# 1940's Experiment



## Kathleen

So I was cruising about the Internet like I often do and something caught my eye: A woman had engaged in an experiment to make do with what would have been her weekly food rations during WWII.  She lives in the UK and so her weekly ration is as follows:

Bacon & Ham - 4 ounces
Meat to the value of 1 shilling and six pence (1/2 pound of minced beef)
Butter - 2 ounces
Cheese - 2 ounces
Margarine - 4 ounces
Cooking fat - 4 ounces
Milk - 3 pints
Sugar - 8 ounces
Preserves - 1 pound every 2 months
Tea - 2 ounces
Eggs - 1 fresh egg per week
Sweets/Candy - 12 ounces every four weeks

In addition, you got to spend an additional 16 points per four weeks which would get you a can of tinned fish, 2 pounds of dried fruit, or 8 pounds of dried peas.

I've not been able to find a definitive list of what one could claim in the states, but I've read it was roughly twice the UK rations.  I do know that it was a pound of coffee per five weeks.

When I first started to read about the project, I was pretty sassy.  "Oh, I could do that," I said with a flip of my hair....until I hit the egg and milk part.  Then...sugar.  I've also read that flour was sometimes scarce.  Seafood and fish were not limited unless it was in a can.

So the lady who did the experiment lost a boat-load of weight, which was her goal, but I'm totally amazed that she stuck to her rations!

I also learned that rationing in the UK continued until well-past the war.  

If that kind of thing returned, I believe that I could do it - but it would take some serious planning.  I'd definitely have a victory garden and a backyard full of chickens!

Does anyone remember food rations during WWII or after?


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## buckytom

very neat, kath. thanks for posting this.

i was raised on stories  of rationing during the big one. my mom was the youngest of eight children of recent norwegian immigrants living in brooklyn, and dad served  in the 28th infantry, then came home to brooklyn after the war.

i'll have to ask my parents for more specifics of the meals they ate during that time.


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## PrincessFiona60

Yikes...I would be protein starved in no time.


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## Kathleen

buckytom said:


> very neat, kath. thanks for posting this.
> 
> i was raised on stories  of rationing during the big one. my mom was the youngest of eight children of recent norwegian immigrants living in brooklyn, and dad served  in the 28th infantry, then came home to brooklyn after the war.
> 
> i'll have to ask my parents for more specifics of the meals they ate during that time.



I'm really curious on how the UK list differs from the one in the US.  I remember my grandmother talking about wearing her worn out sneakers to town only to change into her nice shoes to shop and changing back when she got to the edge of town to return home.  I also know that she would walk to her mother's home as her mother ran a dairy and help make butter, cheese, etc.



PrincessFiona60 said:


> Yikes...I would be protein starved in no time.


I think I would see if I could trade my minced beef for beans and use the ham/bacon to season them.  I see a lot of beans in my future with this diet.  Hmm...was one allowed to legally trade?  

Also, with such little sugar, I would try dehydrating to store fruits.  

My best plan involves a garden and egg-laying hens.


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## taxlady

My parents spent a few months in England in 1946 on their way from Sweden to the US. My mum admits she went a little crazy because of the chocolate rationing. She hadn't realized she was a chocoholic.


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## forty_caliber

I don't think this would "go over" very well with many people in today's entitlement culture if it really happened again.  Interesting problem to think about.  Social unrest, food riots, cattle rustling and other thefts would become more common.  Much different reaction than the "pull together", "self reliant", and "common good" culture of that generation.  

You would have to supplement your rations to survive.   Home canning would suddenly become very BIG again.  The hoarders you see on tv would be proven right.  

Just my .02

.40


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## Addie

What I remember was the meat rationing. As a result, we kids would dig for clams in the summer and after a Nor'easter, all of us would go down to the beach and harvest the lobsters that got washed up on shore. It helped my mother save her meat coupons for the end of the month. But we did eat a lot of seafood during the war. The fishing fleet at that time was located in our community. My mother would go down there and buy just one large haddock for supper. Then she would go to the community garden and buy some veggie for supper. A local farmer's market. The veggies were cut or pulled right there from the ground. You got dirt and all the topping of the veggie. Like in carrots. 

I also remember my mother making toast and sprinkling a little sugar on it and telling me that was desert. Most of the deserts she made though had molasses in them in place of the sugar that other recipes called for. I don't remember of ever feeling deprived at that time. For me, it was when I learn most of my cooking skills from my mother. You learned to make do with what you had. She taught me how to haggle for a better price.


