The press referred to these months of turmoil as a period of “new orientation.”  It was a time of readjustment which did not reach a climax until December twelfth when the Chancellor proposed peace conferences to the Allies.

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     WHAT YOU CANNOT EAT OR DRINK

     FOODSTUFFS WHICH ARE COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED IN GERMANY

1.  Rice.                     12.  Nuts.
2.  Coffee.                   13.  Candy (a very limited
3.  Tea.                          number of persons can buy
4.  Cocoa.                        one-quarter of a pound
5.  Chocolate.                    about once a week).
6.  Olive oil.                14.  Malted milk.
7.  Cream.                    15.  Beer made of either
8.  Fruit flavorings.             malt or hops.
9.  Canned soups or           16.  Caviar.
soup cubes.               17.  Ice cream.
10.  Syrups.                   18.  Macaroni.
11.  Dried vegetables,
beans, peas, etc.

     WHAT YOU MAY EAT

     FOOD OBTAINABLE ONLY BY CARDS

  1.  Bread, 1,900 grams per week per person.
  2.  Meat, 250 grams (1/2 pound) per week per head.
  3.  Eggs, 1 per person every two weeks.
  4.  Butter, 90 grams per week per person.
  5.  Milk, 1 quart daily only for children under ten
     and invalids.
  6.  Potatoes, formerly 9 pounds per week; lately
     in many parts of Germany no potatoes were available.
  7.  Sugar, formerly 2 pounds per month, now 4 pounds,
     but this will not continue long.
  8.  Marmalade, or jam, 1/4 of a pound every month.
  9.  Noodles, 1/2 pound per person a month.
 10.  Sardines, or canned fish, small box per month.
 11.  Saccharine (a coal tar product substitute for sugar),
     about 25 small tablets a month.
 12.  Oatmeal, 1/2 of a pound per month for adults or 1 pound
     per month for children under twelve years.

     WHAT YOU CAN EAT

     FOODS WHICH EVERY ONE WITH MONEY CAN BUY

  1.  Geese, costing 8 to 10 marks per pound ($1.60 to
     $2 per pound).
  2.  Wild game, rabbits, ducks, deer, etc.
  3.  Smuggled meat, such as ham and bacon, for $2.50 per pound.
  4.  Vegetables, carrots, spinach, onions, cabbage, beets.
  5.  Apples, lemons, oranges.
  6.  Bottled oil made from seeds and roots for cooking
     purposes, costing $5 per pound.
  7.  Vinegar.
  8.  Fresh fish.
  9.  Fish sausage.
 10.  Pickles.
 11.  Duck, chicken and geese heads, feet and wings.
 12.  Black crows.

THE FOOD SITUATION AT A GLANCE

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CHAPTER VII

THE BUBBLING ECONOMIC VOLCANO