Seventy five years ago from The Vegetarian Autumn 1995 Since 1847, the Society has been producing a journal for the benefit of its members. Times change, but the issues surrounding the movement remain remarkably the same. Former Magazine Editor, now Local Network Co-ordinator Bronwen Humphreys looks back at the way we were. 1920 finds The Vegetarian Society still in Manchester, but now in offices in Deansgate instead of their Peter Street base of the 1890s. The Secretary is now a Mr Hough and The Vegetarian Messenger continues to be published monthly and boasts on the front page that it's in its 72nd year!

The magazine, like its predecessor of the 1890s, still looks yery different from modern publications. It is only A5 in size, the typeface is small and the text runs right across the page, so it looks more like the page of a book than a modern magazine. The earlier issues had no colour but by 1920, the cover and a few pages at the front and back were printed in blue ink. There are very few illustrations and the adverts are all clustered together at the front or back, so the magazine as a whole seems much less varied than its modern equivalent. It also has fewer pages per issue than the 1890s version and a definite air of utility. One wonders if the Society were going through a financial crisis or rationing following the Great War? The magazine sold for 1d per issue.

Some familiar names appear in the adverts; Marmite, Kellogg's corn flakes, Instant Postum, Bourneville Cocoa but I wonder what 'Universal Digestive Tea' and 'Magical Snow Flour' were? We might think soya milk is a fairly new product, but ads for Solac vegetarian milk appear regularly in the 1920 issues of The Vegetarian Messenger. Ads for McClinton's Soap (made from vegetable oils) and Goodwin's Vegetarian Jewellers (guaranteed to sell no leather, bone or ivory goods) show members were interested in carrying the vegetarian ethic into all areas of life, although choice seems to have been very limited. The autumn issues of the Messenger describe a Vegetarian Society 'Summer School' held at Arnold House, Llanddulas. This must have represented a triumph of organisation because it ran for five weeks at the height of the holiday season, with an average attendance of 70 people per week. There's a brief mention of lectures but quite a lot about excursions, dancing, and fancy dress parties. The cost was £2 7s 6d per week, with the Committee apologising for having to raise the fee for board and residence that year. On a serious note, the October issue has an article about the problems experienced by The French Vegetarian Society which seems to have lost most of its records during the First World War, and which was struggling to build up its membership list. It is a chilling reminder of how close to the Great War our predecessors were in 1920. A quote from the President of the Board of Agriculture is featured in the next issue which claims that 'as a result of war rationing the people have learned to eat less meat and are probably more healthy as a result of the reduced consumption.' Another article shows that zoos were a matter of concern even 75 years ago. A letter appearing in the Glasgow Herald is quoted 'In visiting them one is torn betwixt compassion for the imprisoned animals and contempt for the gaping crowds feeding the carnivora with buns... what possible benefit to humanity can accrue by breeding in captivity a race of animals with the same instincts as their ancestors but unable to gratify them...' Livestock markets don't appear to have improved either since the 1890s. Conditions in the Manchester Market are described: 'Upon reaching the temporary destination it is generally discovered that several of the animals have sustained various injuries as a result of this long journey. Notwithstanding this they are all herded together and driven to the market to await the stick of the drover and the bite of the dog.' Local groups seemed to be flourishing by the 1920s; the Annual Report for 1920 lists affiliated groups in Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Darlingron, Devon and Cornwall, Edinburgh, Leicester, Liverpool, Northamptonshire, Portsmouth, Southsea, Southport, Teeside and Wellingborough. The Friends, the Irish and the Scottish Societies are also affiliates. We know that vegetarianism first began in the Manchester area in connection with the Bible Christian Church in Salford - whose minister, the Rev Cowherd, asked members of the congregation to refrain from eating meat as early as 1807. In the 1920s, that link still existed as the report of the Annual Meeting mentions two services conducted at the Bible Christian Church, Salford, in conjunction with the Society. There is noticeably less emphasis on food in these issues, and recipes are almost impossible to find, but there is some advice on nutrition and a feeling that members of the time were concerned with food hygiene and 'purity'.
Back to Vegetarian History Index	next page - Winter 1920
The Vegetarian is published by The Vegetarian Society and is sent free of charge to all members.