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## menumaker

I grew up in the 1950's learning how to cook from 5 aunts and my mum who were all smashing cooks. These women were inventive, shrewd and and fed families on practically no extras that we take for granted today. They would make tasty, filling and honest dinners.  OK, so they weren't going to win 'Masterchef' but nothing ever seemed to faze them. I still have a weakness for homemade bread and strawberry jam or a roly poly pudding and custard. When I grew up and was a young mum and we were really hard-up I knew how to feed us well. All thanks to those wonderful ladies.


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## CWS4322

Addie said:


> What I remember was the meat rationing. As a result, we kids would dig for clams in the summer and after a Nor'easter, all of us would go down to the beach and harvest the lobsters that got washed up on shore. It helped my mother save her meat coupons for the end of the month. But we did eat a lot of seafood during the war. The fishing fleet at that time was located in our community. My mother would go down there and buy just one large haddock for supper. Then she would go to the community garden and buy some veggie for supper. A local farmer's market. The veggies were cut or pulled right there from the ground. You got dirt and all the topping of the veggie. Like in carrots.
> 
> I also remember my mother making toast and sprinkling a little sugar on it and telling me that was desert. Most of the deserts she made though had molasses in them in place of the sugar that other recipes called for. I don't remember of ever feeling deprived at that time. For me, it was when I learn most of my cooking skills from my mother. You learned to make do with what you had. She taught me how to haggle for a better price.


My maternal grandmother had a garden and kept laying hens. Growing up, my mom would tell me about how grandpa got paid "in kind" (he was a pharmacist) and would often come home with food. My grandmother did a lot of canning, and they supplemented their diets with fish and wild game. Luckily, my grandfather got "C" gas rations because he had to deliver drugs (omg, never thought about it--I'm related to a drug runner...), so they could go out into the country and hunt or to the lake to fish. Times were tough, but they didn't starve.


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## Aunt Bea

I just remember stories like everyone saving sugar to take to a bakery so the baker could make a wedding cake.

My Father's family had it pretty easy, as far as food, during the Great Depression and the war rationing.  His Father owned a farm and was a part time mailman, his Grandfather owned a store that housed the small town post office.  My Mother's family had relatives that owned a farm and her Father was a fire chief for the city that they lived in.

I have always had an interest in the sacrifices that people made during the Great Depression and the war rationing.  A great series of books by Rita Van Amber and her daughter   Janet Van Amber Paske provide a glimpse into peoples lives and help understand why we eat some of the foods we do.  Another good book is Grandma's Wartime Kitchen by JoAnne Lamb Hayes.

If you can find a complete list of the war time rationing rules in the United States I would be willing to see if I can get by for a couple of weeks, sounds like an interesting challenge to me!

This link has some additional information.

http://histclo.com/mat/rat/cou/rat-usw2.html


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## GotGarlic

It looks like the coupon books families received varied depending on the size and makeup of the family and the kind of work they did. I don't know how easy it would be to put together a list of what was available to an individual. Also from what I've read, some things, like oranges, were not available at all. http://www.ameshistory.org/exhibits/events/rationing.htm


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## Addie

menumaker said:


> I grew up in the 1950's learning how to cook from 5 aunts and my mum who were all smashing cooks. These women were inventive, shrewd and and fed families on practically no extras that we take for granted today. They would make tasty, filling and honest dinners.  OK, so they weren't going to win 'Masterchef' but nothing ever seemed to faze them. I still have a weakness for homemade bread and strawberry jam or a roly poly pudding and custard. When I grew up and was a young mum and we were really hard-up I knew how to feed us well. All thanks to those wonderful ladies.



The best education is at your mother's side. Some of the best recipes written were found in Woman's Day magazine and others like them. And a lot of those recipes were taken and improved upon by mothers like yours.


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## Aunt Bea

From what I have seen so far I would need to reduce my use of processed/rationed meat, fat and cheese.  I think the limit was 2 1/2 pounds per person/week.  I would also need to reduce or be careful with canned tomato products.  I would have to pinch a little on the coffee, one pound every five weeks for each person over the age of fifteen.  Eggs, chicken and fresh local produce produce were not rationed so I would be in good shape with that.  It would get a little monotonous for me in the winter and early spring if I had to rely on only fresh carrots, squash, cabbage, onions etc...

