"Yea, I have a goodly heritage": health versus heredity in the Fitter Family contests, 1920-1928

By the 1920s, the future of the middle-class family had become a topic of great concern for mainstream Americans. This widespread concern led to a new acceptance of the discussion of sexual and marital issues in print and in public. Within this public discussion, eugenicists, physicians, clerics, sociologists, and various others offered solutions to the questions and concerns of their rapidly changing society. The Fitter Family contests, sponsored by eugenicists and held at state fairs in the 1920s, reflected these public and professional anxieties. Though infused with eugenic ideas about race betterment through better breeding, the contests were equally concerned with improving the health of individuals and strengthening American families.     

From the Waters to the Plate to the Latrine: Fish and Seafood from the Cardo V Sewer,Herculaneum

The excavation of an ancient sewer in the town of Herculaneum, Italy, provided the opportunity to study Roman diet in the Bay of Naples, including the marine component. The sewer served an apartment block which was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 and retained human and kitchen waste of the non-élite individuals living above. The remains showed a high degree of dietary diversity with around 70 fish, 48 marine mollusc and three marine arthropod taxa being identified. The fish were mostly small individuals which were probably netted in fairly shallow, coastal waters. The marine invertebrates included species of sandy shores, rocks and the sea bed but the majority could have been collected very close to the water’s edge. Both the fish and the shellfish would have been available locally in large quantities and probably represented cheap and nutritious dietary fare. Some of the consumed fish was probably salted (salsamenta) or fermented (as fish sauces such as garum), but it is thought that most of the fish and shellfish originated in the Bay of Naples and would have been purchased fresh. The difficulty of identifying preserved fish within the mixed sewer assemblage is discussed.