The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts CREATURE COMFORTS: THE EXCHANGE AND CONSUMPTION OF SUGAR, TOBACCO, AND OTHER EVERYDAY STIMULANTS DURING THE GREAT WAR A Dissertation in History by Robert W. Shafer © 2014 Robert W. Shafer Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2014 The dissertation of Robert W. Shafer was reviewed and approved* by the following: Sophie De Schaepdrijver Associate Professor of History Dissertation Adviser and Committee Chair Philip Jenkins Emeritus Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities Carol Reardon George Winfree Professor of American History Daniel Purdy Professor of German Studies Jonathan Brockopp Associate Professor of History and Religious Studies Director of Graduate Studies in History *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii Abstract This project explores the mobilization efforts undertaken during the First World War in their broadest sense. No war to date required nor mobilized the amount of materiél that was consumed from 1914-1918. These efforts included not only the physical organization and deployment of men and supplies. Recent scholarship has shown that morale was also mobilized and remobilized during the war. This study focuses on where these efforts converge: the use of everyday psychoactive stimulants and their effects on morale at the front, and the economic mobilization of these goods and industries en masse. As such, this project highlights the importance of a variety of agricultural products that are quite unnecessary to human subsistence, but have nonetheless come to be considered indispensable from everyday consumption. These ordinary goods include sugar, tobacco, coffee, tea, as well as alcoholic beverages. This work analyzes how the British and German armies were supplied with and obtained these stimulants, and the role these seemingly mundane comforts played in soldiers’ daily lives, emphasizing how they influenced the mediation of relationships amongst the men at the various fronts. iii Table of Contents List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………vii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………….. viii Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 - World War I as a Reflection of Civil Society……………………………………….14 - Commonplace Luxuries, Everyday Stimulants, and Genussmittel: A Note about Terminology…………………………………………………………………...19 - Chapters at a Glance………………………………………………………………..22 - Summary of Research Methodology……………………………………………… 30 Chapter 1: Manipulating the Body: The Ritualistic, Physiological, and Psychoactive Uses of Creature Comforts………………………………………………………………32 - What’s the Appeal? Psychoactive and Physiological Properties of Everyday Stimulants…………………………………………………………………34 - From Elite Luxury to Everyday Stimulant: A Brief Historical Survey of Commonplace Psychoactive Comforts………………………………………………39 - The Scourge of the Century: Nerves and Inefficiency……………………………...46 - Habitualization, Ritualization, and Consumption at the Fronts………....………....49 - Manipulating the Body at the Front………………………………………………..59 - In Desperate Need of a Fix: Ersatz Stimulants at the Fronts……………………... 66 - Conclusion: The Reinforcing Effects of Everyday Stimulants……………………. 68 Chapter 2: The Performance of Sharing: Exchange of Everyday Stimulants and the Mediation of Peer Relationships at the Fronts…………………………………………..71 - The Ritual Performance of Gift Exchange: A Social Anthropological Perspective…………………………………………………………………………...72 - Ideal Symbols/ Ideal Gifts…………………………………………………………..81 - Sharing Comforts, Sharing Comradeship………………………………………….. 88 - Comradely Bonds, Enduring Limits………………………………………………...99 - The Struggle of Mediating Relationships………………………………………….106 - Conclusion: A Difference between Comradeship and Friendship, and the Place of Everyday Stimulants in the Negotiation of Social Relationships………….121 Chapter 3: The Social Contract of Stimulants: Official Provisioning and Inter-rank Exchange of Creature Comforts………………………………………………………...124 - Communicating the Deferential Agreement: Differing Perspectives……………..126 - Fulfilling the Social Contract: Official Military Supplies……………………….. 134 - Officially Augmenting Supplies: Military Canteens and Casinos………………...142 - Fostering the Social Contract: Individual Acts of the Deferential Agreement at the Fronts…………………………………………………………….157 iv - Violating the Contract: The Limits of Official Supplies and Breakdowns in the Deferential Agreement……………………………………….. 164 - Conclusions……………………………………………………………………… 174 Chapter 4: Posts of Love: The Exchange of Creature Comforts between the Home- Front and the Front Lines……………………………………………………………….175 - Threads of Continuity: Symbols of Sacrifice, Symbols of Love, and Enduring the Hardships of War…………………………………………………… 177 - Send Me Gifts! Soldiers Expectations of Personal Sacrifice from Family and Friends………………………………………………………………... 