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October 16

Teaspoon of salt in Africa in the 1920s

According to the account of a driver in the link, who drove from Cape to Cairo, at some spots with the help of hundreds of natives who paved a road ahead by cutting down trees, and the payment was a teaspoon of salt for each man. Why was salt so valuable in the middle of Africa in the 1920s? [1] Muzzleflash (talk) 11:24, 16 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The use of the idiom "earn their salt" in the same paragraph leads me to believe the writer is speaking metaphorically and not literally in the use of the phrase "teaspoon of salt". That is, he doesn't literally mean "we gave each worker a teaspoon of salt", instead he means we paid them a ridiculously small amount of money. The salt-as-money metaphor is quite old, besides the idiom "earn ones salt" see Salary#History which shows the etymology of the term, salary literally means "salt money". --Jayron 32 11:56, 16 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

(EC)Salt has been in use as currency for many centuries (hence possibly "salary"). In Africa, away from the coast, there were few sources of salt, with most coming from the Danakil Depression, from where it was traded across the continent, the price increasing steadily with distance - see here. Mikenorton (talk) 11:59, 16 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Jayron's explanation is admirably creative, but I think it's not right. It's just too specifically written. There's no use of the verbs you'd associate with the idiom, like "earn" or "worth" and I don't think he'd have put in the definitive "per man" that makes it sound like a proper payment. Mikenorton probably has it. It's just colonial exploitation, typical of its day. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 09:21, 18 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

There isn't? Literally 4 lines below the quoted line above is his use of "earn", exactly as you claim it isn't. --Jayron 32 10:46, 18 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I see that. I think it's a joke, having already said that they literally earned salt. It's the first mention I'm referring to. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 11:21, 18 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Okay. --Jayron 32 11:49, 18 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Further documentation here for teaspoonfuls of salt being used as money in central Africa, and here (p. 164) for salt being used for paying carriers in the Congo Basin. --Antiquary (talk) 15:53, 18 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]