 2 pounds of cooked sausage (about 800 grams) sold for 30 kopecks. A bottle of vodka cost 38 kopecks, and two herrings (for a snack) another 14 kopecks. Fresh pike sold for 10. It is worth noting that there are almost no pasta in the invoice book. The fact is that they became the usual food of the townspeople only recently - after the Great Patriotic War, but in tsarist Russia they were an expensive commodity. The reason for this lies in the fact that for the production of pasta (but not traditional Russian noodles!), For their drying, industrial production is needed. There were almost no pasta factories in Russia at that time.

Income and expenses of workers, military and townspeople

The urban worker in 1903 could afford much less - his average salary in the empire ranged from 8 to 50 rubles a month. But after the revolution of 1905-1907, it went up sharply: weavers and dyers in 1913 received almost 28 rubles each, while machinists and electricians were paid more than 90 rubles each.

Higher artisans received about 63 rubles, a little less blacksmiths, locksmiths and turners. Even with rising prices, workers could now afford significantly more delicacies. The salaries of the military also varied: the general received (with all allowances) 8,000 rubles a year, the colonel - almost 2,800, the lieutenant - about 1110, and the warrant officer - in the region of 800 (about 66 rubles a month). However, the officers had another item of expenses: they ordered the uniform for themselves and it was not cheap. People of mental labor - gymnasium teachers, received more highly qualified workers, and elementary school teachers a little less.

Consumer basket during the war

During the First World War, the situation with the consumer basket changed little. There was enough food, and coupons were introduced only for sugar. However, food prices have jumped about 4 times in three years. The growth of wages was about the same: if in 1914 a worker at the Putilov plant in St. Petersburg received about 50 rubles a month, then in January 1917 at the neighboring Obukhov plant it was equal to 250-300 rubles.

The minimum monthly family budget (3 people) of such a worker was calculated at 169 rubles, of which 29 rubles. went to housing, 42 rubles - for clothes and shoes, the remaining 98 rubles - for food.

Thus, when we talk about the pre-revolution consumer basket, we must take into account several peculiarities. Low taxes, the cheapness of many agricultural products, and the strong dependence of the consumer basket on the qualifications of the worker had a very significant impact on the consumer basket. After 1907, its quality began to improve dramatically. This happened both because of the growth of wages, which outstripped inflation, and because of the improvement and reduction in the cost of housing. A skilled worker in 1914 could spend much more money on leisure and entertainment, and even the outbreak of war did not greatly affect his welfare.