Gin epidemic

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Depiction of gin consumption in a print by William Hogarth called Gin Lane

The gin epidemic or gin crisis describes a social phenomenon in Great Britain in the first half of the 18th century. From the beginning of the century to 1750, the per capita consumption of cheap brandy in the kingdom increased tenfold , which resulted in considerable health and social problems, especially in the slums of cities. In 1751, the gin epidemic could be contained through tax increases and the introduction of liquor licenses.

background

In Great Britain, gin was the name given to any form of cheap brandy. The gin epidemic was triggered by an increase in the beer tax in 1694. Around the same time, the modernization of agriculture led to overproduction of wheat. The excess wheat was used for brandy production, which made schnapps immensely cheaper.

The brandy not only offered a "new kind of drunkenness that was unknown to our ancestors". It was also a food substitute, a calorie gin was at times cheaper than a calorie bread. In addition, there were opportunities to earn a living through the retail trade; brandy was served in every fifth house in London . The health consequences were catastrophic. The death rate from alcohol consumption in London temporarily exceeded the birth rate . The child mortality rate was 75 percent.

After repeated half-hearted attempts by Parliament to reduce the consumption of spirits, drastic measures were adopted in 1751, which followed pressure from the public, especially from the social reformer Henry Fielding and intensified by the widespread pressure of the startling engravings of William Hogarth .

Effects

The case of Judith Dufour became known, who murdered her two-year-old daughter on February 27, 1734, moved out and buried her naked. With the little money she got for the baby clothes, she bought gin again immediately after the court records. Dufour was sentenced to death for this act and hanged.

literature

  • Daniel Defoe : A Brief Case of the Distillers and of the Distilling Trade in England , London: T. Warner, 1726

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The presentation follows, unless otherwise stated, Hasso Spode , alcohol (beer, spirits, wine) , in: Thomas Hengartner and Christoph Maria Merki (eds.): Genußmittel. A cultural history manual , Campus, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-593-36337-2 , pp. 25–80, here p. 55.
  2. ↑ a b Hans-Dieter Gelfert: Typically English: how the British became what they are , Verlag CH Beck, 2011, ISBN 978-3406617355 , p. 145.
  3. ↑ Henry Fielding quoted from Hasso Spode, alcohol (beer, spirits, wine) , in: Thomas Hengartner and Christoph Maria Merki (eds.): Genußmittel. A cultural history manual , Campus, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-593-36337-2 , pp. 25–80, here p. 55.
  4. ↑ a b Hans Watzl and Manfred V. Singer, The cultural history of alcohol , in: Manfred V. Singer (ed.): Alcohol and tobacco. Basics and secondary diseases , Thieme, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-13-146671-6 , pp. 3–12, here p. 9.
  5. ↑ 1734: Judith Defour, in the Gin Craze. ( executedtoday.com )
  6. ↑ Arne Molfenter: A kingdom crazy about gin. SPIEGEL Plus, May 25, 2017