The Second World War and Its New World of Wines, with Comparative Reference to South Africa and the U.S.A
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The Second World War and its New World of Wines, with comparative reference to South Africa and the U.S.A., c. 1939 – 1945. by Daniël S. R. du Toit Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of History in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Prof. William Richard Nasson December 2016 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Declaration By submitting this thesis electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the sole author thereof (save to the extent explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by Stellenbosch University will not infringe any third party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. D.S.R. du Toit Copyright © 2016 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved 2 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Abstract The following dissertation offers an investigative history of the transformation of two New World wine producers during the Second World War. Notable changes in the South African wine industry will be compared to that of California. The Second World War fundamentally altered technology, production, marketing, distribution, export capabilities, structure and consumption in the above-mentioned wine industries. Using the Union of South Africa as a point of departure, it will be shown how the War was both a predicament and an opportunity. This is by no means an extensive enquiry into these two wine industries in this period. Instead, it serves as a contribution to the miraculous and bottomless vat that is wine history. Opsomming Die volgende tesis bied ’n ondersoekende geskiedenis van die transformasie van twee Nuwe Wêreld-wynindustrieë gedurende die Tweede Wêreld Oorlog. Belangrike veranderinge in die Suid Afrikaanse wynindustrie in hierdie tyd sal vergelyk word met dié van Kalifornië. Die Tweede Wêreld Oorlog het beide die genoemde wynindustrieë wesenlik geaffekteer in terme van tegnologie, produksie, bemarking, distribusie, uitvoervermoëns, struktuur en verbruik. Deur die Unie van Suid Afrika te gebruik as ʼn vertrekpunt, sal daar gewys word hoe die Oorlog beide ʼn kwessie en ʼn geleentheid was. Dit is geensins ʼn omvattende studie van die twee wynindustrieë nie, maar dien liewer as ’n bydrae tot die wonderlike en bodemlose vaatjie van wyngeskiedenis. 3 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Contents Abstract ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.3 Opsomming ............................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Preface: “Pinotage smells of wet newspaper and feet” .......... Error! Bookmark not defined. INTRODUCTION ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER 1: Factors in Wine’s entry to the War ................... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER 2: Pressing the War ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER 3: War, its people, their machines and its wine ................................................. 71 CHAPTER 4: Surviving the War ............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Appendices ............................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. A wine line: The South African Industry from Genesis to after WOII .... Error! Bookmark not defined.149 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Addendum A: ....................................................................................................................... xv Addendum B: ......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Preface: “Pinotage smells of wet newspaper and feet” When my parents first drove into the autumn dusk of the Cape I was pretending to be asleep on the backseat of our Toyota Corolla. I thought that this would disqualify me from moving furniture from the bakkie in front of us when we got to our new home in Raithby, an old Methodist mission station village outside Stellenbosch. I was about the size of my own scarf; far smaller than the box of wine my parents had ironically brought from Pretoria. My mother asked my father about a cellar we drove past, which had ‘1945’ written on it. “Wasn’t that during the Second World War?” my mother asked. “I think so,” my father replied. It was quiet for a while before she asked another question: “Do you think it was bombed earlier in the War?” Although South Africa was never a battlefield of the Second World War, some of its industries were fundamentally altered by the conflict of 1939-1945. The wine industry in particular underwent certain transformations. One example of drastic change was the production of natural wines and brandies. Wine for distilling, which amounted to 152 722 gallons of wine at 20% strength in 1929, increased to 290 308 gallons by the end of 1939. In 1944 this became a staggering 509 792 gallons.1 Brandy consumption rose within the Union and in some instances it broke into new markets abroad. Overall, the K.W.V. (Ko-operatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging) made its biggest profits ever by selling Cape Smoke, a rough distilled wine, for the war effort. The massive £6 million profit made during the war, a figure not widely known, was a turning point in the K.W.V.’s history.2 At the same time, consumers in the Unites States of America saw one of the most extensive wine advertising campaigns ever. Wine consumption rose significantly from 0.259 gallons per capita in 1934 to 0.836 gallons in 1942.3 Adding to this, the unavailability of European wines during the war, even if it made out a relatively small amount of wines bought in America, gave Californian wines an opportunity to prove their credibility to a captive audience. 1 Departement van Landbou, Jaarverslag Van Die Sekretaris Van Landbou (Pretoria: State printer, 1945),181. 2 Ritzema de la Bat, interview with author, August 22, 2016. 3 The Wine Institute of California, “Statistical review of 1943,” Wines and Vines 25, no. 4 (April 1944): 34. 5 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za The reasoning behind this thesis, first and foremost, is to create a narrative of the South African wine industry during the Second World War. Its aim is to highlight important changes in production, marketing, distribution, exports, consumption, expansion, centralisation and various socio-economic concerns in this period. A discussion of Californian wines runs parallel to this inquiry in order to further illuminate change. I would like to thank Professor Bill Nasson, my grandparents, my parents and my siblings for all your sacrifices and support. I dedicate this work to Kathryn, who has shown that she can be all-forgiving as I disappear for days on end into my blanket- heap of damp newspapers in the Stellenbosch University underground library’s windowless compactus. Also, for finally drinking wine, even if it sometimes smells of feet. 6 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za INTRODUCTION Problem Statement: We need some light “I thought of my friends who had died of exposure And I remembered other ones Who had died from the lack of it”4 Despite being the subject of sundry literary and historical publications, much of the history of South African wines has not yet been exposed. Particularly surprising is the lack of research regarding the effects of the Second World War (1939-1945) on the production, marketing, export and domestic consumption of South African wines and brandies.5 The same has been true for other well-researched New World6 producers such as Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and even China. Only the United States of America, currently the biggest producer deemed as part of the New World, has seen a considerable number of researchers dealing with its wine industry during the Second World War.7 Even the great wine magnate, Robert Mondavi, managed to have work on this era published.8 The effects of the War are 4 Nick Cave, “Darker with the day,” in The Complete Lyrics: 1978-2013 (London: Penguin, 2007), 336. 5 The effect of the war on food control in South Africa during the war, however, has been well examined in Yolandi Albertyn, “Upsetting the applecart: Government and Food Control in the Union of South Africa during World War II c. 1939-1948,” MA diss., University of Stellenbosch, 2014. With regard to marketing of products in general, much insight is given in Fankie L. Monama, “Wartime propaganda in the Union of South Africa, 1939 – 1945,” PhD diss., University of Stellenbosch, 2014. 6 ‘New World’ as a term is often used with varying definitions; its plurality makes it difficult to explore in an academic context. More recently, it has commonly referred to Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zeeland, Peru, South Africa, and the United States (with California referred to as a wine producer in its own right). Some important works that have included some or all of the above as New World Wines are: Kym Anderson, “Wine's New World,” Foreign Policy, no. 136 (2003): 47-54; Alan Duncan and Greenaway David, “The Economics of Wine: Introduction,” The Economic Journal 118, no.