Jeanne,
Having lived in the south for many years now, my first thought was whether
cashew consumption arose b/c of a problem with domestic peanuts. Or, whether
nuts in general saw a rise in consumption during the Depression. Federal
farm policies during this time might hold some clues.

Meg

On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 8:41 AM, Jeanne Marie Penvenne <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
> I am an interloper on your list.  My partner Norman Bennett who writes on
> the Port wine trade is your member.
>
> I have an odd query for you.  I am a urban labor historian who works on
> Lourenço Marques  Mozambique (today Maputo).
>
> In the late colonial era Mozambique was one of the leading producers of
> cashew nuts, and I'm writing a history of the women workers in the nation's
> largest factory.
>
> Here is the dilemma:
>
> For some reason, American demand for cashew nuts spiked in the 1930s
> driving up the price for the nut when depression prices for most
>  agricultural products were in the basement. The sharp increase in the price
> / demand from America was the lift off for the industry in Mozambique and
> India.
>
> The only theory I have found to account for WHY demand spiked (thus
> driving up the price) was Paulo Soares' suggestion that the end of
> prohibition in the U.S. saw a spike in interest in bar snacks. Since
> salted nuts are a favorite bar snack, perhaps it was the return of bar
> culture that drove up the price of cashews.
>
> Does anyone know anything about this?  Any suggestions for readings?
>
> Thanks so much,
>
> Jeanne Penvenne
>
> Jeanne Marie Penvenne
> Associate Professor of History
> Tufts University
> Sabbatical 2007-2008
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Margot Opdycke Lamme, PhD, APR, Fellow,
The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations
Assistant Professor
Department of Advertising & Public Relations
College of Communication & Information Sciences
The University of Alabama
Box 870172
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
ph: 205-348-5628
fx: 205-348-2401
[log in to unmask]