191 - Beyond the Home: Gifts from Friends, Acquaintances, and the Workplace……. 203 - Giving Gifts/ Bestowing Symbols: A Snapshot from the Home-Front…………...211 - Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….. 215 Chapter 5: Envisioning Comfort: Charitable Provisions of Everyday Stimulants to the Fronts………………….....………………………………………………...…... 216 - Discourses of Sacrifice: Appeals of Voluntary Aid Organizations…....………….219 - Putting Discourse into Action: Voluntary Aid Organizations and the Provisioning of Creature Comforts…………………………………………………225 - Measurements of Success: Soldiers’ Receptions towards Philanthropic Efforts………………………………………………………………………………242 - Comforts at a Cost: Corporate Donations, Marketing Schemes, and Ulterior Motives……………………………………………………………………………..255 - The Problems of Equitable Distribution and How Philanthropic Donations Could Adversely Affect Morale……………………………………………………259 Conclusion: Individual Acts of Sacrifice and Charity………………………………261 Chapter 6: Finding Comforts: Local Interactions and the Place of Everyday Stimulants……………………………………………………………………263 -In Search of Escape: Obtaining Consumable Comforts in Nearby Villages and Cities…………………………………………………………………. 265 - Finding Comfort: Scrounging and Looting Local Supplies………………………...275 - Soldiers’ Travels: The Contact Zones of Foreign Battlefields and Areas of Occupation………………………………………………………………..278 - Local Interactions in those Theaters Beyond the Western Front………….....…...292 - Conclusions……………………………………………………………………….300 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………..302 - Symbolism of Shortages: How (the lack of) Everyday Stimulants Contributed to the Collapse of the German Armies…………………….………… 303 - Changes in Consumption Habits and Societal Implications………………..……. 311 Implications for Future Wars……………………………………………………….316 - Potential Avenues for Future Research………………………………………….. 320 - Enduring War…………………………………………………………………….. 323 v Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………325 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Cadbury’s Cocoa Advertisement circa 1900…………………………………..48 Figure 2: Manoli Cigarette Competition Advertisement circa 1917, “Oben Hui, Unten pfui”………………………………………………………………….55 Figure 3: Manoli Cigarette Competition Advertisement circa 1917, Solders Sharing No. 1……………………………………………………………………83 Figure 4: Manoli Cigarette Competition Advertisement circa 1917, Solders Sharing No. 2……………………………………………………………………84 Figure 5: De Reszke Cigarette Advertisement, 12 December 1910……………………..86 Figure 6: German Soldiers Relaxing in Barracks………………………………………..89 Figure 7: Bitte! Cigarren und Cigaretten für unsere tapfern Soldaten………………….224 Figure 8: Martin’s Ltd. Advertisement, 17 March 1916, “A smoke is meat and drink to us out here”…………………………………………... 256 vii Acknowledgements When reflecting upon the long road of research and writing that has culminated in the work that follows, I find the expression “it takes a village” to be rather appropriate to describe the unwavering support I received each step of the way. To begin, I would like to sincerely thank my dissertation advisor Sophie De Schaepdrijver, as this project would not have been possible without the mentorship and guidance she provided. I would also like to express my immense gratitude to Philip Jenkins, Carol Reardon, and Daniel Purdy for serving on my committee, and for lending their expertise and invaluable insights to this project. Any limitations or shortcomings rest solely on my shoulders. This project would not have been possible without the generous financial support provided by the Penn State History Department and College of the Liberal Arts, the United States Army Center for Military History, the United States Army Military History Institute, and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. In the course of my travels and research I had the invaluable opportunity to share my ideas with some of the most generous scholars, who were always more than willing to take time out of their hectic schedules to meet with me to discuss my work and provide their expert insights and perspectives. I would especially like to thank Robert Proctor, Frank Trentmann, and Julian Putkowski for their kindness and generosity in this regard. I would also like to take a moment to thank the great professionals at each of the following archives and libraries that I had the privilege of conducting research at: the Imperial War Museum in London; The National Archives of the United Kingdom; the University of Birmingham Cadbury Research Library and Special Collections; the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford University; the United States Army Heritage and Education Center; the Bundesarchiv-Kriegsarchiv