I love reading about the life of people in the 19th century. This morning I was reading articles about the street food of London in the early 1800s. For very little money, you could buy hot food from street vendors. For example, a large hot baked potato ( 300 grams) with butter and salt cost only 1/2 a penny. Many working people first warmed their hands (with gloves) with it and then ate the potato and warmed themselves inside.
In this painting, “All Hot,” by Samuel Stanesby from 1804, we see a baked potato vendor.
And this is a drawing of a baked potato seller, 1851.
"The Baked Potato Man" by H.G. Hine and W.G. Mason, from Henry Mayhew's "London Labour and the London Poor" v.1. Caption reads: "Baked 'taturs! All 'ot, all 'ot!" From a daguerreotype by Beard. 1851.
You can read more about 200-year-old fast food in this article https://vichist.blogspot.com/2010/04/fast-food-generation.html
For example, a pint of hot pea soup cost half a penny. In 1850, you could buy a portion of hot eels (5-7 pieces) in broth for half a penny. This food was available even to the poorest classes. Half a mug of coffee, tea or cocoa cost the same halfpenny in the 1850s, in my opinion this is inexpensive compared to modern prices for coffee :)
But overnight stays were expensive: to spend the night in a doss house in London in the first half of the 19th century, you had to have as much as 4 pennies with you, and this was the lowest price.
And now I want some hot potatoes. I'm alone in the house now and I decided to go to my garden for vegetables. In the morning I walked several thousand steps to the garden and back, a pleasant walk in the fresh air.
I picked out a large potato and weighed it. 300 grams, not bad, I thought.
I weighed 3 onions from my garden. 230 grams, excellent.
I took 7 pieces of delicious tomatoes and put them on the scales. 323 grams
I added 3 tablespoons of sour cream (100 grams) to the tomatoes.
I boiled potatoes with onions. And figured that my portion for lunch would be 900 grams. Okay, I like to eat well.
I sprinkled some salt on the boiled potatoes and onions and voila, my simple lunch was ready.
I didn't buy any groceries today. Probably spent 20 cents on sour cream and 1-2 cents on gas, salt and water. But if I had gone to the store today for groceries I would have spent $10. Now I'm sitting here full and happy, writing this post. And I also managed to buy ETH for 2400 usdt this morning at a price of $4420, which also gives me positive vibes. For this post I will get some HIVE and my HP will be even bigger, HBD stack too. It's not life but a dream :)
I love these simple days. The food is healthy, the expenses are minimal, my income far exceeds my expenses on these days. There is plenty of time for reflection and for Hive.
I also found one person on Hive yesterday to talk to. That's good too. People need communication, especially on topics that interest them in this life.
It's 5 p.m. for me, I need to call my wife and find out how the kids are doing, I'll be visiting them in the capital in a few days. But for now I'm alone, alone with my thoughts, alone with my garden, alone on a sandy road near the forest, in a hat under the bright sun and a small bag in my hand.
