First … notes on the next blog post about the Duke of
Edinburgh – many have said that you don’t hear much about him … I’ve done a
sort of hilary-résumé … literally
sort of! It is also (very) long … so
you can read or not read!
 |
| An idealised of idea of the picnic - I don't think The Mall is that long - Buck House is 'miles away'?! |
Secondly … I will write up a post on the Queen’s Picnic
Celebrations 12th June … so the Picnic post will appear anon …
 |
| We will have to believe in Britain after the 23rd ... |
Thirdly … I’ve had to move which is what took me out of the
A-Z and has caused a few mini hiatuses (or hiatii?!) … this will now happen the
day after the Referendum: 23rd of June. To an extent I'm involved with that ... another hiatus!
Last but not least … an article appeared recently on what foods
were rationed during the 2nd World War … so I’ve noted a few items
and more can be found on the Imperial War Museum site I’ve linked to … ElsieAmata was interested …
Note though – amounts varied on what was available …
Butter, bacon and sugar in January 1940
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| Some of the sizes to check out ... a week's supply |
Meat in March 1940
Tea in July 1940 and later that year:
Jam, marmalade, syrup and treacle – sales were restricted
Cheese and eggs in 1941 …
1942: rice, dried fruit, condensed milk, breakfast cereals,
tinned tomatoes, tinned peas … and soap … and chocolates, biscuits and oats …
1943 – sausages were the final wartime addition – but there
were other additions, and alterations …
4 July 1954 – rationing finally lifted ….
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| A child's ration book |
Ration books with weekly coupons – green for children, buff
for adults … which controlled the amounts that could be bought … the U-boats
were doing damage to the supplies – cargo ships and fishing boats …
 |
| They were very plain lollies to start with |
Life was tough … I remember ice-lolly rations coming off …
can’t say I remember much else. But we
grew our own vegetables, and fruit, and had chickens, pigs, ducks – til they
were killed by Mr Fox! So with a lot of
hard work by my parents – as with other war-time parents … we, the three of us kids, were probably
fairly well off food wise.
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| Strawberry Split - I think we called them Mivvis |
For more details please see the Imperial War Museum site, where
you can find out about clothes rationing … and other interesting articles.
 |
| Her Majesty The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on the balcony of Buckingham Palace - looking down The Mall |
The Duke of Edinburgh post will go up on the Queen’s Picnic
Birthday day (12th June) … the picnic post will follow ‘shortly’ …
Re War Rations ... I'll probably write another article later on ... as there's been an interesting development via the eating public ... well those interested in trying something different ...
Happy 95th Birthday Prince Philip - there's a good weekend of Pageantry and Royal Events planned ...
No need to comment … as there’s a lot going on …
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories
36 comments:
I hope your move goes smoothly. A very busy, and frequently stressful time.
My mother, her first husband and their children arrived in Australia in the early 1950s. My brothers had never seen fruit stalls. Fruit was still a rare treat to them. I understand that all of them gorged on fruit for the first week or more. Distressed tummies were the result - and none of them were sorry.
Great post, Hilary. Thank you for taking the time to share. Over here in Germany, the press love the British Royal Family and there has been a lot on TV about prince Philip this past week.At least I don't have to worry about missing anything Royal :) I used to love Strawberry Splits :)
Hello Hilary, Lately I have been traveling. I need to catch up with all the wonderful info in your posts. Enjoy your new digs. Salut, Beste
I hope the referendum will be intelligent, too many business and bank, toll and travel problems would be involved. Everything which the UK imports there will be toll on it ! It's a real mess if you think it over. I am following everything going on in the Royal Family, at least that is something cheerful and nice in all these sad news.
Hope your move goes smoothly. I'm looking forward to your upcoming post on the Royal Family. They seem to have just a touch of 'down-home' attitude about them at times. Celebrating a 95th birthday is an amazing thing. Happy Birthday Prince Philip.
So many hardships during WWII and everyone seemed to have such a positive attitude...knowing it was all for the greater good. I've got such admiration for that generation.
Good luck with the move!! If you're like me, you'll end up with a lot less clutter at the end of it. :)
It would be tough to ration food, I tend to visit the grocery a lot.A lot of people share their garden produce still.
@ EC - many thanks re the move - yes it's a little hair-raising ...
Yes - we had street stalls at Waterloo Station - the station we used as a family from out of town ... my father would bring new fruits home ... we had apples, pears, walnuts, blackberries and other fruits at home - my parents were very good gardeners ... poor boys with distressed tums - that we had too when the fruits were ripe! Just so good though ...
@ Nicola - pleasure, just delighted to read you enjoyed it. I expect there's a lot in the press here ... but with the move I'm sort of detached! Also felt if I did a post now .. it'd help some of us with a basic overview of the Prince's time ...
I agree strawberry splits were delicious - and still are sometimes!
@ Beste - hope you've had a happy time ... and thanks so much for wanting to catch up with the posts ... I'm sure I'll be happier when I've done the move!