It looks like we were in much better shape than the folks in England.

I would also be fine with the three gallon per week gas ration, that would be a tough one for many people today.


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## Addie

Aunt Bea said:


> From what I have seen so far I would need to reduce my use of processed/rationed meat, fat and cheese.  I think the limit was 2 1/2 pounds per person/week.  I would also need to reduce or be careful with canned tomato products.  I would have to pinch a little on the coffee, one pound every five weeks for each person over the age of fifteen.  Eggs, chicken and fresh local produce produce were not rationed so I would be in good shape with that.  It would get a little monotonous for me in the winter and early spring if I had to rely on only fresh carrots, squash, cabbage, onions etc...
> 
> It looks like we were in much better shape than the folks in England.
> 
> I would also be fine with the three gallon per week gas ration, that would be a tough one for many people today.



Living so close to the sea, and having kids that would dig for clams and the fishing fleet just about four blocks from where we lived allowed my mother to save all her meat coupons until the end of the month and then it was feast time. We ate a heck of a lot of sea food and fish. To this day, I still love clams and other fish. But they are now priced out of my limit. And I am too old to go digging for clams. Along with the fishing fleet moving into Boston down on Northern Avenue, you almost have to have a security clearance to get on the dock. So that is out of reach also. 

Sometimes for a treat, she would make me a cup of tea (she always got two cups out of one tea bag.) along with toast. Other times it was a cup of weak cocoa with evaporated milk. That tin of cocoa lasted for many cups.


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## menumaker

This was a super series on BBCI hope this link works but if not, go to youtube and search; BBC Wartime farm episode 1, and take it from there. The Christmas episode was particularly interesting

wartime farm episode 1 - YouTube


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## Stock Pot

*Wonder if it was necessary*

My father told me that during U.S. gas rationing, in the Air Corps they had an abundance and would even use it to clean parts on the planes. I wonder if a lot of the food rationing was the same thing i.e. government waste and ineptitude, mal-appropriation of resources by central planners, etc.


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## CWS4322

I watched the series on TVO. It was very enlightening. Farmers' contribution to the war effort was to eek more food out of their lands. This involved introducing more efficient means of farming. I complain about how much work it can be to harvest and preserve food. At least I have electricity and indoor plumbing!


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## Addie

CWS4322 said:


> I watched the series on TVO. It was very enlightening. Farmers' contribution to the war effort was to eek more food out of their lands. This involved introducing more efficient means of farming. I complain about how much work it can be to harvest and preserve food. At least I have electricity and indoor plumbing!



Farming is not the easiest job in the world. And under war conditions is was even more difficult. Almost everyone is this country had Victory gardens. And for those that didn't could go to the Community gardens. They would take an empty lot where once a house or building stood and till it for farming. They were all over the city here. We may not  have had a lot of meat, but we sure had plenty of vegetables. And some of them had greenhouses so there were veggies available for winter.


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## Kayelle

I was born in the dead of winter on a farm in Minnesota in 1943. My mother hoarded gas stamps, determined it would be her *last* winter there. When she finally had enough, she told my Dad she was going home to California with me and hoped he would come too, and he agreed. Atta girl Mom...you've always been my hero.

Because they had a farm at the time (a pump in the sink, no electricity) she never said much about rationing, except for gasoline.


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## CWS4322

I know my mom used to talk about all the ways my grandma could stretch a head of cabbage and tomatoes to feed them for a week. Of course, grandma made her own bread and had laying hens. During the winter, my grandma's canned tomatoes were front and center almost every meal during the depression. It was only my mom, grandma, and grandpa. My mom's brothers were 10 and 12 years older and were not living at home...they both ended up in Hawaii after Pearl Harbour.


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## GLC

Addie said:


> Farming is not the easiest job in the world. And under war conditions is was even more difficult. Almost everyone is this country had Victory gardens. And for those that didn't could go to the Community gardens. They would take an empty lot where once a house or building stood and till it for farming. They were all over the city here. We may not  have had a lot of meat, but we sure had plenty of vegetables. And some of them had greenhouses so there were veggies available for winter.



My grandfather, a WWI veteran, was a career employee of International Harvester in West Texas. During WWII, he worked as an undercover agent for the company, traveling the country, attempting to buy black market farm equipment from IH dealers. He found plenty to buy at a high price. He would pack old clothes in a tattered suit case and leave home, and his family would get post cards in his handwriting but with a stranger's name. Dangerous work, if you were discovered far from home in a town where violation was common. When he returned, he reported to headquarters. IH had the bad dealers appear for an event at corporate and terminated their dealerships on the spot. 

