Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - II. The Swedish People - 3. National Character and Social Conditions. Introd. by [G. Sundbärg] J. Asproth - Customs and Mode of Life. By [G. Sundbärg and J. P. Velander] Einar J:son Thulin and V. Själander
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172
II. THE SWEDISH PEOPLE.
pretty nearly accords with the European average. This consumption is
considered to have increased latterly, but there are no figures available. On the
other hand, the consumption of mill-, which in 1885 was estimated by G.
Liljeholm at 183 liters per head (certainly an uncommonly high figure), is now
less than formerly, as larger and larger quantities are being devoted to
butter-making, for export purposes. According to Fahlbeck’s calculation, 5’5A kg of
butter were consumed annually — a very high figure in comparison with other
countries. Another important article of consumption is potatoes, as is shown
by Table 35. Sugar was formerly a luxury, the consumption of which during
the fifties amounted only to 3’8 kg per inhabitant and year. However in
consequence of the great fall of prices and the rise of a domestic manufacture of
beet-sugar in Sweden, sugar has become a necessary for all classes of the
population, and as the table shows, its consumption has greatly increased. There
has also been an enormous augmentation in the consumption of coffee; in fact,
Sweden is one of the greatest coffee-drinking countries, (in the north of Sweden
coffee-drinking is even carried to excess, particularly among the women). On
the other hand, tea is still confined to the more well-to-do classes.
Characteristic of the Swedish table is the "smörgåsbord" (it occurs also in Russia),
which consists of bread, butter, and a greater or smaller number of cold dishes,
such as, slices of meat, anchovies, herring, etc., (sometimes with one or two
minor hot dishes as well). Formerly "smörgåsbordet" was commonly called
"brännvinsbord", a dram of brännvin, a kind of potato brandy, being considered
an inseparable adjunct of it.
The consumption of tobacco, has from a European point of view, only racheed
a moderate level, a disproportionate amount falling, however, to snuff, the sale
of which for the year 1908 was reckoned at about 10 million kronor.
With regard to the consumption of intoxicating drinks, a detailed account
will be found under the section entitled "The Temperance Question". Here it
is only necessary to point out that the very large consumption of alcohol which
prevailed in Sweden at the beginning and in the middle of the last century,
has now diminished, and at the present time Sweden does not compare
unfavourably with other countries in this respect. Out of spirituous liquours,
brännvin shows by far the greatest consumption: about 26 million liters of it are
estimated to have been sold in 1911. The Swedish "national drink", as it is
often called, is punsch; however, it is consumed chiefly by the more well-to-do.
To sum up, it may be said that the "physiological budget" of the Swedish
people has considerably improved in recent times; mainly as the result of
increased prosperity, better means of communication, and educational progress.
Another important item as regards the standard of life is dwellings. No
methodical investigation of this subject embracing the whole country is yet
available. However, the State has now set oil foot an investigation of this
Table 36. Density of Population in Stockholm.
Year Number of inmates per 100 hearths > Overcrowded small dwellings2 Number of inmates in
overcrowded small dwellings2
absolute figures percentage figures absolute figures percen tage figures
1900 ....... 140 15 230 330 94 526 48-3
1905 ....... 132 14 265 26-8 87 189 41-2
1910....... 127 13 480 22-2 81 921 35-6
1 AH kinds of dwellings. — 2 The figures, both absolute and relative, refer only to small
dwellings and their inmates.
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