RECOLLECTIONS OF WW2
The Homefront in Northern England

RATIONING & SHORTAGES

Montage of Petrol, Food and Clothing ration books

Motor vehicle fuel (petrol) rationing was introduced in late 1939 followed by food rationing in January 1940 and clothing rationing in June 1941. Food and Clothing Ration Books containing allocation coupons were issued to all civilians (parents/guardians for children) and Fuel (petrol) Ration Books to all registered motor vehicle owners. Although their appearance and format changed slightly from time to time, their content and usage remained fairly constant. In general, the Ration Book had to be handed to the retailer who would then detach or cancel the appropriate coupons for the purchase -- it was unlawful for individuals to detach coupons themselves (except when ordering clothing by mail). The rationing system proved to be eminently fair and surprisingly efficient. Coal, which was the primary source of heating for almost all private houses (fireplaces were the defacto standard), was not rationed for households. Instead, families were limited to two-thirds of their established pre-war amount. The quality of household coal declined significantly as the war progressed due to heavy wartime (priority) industrial and railway requirements. The soft, black, easy burning pre-war coal was replaced with harder, poorer burning (and harder to light) coal -- my mother complained about the quality of our coal throughout the war. I did too -- it was my job to light our house fire every morning.

Tobacco shortages

Most adults smoked cigarettes in those days (relatively few cigars) and many men smoked pipes. Smoking was allowed almost everywhere -- on public busses and trains, in cinemas and in public houses and hotels. Both of my parents were heavy cigarette smokers. The popularity of cigarette smoking was enhanced by movie stars and celebrities -- smoking was an integral part of every movie in those days. Members of the Military services and Civil Defence workers in particular were heavy smokers. Because the importation of tobacco was severely curtailed after the war started it was soon hard to obtain. It was classified as a non-essential product and therefor was not rationed. However, cigarette smoking in particular was so pervasive -- and considered by most users to be an essential part of the fabric of their lives -- that they would queue for hours to buy the usual one pack of cigarettes per customer whenever a tobacconist received an (inevitably small) allocation. Cigarette availability was sparse and sporadic throughout the war.

Black Market dealing in rationed goods and materials was illegal (although it did exist) -- apprehended offenders were severely punished by the courts, especially with regard to food violations.

Motor Fuel Ration Book

Petrol rationing was responsible for most privately owned motor vehicles being put into storage for the duration of the war. Besides, it was always in short supply and hard to find. Initially the ration was three gallons of petrol per week, so unless you had a gas storage/generating device installed, all but the shortest of trips were out of the question. The commercial sector was encouraged to use horse drawn vehicles wherever possible and horse and cart rigs were soon commonplace on the streets.

Food rationing was instituted by the Ministry of Food on 8 January 1940. Amounts for basic food items varied from time to time but in mid-war they were typically as follows (per person per week):

Sweets were rationed at 12 ounces per month

Young children and expectant mothers were allowed extra rations -- including orange juice and cod liver oil. After 1941 Tea was included -- 2 ounces per week.

Food Ration Book retailer registration page

Starting on 1 December 1941 a points scheme was introduced to control additional short supply food items such as canned meat and fish, rice, canned fruit, condensed milk, breakfast cereals, etc. Each person was allowed 16 points per month (via designated coupons in the ration book) to be spent for these food items as desired -- from any retailer who had them in stock -- but in practice retailers favored regular customers. Imported fruit such as bananas, oranges, peaches, etc. were generally not available, although occasionally oranges were allotted to shops who rationed them to regular customers at one per family child. Domestic fruit such as apples, pears, strawberries, etc. sometimes were available at greengrocer shops and were not rationed. Starting in 1943, purveyors of sweets (candy, chocolate, toffee, etc. - classed as non-essential food items) were assigned delivery zones in order to conserve motor vehicle fuel and manpower. This resulted in many children's favorites not being available to them until after the war was over.

Vegetables were not rationed although certain ones such as onions were frequently hard to find. This contributed greatly to the proliferation of home grown "Victory gardens". Increased consumption of vegetables contributed significantly to the health and well being of the populace. Bread was not rationed initially, although whole wheat flour was the type mostly available. Likewise, milk was initially not rationed although the local farmer/milk man might vary his allotment to customers due to the pressure of wartime farming requirements. Later, the ration was 3 pints per person per week. The legendary (Hormel) SPAM was almost always available and for many families became the multi-purpose meat of wartime existence. Housewives used it in a variety of ingenious ways - I still like Spam as a sandwich meat. My father sliced and fried Spam as a substitute for bacon/ham as he fixed Sunday morning breakfast in the early War years -- I recall it being very tasty.