He also talked about a local man who kept driving his Cadillac during the war. No one could figure how he could get the gas. One day, he opened the hood and showed the tiny tractor engine he had installed for the duration of the war.


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## Kathleen

I love hearing stories of how people got by in the depression and during the war.  My maternal great-grandmother owned a dairy.   She also had laying hens.  My father's family was comprised of farmers, so Dad said that he prayed to go to war like his brothers because he now had to do the weeding of four men.

I don't think rations in the USA were nearly as strict as those in the UK.  Honestly, I'd totally be willing to take the challenge though to see if I could make it for a week or even for a few weeks.  I would need a better understanding of the rules though.  If in the UK, that minced beef would be bartered for beans in a heartbeat if bartering was allowed.  I too love chocolate, but the 1 egg a week is what has me most fearful!  

BTW, I love the caddie driver swapping out the engine.  I definitely use more than three gallons of gas a week to go to and from work.  Not sure how I would resolve that.


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## Cooking Goddess

Addie said:


> ...I also remember my mother making toast and sprinkling a little sugar on it and telling me that was desert...


Since I'm a dozen years younger than you, I didn't grow up during the Depression.  However, I consider Challah or any dense, barely sweet bread, toasted and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, as "dessert". Cranberry/pecan toast that way? Oh  !

To this day I still have my Grandma's purse, complete with ration coupon books for food and liquor. I remember my Mom telling me Grandma would hang on to those liquor stamps until my Dad would be home on leave. She figured the only people who deserved to drink were the military people fighting for our freedom. God Bless Grandma and the U.S.A.!

By the way Addie, since rationing ended in 1946 when you were about 7 years old, I hope you were the baby of your family. Hate to think your Mom let you wander the beach clamming alone!


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## buckytom

i mentioned this thread to my mom tonight, and after several questions, she,  in a quite embarrassed tone,  said while she remembers it. she said everyone was constantly finding ways around the rations. 

then she changed the subject.

i guess the greatest generation wants to keep it that way.


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## Caslon

Grandma's Wartime Kitchen...hhee, ...nothing.


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## bakechef

menumaker said:


> This was a super series on BBCI hope this link works but if not, go to youtube and search; BBC Wartime farm episode 1, and take it from there. The Christmas episode was particularly interesting
> 
> wartime farm episode 1 - YouTube



I started watching it last night after seeing it here, fascinating!  I didn't get through the first episode because I started watching too late and got sleepy, but I'll definitely keep watching.


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## Steve Kroll

I found an interesting link that includes excerpts from Ration Cookbooks.

11 Awesome Pages from World War II Ration Cookbooks | Mental Floss

I don't remember my parents ever discussing food rationing, but during WW2 my dad was overseas in France with an infantry battalion, and my mom, although dating my dad, was living with her parents on their family farm. My parents were married two weeks after he returned home from the war.


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## taxlady

Thanks for the link Steve. I enjoyed that.

I remember my mum's old magazines that showed pattern layouts for cutting the fabric for ladies' clothes from old men's suits.


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## CWS4322

taxlady said:


> Thanks for the link Steve. I enjoyed that.
> 
> I remember my mum's old magazines that showed pattern layouts for cutting the fabric for ladies' clothes from old men's suits.


My mother must have learned how to do that from my grandma--my "coat of many colours" when I went to first grade was pink and black plaid that my mom made from one of her old coats. I can remember her laying the pieces from the original coat out on the floor and making my coat. I was so proud of that coat. She also made amazing Barbie doll coats from my dad's old suits. My grandma also made braided rugs. For years I had one of her rugs in my livingroom.


