THE INDIVIDUALIZATION OF EVERYDAY LIFE 305
Food and Clothing beyond the Basic NecessitiesWith the rise in affl uence, food consumption from the 1950s to the 1970s
had moved from a focus on nourishment and basic traditional dishes to
increased culinary variety and nuanced food choices. This included the
adoption and transformation of foreign food cultures, a process of “(self)
ethnifi cation” through food, and, more generally, the pluralization of food
cultures.^60 In these developments, the period from the 1960s to the 1980s
was a transitional phase. The fi rst visitors to restaurants serving foreign
food were migrants, but then these establishments attracted the younger,
well-educated urban population in Germany who served as “innovators”
by introducing the “the majority of West Germans to immigrant foods.”^61
Thanks to their appealing prices, family-friendly atmospheres, and food
selection, these kinds of restaurants quickly became mainstream.^62 In
contrast, however, it cannot be said that a new consumer culture devel-
oped around food in the GDR. Foreign cuisine was served only in a few
specialty restaurants in East Germany, and it tended to be either Eastern
European or Asian-style food. For the most part, restaurants in the GDR
served up standard German fare, in part because they were responsible
for supplying a considerable portion of the “collective meals” in schools,
offi ces, and smaller factories.
There were, however, clear parallels between East and West Germany
in household food consumption. The end of the extreme postwar short-
ages fed into a “wave of bingeing” when food rationing was fi nally lifted
in West Germany in 1950 and in the GDR in 1958. Yet diff erences in con-
sumption cropped up when it came to goods that were not considered to
be basic necessities, especially since consumer policy varied greatly be-
tween the two countries. Whereas the modernization of the food industry
progressed slowly in the East, which meant that modern, prepackaged
foods and ready-made products were in short supply, the East German
government simultaneously increased the prices on certain goods that it
determined to be luxury items.^63 The Delikat shops that were introduced
in 1966 followed this principle. In addition to luxury food and drink, to-
bacco, and items of a high standard, they sold imports and products com-
ing from what was referred to as “authorized manufacturing” at high
prices.^64 Despite the costs involved, consumers frequented these stores
more and more often.^65 As of the 1970s, therefore, a kind of parallel world
of consumption had developed that was dependent on income levels. It
grew to a rather substantial size due to the enormous surplus of buying
power in the GDR. Even though the prices were set so high, there were
still supply shortages in this consumer segment as well, the most famous
of which was what has been termed “the coff ee crisis” of 1977. Due to