mechanics and functions of a smoke house - University of Delaware ...

varied from the laborers' and slaves'. As William Woys Weaver (foodway
specialist) explains, the slaughter of beef was considered an upper class
activity while bacon and pork were frequently considered "poverty food".
Fish and game were in many circumstances "'poverty food'" as well. Rivers,
marshes, and forests were considered common land through the early
nineteenth century and were depended upon by slaves, free blacks, and poor
whites as a source of free food~22
Inventories tenants William White (1793) and James Kimmey (1803)
reveal an interesting blend of upper and lower class provisions. William
White placed enough value on his "'meat"',and "Dryed Beef' to include them in
his inventory while James Kimmey included "1 fishing scaine, 1 cut veal, 17
and parcels salt pork".23 Dickinson himself reports to his wife of
meals imbibed while visiting Jones Neck property: "Judge then how 1
must feast, having dined every day since 1 came into this County upon small
Perch and Rock, abounding in Indian Com Bread ,,,24 and "two (dinners)
when lhad Rock, ...a fat partridge, and for Desert a fine Sweet Potato."25 His
wife also mentions food at Jones Neck in the winter of 1778. She Is grateful
not only for a warm house and plentiful butter and honey, but for "partridges,
turkeys, fowls, rabbits."20 Perch, rock, partridge, turkey, fowls, and rabbits
. were not preserved meats. They were fresh fare. One would not have found
any the above hanging in the Dickinson Smoke House. One would have found
beef, pork, bacon because although Dickinson was able to afford a wide
variety of fresh and prepared meats, both his, and his tenants table
ultimately dependent upon the standard staples of dried beef, salted pork,
and bacon. Despite the substantial consumption of fresh fish and game, these