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## Mad Cook

Kathleen said:


> So I was cruising about the Internet like I often do and something caught my eye: A woman had engaged in an experiment to make do with what would have been her weekly food rations during WWII.  She lives in the UK and so her weekly ration is as follows:
> 
> Bacon & Ham - 4 ounces
> Meat to the value of 1 shilling and six pence (1/2 pound of minced beef)
> Butter - 2 ounces
> Cheese - 2 ounces
> Margarine - 4 ounces
> Cooking fat - 4 ounces
> Milk - 3 pints
> Sugar - 8 ounces
> Preserves - 1 pound every 2 months
> Tea - 2 ounces
> Eggs - 1 fresh egg per week
> Sweets/Candy - 12 ounces every four weeks
> 
> In addition, you got to spend an additional 16 points per four weeks which would get you a can of tinned fish, 2 pounds of dried fruit, or 8 pounds of dried peas.
> 
> I've not been able to find a definitive list of what one could claim in the states, but I've read it was roughly twice the UK rations.  I do know that it was a pound of coffee per five weeks.
> 
> When I first started to read about the project, I was pretty sassy.  "Oh, I could do that," I said with a flip of my hair....until I hit the egg and milk part.  Then...sugar.  I've also read that flour was sometimes scarce.  Seafood and fish were not limited unless it was in a can.
> 
> So the lady who did the experiment lost a boat-load of weight, which was her goal, but I'm totally amazed that she stuck to her rations!
> 
> I also learned that rationing in the UK continued until well-past the war.
> 
> If that kind of thing returned, I believe that I could do it - but it would take some serious planning.  I'd definitely have a victory garden and a backyard full of chickens!
> 
> Does anyone remember food rations during WWII or after?


The 16 points _could _get you what's on the above list but it would depend on whether supplies of those things (or whatever was supposed to be available that week) had arrived in the shops and how close to the front of the queue you were. Hence the photos of queues you see in books about Britain during WW2. Fish was "off the ration" but was often in short supply.

It's generally stated that people in Britain were much healthier during wartime rationing - the diet was lower in fats and sugar, and vegetables were promoted as fillers and sometimes substitutes for meat. Certainly families that had been very poor and badly fed in the 1930s and were better off during rationing due to higher employment of both men and women could afford more and better food than pre-war. There was great emphasis placed on food advice, recipes and avoidance of food waste on the radio, in newspapers and in magazines, both public and private gardens even in towns were converted to veg cultivation, and rabbits and chickens were kept by many families. "British Restaurants" were opened where a 3 course meal cost 9 pence and no rationing coupons were required. (The GB £ was worth about $4 at the time - it's roughly worth $1.50 now - and there were 240 pennies in the £ so you can do the maths if you are sufficiently interested. Suffice it to say that my mother earned £5 a week on munitions - good money at the time.) Factories and schools had canteens where meals were supplied without the need for coupons. My dad was in the army during the war and my mother worked in a munitions factory (women were called up for either the services or war work) and they both say that the inventive cook managed reasonably well with the rations 

Yes, rationing continued until 1954 (I remember the fuss when it ended) because we owed so much to, among others, the USA (for "lend lease" assistance during the war) that production was aimed at paying our debts. Sweets and chocolate came off the ration in 1953 when I was 4 years old. Sweet rationing hadn't impact on me very much as Mum and Dad, my grandparents  and my "maiden" aunts used to hand over their sweet coupons for my use. I remember the fuss in 1953 when everyone was raving about chocolate being available - I couldn't see what the fuss was all about. I still don't like chocolate very much! 

Clothes rationing carried on after the war, too. Everyone, rich and poor alike had the same allotment and when the present Queen was married in 1947 it's reported that women all over Britain voluntarily sent in clothing coupons to help towards her wedding dress

BTW - If she was still alive Mum would say thank you to America for powdered egg. When she got home after a night shift her mother would make her a dried egg omelette and she said it was her favourite breakfast. Dried egg had a bad reputation for awfulness but mum said that if you made it up strictly according to instructions it made delicious omelettes.


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## CWS4322

I think that those who rely on food stamps / food banks probably could relate to rationing. Prices have gone way up--I picked up 3 lb of butter on special the other day--about 1/2 the "usual" price. I don't plant a garden because I have too much time on my hands, I do so I can have cabbage, leeks, tomatoes, a variety of hot peppers, greens, etc. so I can have the variety I want in my diet. It is a trade off--time dedicated to the garden vs. time spent at the Lake, a friend's pool, a weekend away. 

From 2007 - 2013, times were tough financially. The food that I went without included cheese and meat. I learned to eat what I could afford and to walk by the cheese section...I love cheese. 

I was in the grocery store yesterday to get some coarse salt and cruised by the meat counter to see if anything was on special (nothing was). There were several people dismayed by the prices--"It would be cheaper to buy my own steer." I heard one elderly woman mutter under her breath. I also noticed that the elderly person ahead of me at the check out had a lot of produce that was 50% off.