Many people took to growing their own vegetables and raising chickens and pigs -- if they lived in suitable locations -- in order to have more food. However, all such animals had to be registered with the Ministry of Food in order to obtain feed and so that ration adjustments could be made. Small "Victory gardens" usually consisting of potatoes, carrots, radishes, lettuce, cabbage, brussel sprouts, peas, celery, et al. were especially popular. Shallow root vegetables were often grown in the earthern layer covering on Anderson shelters. The National Government actively supported these vegetable growing activities, sometimes providing free seed, and sponsored cultivation instruction under the auspices of local Government agencies. My father was an excellent gardener and we (I contributed under his guidance) maintained a fine, productive, vegetable garden throughout the war.

Greatly increased production of vegetable food crops of all kinds was essential for the nation's wartime health and well being. Farming was designated an essential war effort occupation and farmers were provided with maximum Government support and assistance. The Women's Land Army (WLA) was formed in 1939 to replace farmer's helpers who had been conscripted in the armed forces or to augment existing work forces. Young women were recruited and underwent intense, high caliber, training before being assigned to farms. They were uniformed in khaki shirts & jodhpurs, dark green wool pullovers and sturdy brown boots. WLA members resided on the farms to which they were assigned and performed every farm task imaginable. The program was an enormous success and the efforts of the WLA went a long way to insure the civilian population was adequately fed throughout the war. Even the smallest farms were assigned WLA members on application. I worked on the farm of our milkman during the school summer holidays of 1940 and 1941 (and sometimes after school in the spring and early autumn) assisting the one WLA member assigned. She was very competent and hard working -- every bit as good as the farmer himself.

Clothing rationing was instituted by the Board of Trade in June 1941 accompanied by the introduction of government approved Utility Clothing which featured spartan design and a minimum amount of cloth (men's and boy's jackets only had three buttons and two pockets -- trousers had no cuffs. Women's and girl's dresses had no pleats, elastic waist bands or fancy belts -- shoes had a maximum heel height of 2 inches). Initially, Food Ration Book coupons were used followed by special Clothing Cards then Clothing Ration Books. Clothes rationing was especially odious for teenagers (I was one) with their age old desire to be stylish.

1943-1944 Clothing Ration Book

The Clothing Ration Book contained coupons of various point values. Items of clothing (differentiated for men, women and children) were likewise assigned point values. Each person was allowed sixty six points a year which represented one complete outfit of clothing for the average adult and took into account the needs of growing children. The difficulty was finding shops that had the items of clothing you wanted. Females in particular suffered from the lack of fashionable clothing. Silk and Nylon stockings were much sought after -- but were almost impossible to obtain for silk and nylon production was dedicated to the War effort -- mostly for Barrage Balloons and Aircraft Parachutes. Girls used to apply watered down gravy colouring, weak tea or commercial concoctions to their legs and draw "seams" down the back using eyebrow pencils to simulate stockings. Everyone was encouraged to "make do and mend" by patching worn or torn clothing and to hand down clothing they had out grown or no longer wanted to family members -- second hand clothing was not rationed if it was given away. The foregoing explains why so many people appear to be wearing ill fitting or poorly matched clothing in vintage WW2 photographs. Many people took to knitting their own items of wool clothing (some Fathers took to repairing their family's shoes -- my father did -- although leather was also in short supply) in order to mitigate the effects of clothing rationing. Knitting in particular was very popular -- housewives especially could be found knitting at every opportunity. Old or worn out woolen garments and articles were often unravelled and the wool reused. School children were encouraged to contribute to the war effort by knitting gloves, scarves, socks and balaclava helmets for members of the armed forces (particularly the RAF) -- the Government provided the wool and knitting needles free and teachers provided knitting instruction and took care of the logistics. Both boys and girls participated. I became pretty proficient at knitting myself.

Shortly after the war started there were calls for scrap and salvage drives to fill the ever increasing need of the war effort -- there were severe shortages and reliability of transportation for raw materials (especially anything transported via ship) was poor. Bones and paper were in great demand. School children pitched in with vigor and most schools had ongoing scrap and salvage drives -- Boy Scouts and other organizations did their bit too. Scrap metal (especially aluminium) was also in great demand. All kinds of metal items were collected -- lots of old flat irons were melted down to make bombs and shells. The Government soon got in the act and one of the prime sources of superfluous metal was the iron railings/gates surrounding parks and public buildings -- private home owners contributed their gates and railings also. Much beautiful iron work was surrendered to the cause -- only the stubs were left as railings were sawn off (or cut with oxyacetylene torches). I remember how sad public parks and many homes looked with (most of) the railings gone. Eventually even historic landmarks were sacrificed -- the two Crimean War cannons next to the Grammar School in my home town went -- I was sad about that because I always thought they were an important part of the town history.

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