Food Expenses in the Rhythm of Daily Life. An Analysis of Household Accounts
Food Expenses in the Rhythm of Daily Life. An Analysis of Household Accounts

Summary/Abstract: The subject of detailed analysis presented in the article is the dailyshopping and food expenses incurred by a single family resident in a large Polishcity in the period of the People’s Republic of Poland. The source material for theanalysis is the ledger of daily food expenses originating from a set of householdaccounts in the household of a female clerk in Łódź, which in its entirety covers theperiod from August 1952 to August 2004. The analysis presented herein, however,is based on a detailed analysis of records pertaining to only three selected monthsof the autumn of 1960, that is expenses dated from 1st September to 30th November1960. The main aim of the analysis is not to exhaustively document the specificityof the period of the People’s Republic of Poland, but only to present the sourcematerial and its interpretative capability, as well as to show a small section fromthe picture of daily life revealed by one family’s three-month expenses. The authordemonstrates that a detailed description of the daily shopping may constitute avery clear illustration of the specificity of private life in the given time and culturalspace, as well as a reflection of not only the socio-economic, but also the politicalconditions in which the shopping is done.

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