Rationing in World War two?

nosdda	Rationing in Britain in WW2 was very hard. Almost everything was rationed. Food, clothing, shoes, etc. Sugar was in short supply and we used saccharin as a sweetener. No fresh eggs, so we used egg powder. Even with ration coupons, there was always queues at the shops, as food was in short supply. No butter was available, only national margarine. No sweets in the shops, but we made our own.Fruit was another scarcity, and I remember queuing for 2 hours for 4 bananas. Even coal was rationed and we were allowed one hundredweight a week even in winter time. we had lots of power cuts because the power stations ran out of coal. The same with the gas because in those days we burnt coal to make gas.Because of the rationing, most of my clothes came from jumble sales run by the Salvation Army. Footwear was rationed and I had to have second hand shoes. Even if you had the coupons for new shoes, you didn't always have the money for them. In schol each day, we were given a spoonful of malt and concentrated orange juice to supplement this poor diet. there was rarely any meat in the butchers and offal and sausage were on the menu a lot.That was my experience of rationing during WW2 and I still have my old ration book and identity card. We still went to school, and all schools had air raid shelters built in the playground as we had many air raids during school hours. Then we would all be marched to the air raid shelter until the air raid was over.I hope this helps you some.

robert c	I was around during World War II and can remember rationing very well!As a matter of fact I still have my old ration book and gas mask!The gas mask was called by us children as a Mickey Mouse!To be honest I never used it in action!Only demonstrations every so often at school! Going back to rationing !Every person was issued with a ration book where coupons where enclosed!Every item had a value!For instance one or two coupons for this and so on! The foodstuffs that were on ration were meat,sweets,clothing,sugar,tea.Sweets lasted on the ration until 1953! It was said that people had the most healthy lifestyle than today!One other side of the coin was!There was a flourishing Black Market where for a set amount people could get around the system!

ericsinden@btinternet.com	Rationing came on Clothing Sweets meat milk groceries. You had so many clothing coupons, all different articles had different values so if you bought a suit you might not be able to buy something else for long time Groceries many items on ration, like quarter pound of butter, four Oz's Sugar cheese was four Oz's Meat was one shilling and nine pence per week, rabbits liver and sausages were not if you could find them You required points for biscuits tin fruit etc and bu's for bread. It is not possible to give amounts really because they altered. Their was an awful lot of grow you own relating to veg's. If I remember right, expectant muns had a green book that gave the some priority. Rationing went on about many years after the war. Coal was also restricted. We also had something called under the counter, like cigarettes. I have covered as much as I can remember, it was a long time ago, but I hope it helps

dels replies	Oh I was only a kid myself at that time Was 8 in 1939. rationing was introduced as foodstuffs and other things became scarce . Because of the virtual blockade of the British Isles by German U boats and aircraft, imports were very much reduced , so we had to rely mainly on home produced products. A dig for victory campaign was commenced which saw every bit of land, parks ,gardens etc dug up and crops planted This apart from intensive use of the farms, As food items became scarce they were rationed , Different foods at different times. The amount allowed per person varied according to available supplies . Adults and children had different weekly allowances. You had to register at a particular shop to get your basic rations for example you could only get meat from your registered supplier . You could not shop around, Almost all foods had a basic ration. meat, fats, sugar, etc, Other things were given points, things like cereals, jam and so on . You could spend your points on what you liked but it was a case of what . You had to decide , corn flake or jam Without sufficient points you could not have both . Various things were introduced to help to improve diet , Powdered egg was one thing . You could use it in cooking, in cakes etc... or mix it with water , and make like an omelette. Vegetables were freely available and not rationed but were limited according to season Plenty of greens and potatoes , so did not go hungry. fruit was not rationed either but was only home grown in season Apples , pears. plums. As kids we gathered blackberries to help , There were no oranges or bananas or tropical fruits, Various other weird foods were also tried , whale meat for example .. looked OK but was rather UCKY . A funny fish called snoek. We did have some fresh fish but not a lot fresh eggs were only now and then Milk was rationed too .. At times the meat ration was very small. like one chop of fresh meat and a slice of corned beef a week.per person. Mums had a hard job to feed families, All sorts of wierd and wonderful recipes to make things go further , Like frying chips in liquid paraffin cause we had no lard, Mix a small tin of pink salmon with margarine to make a spread for sandwiches etc, Sometimes it was bread and butter or bread and jam couldn't have them together . The bread was a national loaf Not like now, was a dingy colour, supposed to be white but was baked to make maximum use of wheat etc. available... As kids we were happy, Virtually no sweets, there was a tiny ration of them , it was the mums that had he hardest times , Often gave part of their ration to feed the kids, Although the war ended in 1945 it took a long time for supplies to get back to normal Amounts were gradually increased. some foods removed from rationimng but some were still rationed well into the 1950's Apart from food things like clothes , household fabrics and furniture were all rationed too . Was an awful lot of make do and mend and a lot of knitting .

shaun s	My Mother told me Her Family had what they called a ration book. This was used to purchase goods each week with a limit for each Family. Did not matter how much money you had. You produced it a local butcher and got what was stated the ration was and paid the Man. Lots of other story around about a few Chickens in the back yard and of course there was the black market where anything could be had at a high price. Corruption was all over the place. She also told me She had never eaten a Banana because they were never in the UK until the late 50. Look up ration books and should find more information there.

DOC	Gas was rationed, farmers got more because of food production; sugar, dairy products and bacon were rationed. We had ration books with stamps in them based according to need and importance to the war effort. Basically anything that was of short supply but valuable for the troops was rationed. Beef, pork, chicken, other food stuffs like milk, cheese, metals including old unused railway tracks, etc. If the troops needed it, it was rationed. This was in the US.

Sidwell	http://www.ni-libraries.net/virtual/home-front-recall/ww2-rationing/ http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/war/rationing.htm http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/war/rationing2.html part 1 & 2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2children/ration/ration_intro.shtml challenge for kids http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/ww2_home/ww2_living_with_war/ww2_food_rationing/index.shtml I dont know if you are in USA or UK so I found ONE USA rationing story http://www.americainwwii.com/stories/enoughtogoaround.html

rushgt	I dont have any stories, but I did find a few web sites that might give you some extra information if you needed it. Here you are. http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/events/rationing.htm http://www.youth.net/memories/hypermail/0189.html http://www.alumnibhs.com/old%20geezer%20photos/ww2%20ration%20stamps.htm

the_emrod	Well my grandmother lived throughout WW2 but her parents owned a hotel. In those days, hotels were used as old people's homes (think of the Major in Fawlty Towers) and so there were a lot of permanent residents there. They all handed in their ration books and the kitchen then bought everything together. She doesn't remember ever being short of food.

David	Well my great grandfather actually died 2 days ago, I can't help with you personal experiences because of that, I am posting a link, I haven't gotten to read it but I hope it has something you are looking for.