would be imported, except a few oranges, as the shipping space was so badly needed for the war effort.
In January 1941 the value of the meat ration was dropped: first to 1 s 6 d (7.5p), then to 1 s 2 d (6p), and again in June to 1 s (5p). It is said that Winston Churchill enquired why people were complaining about the size of the meat ration; when shown it he remarked that it would be quite enough for him – he thought it was the amount for one meal, it was actually a week’s worth! Jam, marmalade, syrup and treacle went on the ration from 17 March 1941 at 8 ounces per person. Cheese was next: in May the weekly ration was set at 1 ounce, which was increased to 2 ounces from the end of June (registered vegetarians were entitled to extra cheese instead of meat). In July the sugar ration was doubled for a month to encourage people to make their own jam using the large amount of fruit available at that time of the year; children helped with the picking. Later, shortages led to the introduction of milk rationing.
In July 1942 the tea ration for under-5s was abolished, but for most children the worst blow came later that month when sweets were rationed; everyone was allowed 2 ounces a week, raised in August to 3 ounces, and in the same month biscuits were put on points, as were syrup and treacle. An element of choice was introduced. As well as the coupons for specified rationed goods, each ration book contained a number of points coupons. While some items of food were ‘put on points’, the points coupons could be used to buy any items on points. Even before rationing, sweets had been hard to get. A letter from Alan Miles (14 August 1941) ‘I am thankful for the sweets [you sent] as you can’t get a sweet in Hartland for any money.’ June Fidler: ‘We got 2 ounces of sweets a week on rations – we used to buy the smallest sweets we could, pear drops and so on, so that you got a lot of them.’ Special ration-sized chocolate bars were produced, and Barratts introduced the Ration Bag, ‘containing sweets, nuts, pop-corn, etc.’; this later became the Jamboree bag. Shortages of milk meant that milk chocolate was difficult to get – for instance, Rowntrees produced a plain chocolate Kit-Kat in a blue wrapper. Children tried various ways to get round the rationing. Derek Dimond describes one: ‘The worst thing was the shortage of sweets, we used to buy Victory V lozenges which were off rations.’ Other alternatives included ‘Imps’, tiny black lozenges which were extremely hot – they too were off rations.
In August 1942 the cheese ration was increased to 8 ounces. Ration books issued in June 1943 included personal points for sweets and chocolates. Barbara Courtney: ‘I remember we used to go to the shops to get our food rations, 2 ounces of this, 2 ounces of that, then we’d share them. You’d swap your sugar ration for sweets, jam for sugar, and so on.’
Bread was not rationed, and nor were some other foods, such as potatoes and other root vegetables, but they were not always available. News would soon be passed round when a shop had something unusual in and a queue would soon form – during the war queuing became almost a national pastime, and here, too, children could help, both by spotting queues and by saving Mum a place in them.
The Ministry of Food produced a great deal of material on how to make the rations stretch. There were recipe books, and a series of newspaper articles, entitled ‘Food Facts’, which would give tips on cooking in wartime. There was even a radio programme, The Kitchen Front , broadcast every morning from Tuesday to Friday at 8.15 am.
Imported fruit, such as peaches and grapes, became almost impossible to get, and even if they were available, prices were extremely high. In 1944 street markets were selling pineapples for 5 guineas (£5.25) each, grapes at 16 s (80p) for 1 pound and peaches at 2 s (10p) each. Charles Harris: ‘You never saw oranges. One Christmas, it must have
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