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## Mad Cook

Steve Kroll said:


> I found an interesting link that includes excerpts from Ration Cookbooks.
> 
> 11 Awesome Pages from World War II Ration Cookbooks | Mental Floss
> 
> I don't remember my parents ever discussing food rationing, but during WW2 my dad was overseas in France with an infantry battalion, and my mom, although dating my dad, was living with her parents on their family farm. My parents were married two weeks after he returned home from the war.


Mum & dad met (at a dance) during the war and were married in 1941. The first time she visited her future parents-in-law she was appalled to find that Dad's mother had a very cavalier attitude to rationing. She was a hairdresser and often sneakily reserved perming lotions and other hairdressing products for farmers' wives who offered the odd egg or two or pat of butter in part payment. Mum's mother had a son in the navy and wouldn't have considered using the "black market" if she and her family had been starving!


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## CharlieD

Interesting, I wonder how would she conduct experiment if her daily ration was 500 gr of bread? The norm for a working adult during war in Soviet Union.


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## Addie

Cooking Goddess said:


> Since I'm a dozen years younger than you, I didn't grow up during the Depression.  However, I consider Challah or any dense, barely sweet bread, toasted and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, as "dessert". Cranberry/pecan toast that way? Oh  !
> 
> To this day I still have my Grandma's purse, complete with ration coupon books for food and liquor. I remember my Mom telling me Grandma would hang on to those liquor stamps until my Dad would be home on leave. She figured the only people who deserved to drink were the military people fighting for our freedom. God Bless Grandma and the U.S.A.!
> 
> By the way Addie, since rationing ended in 1946 when you were about 7 years old, I hope you were the baby of your family. Hate to think your Mom let you wander the beach clamming alone!



I would go down there with a bunch of other kids. We all went clamming and harvesting lobsters. We learned very young. We gave no argue. We just knew it was for the family. My mother had polio and I remember at about four, I had to do things to help her. I grew up fast. And my sister had even more responsibilities. My father worked at the Charlestown Naval Yard. So he wasn't draft material. One day he went to walk across a plank from one ship to the one next to it. Whoever put the plank there didn't secure it properly and my father went down and landed on his feet. But the shock of the landing cost him the vision in one eye. I remember my mother opening the door and the policeman was standing there. Then my mother let out a scream and the cop had to help her to a chair. After about an hour she took the change out of her apron pocket and went out the door to go to the hospital to see my father. They kept him for about a week and then he came home. Stayed home a week and then went back to work at the Navy Yard. 

I do remember a lot about the war. The blackouts, the black curtains, the warden in the backyard checking and yelling to cover the windows. I hated the blackouts. I remember the red and blue coupons and their value was in cents. The book of coupons were the dollar ones. I had it drilled in my head, when I ran to the store with ration money, it was very precious and I better not lose any of it. If I ever found any on the street, it was a big event and meant something extra my mother could buy. 

I also remember the planes taking off all day long from Logan Field as it was called at that time. When I was around 12 or so, I used to go out there and ride my bike on the runway. Then someone would come out an yell at me to get off the runway, someone wanted to land. If I wasn't at Wood Island Park clamming, I was riding my bike on the runway. I remember the war years very well and the continued rationing after the way.


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## taxlady

My parents didn't talk much about war time rationing. They mentioned having to bring ration books to restos. They told me about cars converted to run on coal.

My mum told me far more about going hungry during the great depression. She moved away from home at 18 in 1932. Her mother would save the ends of "rugbrød" (heavy, dark rye bread) for her and say that she was just going to throw them away otherwise. In some weird way, saying that they would otherwise be thrown out, saved my mother's pride.


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## CWS4322

taxlady said:


> My parents didn't talk much about war time rationing. They mentioned having to bring ration books to restos. They told me about cars converted to run on coal.
> 
> My mum told me far more about going hungry during the great depression. She moved away from home at 18 in 1932. Her mother would save the ends of "rugbrød" (heavy, dark rye bread) for her and say that she was just going to throw them away otherwise. In some weird way, saying that they would otherwise be thrown out, saved my mother's pride.


