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Rationing

I remember as a kid my mom and dad sitting at the kitchen table for ages working on those books about 1950/51, or even slightly earlier.
paul
 
Bishopmate - thanks for sharing your interesting photos, I think the shops cut out the coupons.
I lived through rationing from start to finish and as a small child remember queuing with my mom to get the ration books from the 'Food Office' which I think was in a large white building by the Hall of Memory.
The weekly ration was quite small by today's standards, but I don't remember feeling hungry and seem to look quite well nourished in family photos which I put in another thread. I remember eating thick slices of bread cut from a 'National Loaf' and spread with real dripping. Rationing seemed to work quite well but I remember hearing talk of certain shops keeping items 'under the counter'.
oldmohawk
 
I can my Mom taking me to Mrs Payne's sweetshop at the top of Villa Road in Handsworth on rare occasions when I was a little girl to buy some sweets with our Ration Book coupons. Don't think we were allowed much. I seem to remember Cadbury's 2d bars for some reason.
 
Judging by post #543 and #554, a lot of Cadbury’s chocolate was shipped over to Europe in 1944/5. In 1945 the press cutting is more specific in that it was headed for ‘civilian administration’. Not too clear about what form that would take, but presumably there was some sort of arrangement for its distribution in Europe. Seems to have been a government initiative. Wonder how it operated ? Via the Red Cross ? Viv.

Could anyone confirm that the reason there was rationing after the war was because we had to keep West Germany, West Berlin and perhaps Austria, supplied with food, petrol, clothing, fuel etc, etc. The theory was that if we didn't, then the Soviet Union would step in and supply them instead. That would then give them a big chance of turning the populations I've mentioned, over to communism. The Iron Curtain would then have started much further west than it eventually did.
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Could anyone confirm that the reason there was rationing after the war was because we had to keep West Germany, West Berlin and perhaps Austria, supplied with food, petrol, clothing, fuel etc, etc. The theory was that if we didn't, then the Soviet Union would step in and supply them instead. That would then give them a big chance of turning the populations I've mentioned, over to communism. The Iron Curtain would then have started much further west than it eventually did.
Trevor, that's a very large & good question! After the war industry in general had to change over from the war effort supplies to civilian. What I do know is that there were shortages of many things like paint, building supplies etc. I'm have an opinion on the politics but I will defer to opine to someone more qualified.
 
It is certainly true that much was spent in Western Europe to aid recovery, in part, probably, for the reasons you state, but this mostly came from the US. The reason for rationing in this country is that the cost of the war had almost bankrupted the country. We owed enormous amounts to the US borrowed to cover our costs in the war, and this had to be paid back. Repayment was only finally completed in 2006. In addition to this the country still supported a large military force , mainly in the case of possible soviet aggression, and this cost many millions. Immediately after the war most quality items were exported to obtain money to help pay off these debts and support the large military expenditure.
 
T was a time of bravery and sacrifice.
While the servicemen and women of Britain were battling the Nazis abroad in the dark days of 1940, back home their families were facing the hardships of rationing.
During the First World War the Government was criticised for not introducing restrictions early enough – which saw food supplies dwindle to just six weeks worth at one perilous point.
Huge court fines were brought in to deter blackmarket spivs.Winston Churchill and his Government did not make the same mistake as they introduced rationing very early. From January 8, 1940, bacon, butter and sugar were limited to a few ounces per week.
This was followed by meat, tea, jam, biscuits, breakfast cereals, cheese, eggs, milk and canned fruit.
As the war progressed, most foods came to be rationed, as were clothes and petrol which were distributed on a points system.
Yet rationing, which had led to some creative culinary dishes, continued after the war – becoming even stricter in some cases.
Bread was rationed from 1946 to 1948, while potato rationing began in 1947. At the time this was presented as being due to the necessity of feeding the population of European areas under British control, whose economies had been devastated by the fighting.
But by the 1950 General Election, the Conservative Party campaigned on a manifesto of ending rationing.
Sweet rationing ended in February 1953 and butter and sugar were freely available from September – good news for customers of Mr D Seeleyin Addison Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham.
However, the end of all food rationing did not come until July 4, 1954, with meat the last to go – sparking a sales bonanza at local butchers across the West Midlands.





 
certainly needed a steady hand...i used one to slice cooked meats when i did a few hours at our local shop in villa st...i would have been about 14 at the time..must say i used to enjoy the little off cuts :D what a treat

lyn

I worked part time at a butchers in Cotteridge when I was fourteen. One of my jobs on a Saturday, was to take apart, and clean, the bacon slicer. It need much respect. :D


Steve.
 
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