Richmond in the Midst of the Civil War
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"Bill of Fare," Mississippi Hospital No. 7, Howard's Grove hospital complex
Levin Joynes scrapbook
Call number: Mss1 J8586 b 225 [p.5]
Levin Smith Joynes (1819–1881) was a physician from the Eastern Shore who lived in Richmond for many years. He taught at the Medical College of Virginia and eventually became dean of the faculty. The hospital menu, from 1862, reflects the relative abundance of foodstuffs. View enlarged image |
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"A Literal Copy" of Corinthian Hall Bill of Fare
Call number: Mss1 J8586 b 225 [p.13, verso]
By March 1864 restaurants' menu prices had risen exponentially. The Corinthian Hall, located on Main Street, charged $7.50 for ham and eggs and $4.00 for a plain omelet. Restaurateurs, for their part, likely made little profit, given that flour went for as much as $500 per barrel, bacon could fetch $9 per pound, and black-eyed peas cost in the neighborhood of $60 per bushel. View enlarged image |
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"Special Orders No. 163," Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, Richmond, July 1864
Levin Joynes scrapbook
Call number: Mss1 J8586 b 225 [p.24]
Levin Joynes meticulously tracked prices in the Richmond markets, which tended to fluctuate dramatically with the battlefield fortunes of the Southern army. Joynes noted on his copy of the official price schedule the words "advance" and "retreat", which referred to the progress of the Union army in the early stages of its campaign in the Shenandoah Valley in the summer of 1864.
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"Dimensions of a Baker's Loaf . . . Jan. 30 1865"
Levin Joynes scrapbook
Mss1 J8586 b 225 [p.27, verso]
Levin Joynes's depiction—presumably in actual size—of a "Baker's Loaf" of bread speaks volumes about the dire straits facing Richmonders in January 1865. The loaf weighed just three and a half ounces. Joynes bemoaned Richmond prices in letters to relatives, and he took measures to avoid inflation in the city. Writing to his sister in December of 1862, Joynes described "having undertaken, for the first time, to cure our own bacon. Nine hogs constitute the amount of our sacrifice . . . . I have grave fears lest our first attempt may prove unsuccessful, and failure in these times would be a serious matter—seeing that nine hogs . . . cost $420."
(quotation from Levin Smith Joynes, Joynes family papers, Section 7, Mss1 J8586 b 120–141) View enlarged image |
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