@ Gattina - well the Referendum is going to be very interesting ... as too the aftermath - whichever way the result goes.
Good - glad you're enjoying the Royal family posts ...
@ Mason - many thanks re the move. Delighted you'll enjoy the Prince Philip post - it is different! Yes they are like us in many ways - enjoying some of the freedoms of being normal (occasionally!!). I know 95 is brilliant news isn't it ...
@ Elizabeth - the hardships of WW1 and 2 were extraordinary ... but they did have to get on with things and you couldn't whine and moan - there was a lot of sharing - I'd like more people to have that generation's attitude ...
I've been trying to declutter - but I have set aside a few piles of books that require to be read and then dispatched to a charity shop!! So more decluttering after I move I suspect ...
@ Steve - it was tough food rationing ... that's why so many did things for themselves ... we certainly had a varied diet, but we had some land - and still people here share their produce around friends and neighbours ...
Thanks so much for your comments - I'll be around as I move .. cheers Hilary
Thank you for expanding upon the subject of rationing after the war. I find it historically fascinating because it's not that long ago and yet, I don't think people realize it. I'm going to ask my daughter if they taught her about it in school. (Thank you for the shout out too.)
Best of luck with the move! Always a big job but exciting, too!
Those lollies...or Popsicle as we would call them...look delish! I'm sure it was wonderful to have that ration lifted, especially if you were a child!
The U.S. had rationing, too, including meat and sugar. My dad had a scrapbook with some gasoline rationing coupons. An older lady once told me that during the war she went out and left her little boy with her mother, who was talking to a visiting friend. The women were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice the little boy opening the ice box and getting out a package of bacon, which he used to make train tracks on the floor of the house. When the mom got home and found the bacon, she picked it up, cleaned it as best she could, and cooked it. They couldn't get more! I'm sure that British deprivations were much more severe than those in the U.S.
Love,
Janie
hope the move is smooth. You are juggling a lot! In regards to rationing, I know my mother grew up on a farm and though very poor, they always had food in PA. I admit it would be tough to experience - I am so spoiled.
Could you imagine trying to make those rations last a week these days? One good fry-up (or healthy grill-up) and most of that would be gone!
Good luck with your move! (Better you than I...)
Well, you taught me something new today. I had no idea rationing in England lasted for so many years after the end of WWII. You guys had to keep a tough upper lip a lot longer than we did.
Have a super weekend. Cheers!
Rationing must've been tough for some families. You were lucky.
Good luck with your move!
@ Elsie - yes now I'm older I find it interesting, but it wasn't something we'd discuss at home - I'm not sure if my brothers did ...
It isn't that long ago is it - it was 100 years ago that WW1 started - with the Queen being 90, and Prince Philip 95 today ... I will do another short post on rationing and I have some photos from an exhibition down here ... anon - that could be anon, anon ...
@ Betsy - thanks re the move - it is a big job, but will be exciting once I arrive and settled. It was a real treat to stand at the stable door - they were special too - and reach over for an ice lolly on the way home from school ... those were the days!
@ Janie - how funny about the train tracks from bacon - love that story! and of course it would have been easier to get into the wrapped in paper bacon than now with our plastic sealed packs.
We definitely had rationing very severely here - as too in Europe ... I wrote about Jack Kramer coming to play at Wimbledon after the war and he brought with him two steaks for each day of Queens and Wimbledon - both our biggest tennis tournaments: he won!
@ Joanne - thanks I hope it's smooth too - I've had a blip this week .. but we go on! So your mother was lucky too - our house was a dairy farm at one stage - but the land had been sold off by the time my parents moved in ... and yes we are very spoilt today ...
@ Annalisa - nope .. it'd be difficult. When I was in secretarial college - I lived on nothing much, I had very little money .. but I was skinny - perhaps I need to try that again ... ! I do like my food.
@ Susan - I think everyone is saying 'glad it's not me' ... yes we did have a tough time during the Wars here ... I was too young to remember that sort of thing - but knew when rations came off - and ice lollies were possible!!
@ Alex - yes I'm sure families in the big towns and cities suffered a great deal with rationing ... I wrote a long blog post "Food and logistics of feeding an army in WW1" ... on 29 August 2014 - it gives a lot of detail ...
Thanks everyone for thoughts re my move ... and looks like another post on rationing and a link to the post above that I wrote in 2014 won't go amiss ...
Cheers and I'm off to a busy weekend - I might get some box packing in somewhere along the line! Take care all of you - Hilary
Hilary!
When it comes to recalling the long Rationing Years in Britain, well the people of the nation were all healthy and there were no 'pavement shakers' to be seen in those days.
All I can say is: thank goodness for the Spivs, The Blackmarket, The wild rabbits, plus the nods and winks that my father gave to provide for us from under the counter products.
In thinking about your forth coming Referendum well I presume that both sides have a point or two depending on each perspective and am rather glad that no longer get a UK vote.
May good fortune go with you on your move.
So many bloggers are moving now. Their physical homes that is! Good luck with yours!
Prince Phillip looks awfully good for 95.
Hope the move goes well, Hilary. Yes lots of celebrations this weekend.
No fun moving Hilary. I wish you well. Keep us posted. Now if we all lived closer, we could roll up our sleeves and turn up on your doorstep and lend a hand. Would love to do that! Instead of moving, we're renovating and that's no walk in the park either!
Love the Duke. Looking forward to your post!
Denise :-)
Moving is a soul searching event, wishing you the best. We, too, are moving in July into The Colony. Sounds Sci-Fi, doesn't it.
My parents lived on farms during the war, so food wasn't too hard to get. Just luxury items--like sugar, bread soda, salt, flour--were on ration. Just found my grandmother's ration book.
So hard to believe the Queen will be 90!
@ Mel - yes everyone was healthier then, and that's led to healthy people today too. Certainly there was the undercurrent of trade ... I don't remember much about it - but a policeman friend whom I met about 10 years ago ... told me he knew all about my father's illicit petrol - but ignored it! I guess you made judgements in those days ... my father needed to get to work ... and I don't remember having rabbit to eat - but myxomatosis came in in 1953. Though I've eaten rabbit since ... twice-cooked is good.
The Referendum is going to be interesting - and I'm somewhat daunted at the thought of the result ... it's a messy time ... thanks re my move ...
@ Paula - yes there do seem to be many moving homes - thanks for the thought - never an easy time.
@ Karen - they both look good for their ages - the Thanksgiving Service at St Paul's showed us yesterday ...
@ Suzanne - yes I hope the move goes ok - should be all right - happy celebrations this weekend ...
@ Denise - couldn't we all roll up our sleeves and help each other ... I'd like that right now - but all will be well I'm sure!! Good luck with your renovating .. it's good to know you weren't hit by the recent storm ... I've done renovating too - as you say not fun - til the end result.
Thanks re the Duke - it's good to know he'll be appreciated tomorrow ...
@ Susan - I did some soul searching, now I've rather given up - too much else going on - and I'll need to be disciplined when I get to the other end. The Colony sounds rather exotic ... good luck with your move too.
Interesting that salt was considered a luxury item in your American rationing time ... how interesting to have your grandmother's ration book ... amazing that the Queen is already 90 - her actual birthday is in April .. the Duke was 95 yesterday ...
Thanks everyone - so good to see you .. cheers Hilary
Good luck with the move!
Thanks, Hilary. The Queen and the Duke and all the Royal Family get an amazing amount of coverage here. I'll look forward to your posts about the celebrations!
Wow, you surely are busy! Good luck with the move.
Greetings from London.
@ Anabel - many thanks ...
@ Monti - yes I'll be interested to see if I've thrown new light on the Duke of Edinburgh, via my post ... and I will get to the celebrations ...
@ ACIL - life goes on doesn't it ... and I have to move ... so foot to the pedal!
Thanks - appreciate your thoughts .. cheers Hilary
I was just watching the Queen's BD celebrations. I love that we have a queen and she's 90! That is very encouraging for the rest of us.
Thanks Joylene .. I didn't see any of it - and may or may not catch up with it ... we've had a wet weekend ... and I was busy with other things ... and yes I'm glad we've got a Queen with her Prince ... cheers Hilary
95 years old, huh? I saw the photo of him driving the Obamas. Captions said the Obamas were surprised to be driven by Prince Phillip. I wonder if they were also nervous ...
@ Dianne - re the next post: I'm sure the Obamas were surprised to find Prince Philip chauffeuring them ... but there was plenty of room - it was in the Great Park ... we await their memoirs to find out what the Obamas actually felt ...
Thanks for commenting - cheers Hilary
I've always found it interesting that rationing went on for so long after the end of the war, too. Canada should have sent more supplies to the UK! :-)
@ Deniz - we'd been drained of everything fighting the War - it must have been very stark, let alone the injured men, or lack of them through death ... whether history will look on the aftermath in a different light remains to be seen. Certainly everyone was 'working' as much as they could to produce food for the table ... cheers Hilary
Good luck with the move Hilary. It's so interesting seeing the items that were rationed. How lucky we are now, to have so much choice.
I hope your move is a happy and smooth one. I first heard about the British rationing in the 1950s from letters C.S. Lewis wrote, where he thanked American fans for sending him wonderful treats, which he being such a generous man, shared round. One gift from the U.S. for him was a ham, as I recall.
@ Juliet - thanks so much ... yes I'm quite looking forward to writing that post up - once I've moved. Certainly I remember the changes in the foods coming to popular notice and seeing new ranges come in ... we are lucky now.
@ Terra - good to see you - thanks re my move. So interesting to hear your comment about C S Lewis and his remembrances about rationing ... I must look that up. I can believe the story about the ham ...
Thanks so much to you both - cheers Hilary
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