My mother was born in 1932. She remembers one winter during the Depression when she and her brother were given $10 to go to the grocery store. On the way, they lost the $10. That week, my mom said all they had to eat was cabbage and tomato soup, grandma's homemade dark bread, and eggs from their flock. She and her brother Jack looked and looked but could not find that $10 they lost in the snow. The next week, my grandma pinned the money to my mother's dress. My parents were fortunate--my dad's side of the family had money; my mom's side of the family had faith and provided a much needed service in the community (pharmacist) so they had a means of keeping food on the table. And, my maternal side of the family figured out early on how to forage, hunt, fish, garden, and raise laying hens.


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## Mad Cook

CharlieD said:


> Interesting, I wonder how would she conduct experiment if her daily ration was 500 gr of bread? The norm for a working adult during war in Soviet Union.


Bread wasn't rationed until after the war in the UK, when the bad harvest due to bad weather in 1946 caused a severe shortage.

Without wishing to be being political, the system used from the late 1920s through the 1930s in Russia lead to severe shortages even before the war.


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## Kathleen

Thank you ALL for the memories and links!  Wow!  

My grandmother was given a pair of red patent shoes just before shoes were rationed due to WWII.  I remember her telling me that, with two growing children, she wanted to save her shoe rations for them.  So she would wear her old shoes and walk miles to town towing my uncle's old wagon.  When she arrived to where the town's sidewalk started, she slipped out of the old shoes and put on her red shoes to do her marketing.  I can easily see her doing that and the memory makes me smile.  

My mother said they would save their gas rations so they could make a trip to see her grandmother each month.  My maternal great-grandmother ran a dairy, so they could stretch their rations by paying her a visit but it took three weeks rations to safely make the trip.  

One of my great aunts told me that she and her friends would time when they made certain things as the liquid that something was cooked in would be given to one another so everyone had some seasoned liquid for cooking.  Toward the end, they would pool their resources and make a kettle of soup! 

While I hope never to have this kind of need, I love the camaraderie and sense of community.  

A car that runs on coal.....amazing!


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## taxlady

There was some heavy duty stuff had to be added to the car to run it on coal or wood. Here's an article that's mostly pix of those retrofitted cars: COAL AND WOOD BURNING VEHICLES OF WWII

Here's another article: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/01/wood-gas-cars.html


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## CWS4322

Here's a link to some Depression era recipes:

21 Classic Great Depression Era Recipes | RecipeLion.com

Bacon must have been a lot less spendy then.


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## Mad Cook

Kathleen said:


>


Coal gas had been used as a means of powering delivery vans during the first world war and in the late 1930s Citroen, in France, had designed a car which had a built in gas generator rather than a conversion bolted on. It looks quite elegant.


Complete with bag of coal


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## Mad Cook

Mad Cook said:


> Coal gas had been used as a means of powering delivery vans during the first world war and in the late 1930s Citroen, in France, had designed a car which had a built in gas generator rather than a conversion bolted on. It looks quite elegant.
> View attachment 21839
> 
> Complete with bag of coal


And here is a close-up.


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## Aunt Bea

Clara is another great resource for people interested in life during the Great Depression.  Check our her videos and keep an eye out for her cooking book.

Great Depression Cooking - YouTube


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## Bigjim68

taxlady said:


> Thanks for the link Steve. I enjoyed that.
> 
> I remember my mum's old magazines that showed pattern layouts for cutting the fabric for ladies' clothes from old men's suits.



My sister grew up in feed sack dresses.   I in handmade jeans made from dad's old ones.  McCalls made the patterns and they came with a variety of collars, sleeves, and trim.

We had a large garden and chickens, mom canned everything, and so we always ate pretty well.   When dad and I went to the feed store, mom sent a patch of fabric, and we had better not come back with the wrong fabric.

During WW II, everybody was involved.  Aside from raising your own food, schools had paper and tin can drives.  Moms canned and made clothes.  My dad was an air raid warden captain.  We pasted stamps in a book until we had a full book. Then traded the book for a war bond.  

I still have dad's gas mask and helmet, a half filled war bond book, and ration coupons and tokens.


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## Addie

For those of my generation who had parents who grew up during the Depression, our parents knew what they had to do during WWII. They had already lived through it during the Depression. Nothing went to waste. Leftover food often became hash the next night. My mother already knew portion control when she became a wife.


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## CharlieD

Mad Cook said:


> ...
> 
> Without wishing to be being political, the system used from the late 1920s through the 1930s in Russia lead to severe shortages even before the war.



For sure, who can argue that. The rationing continued thru out the end of 1948, maybe longer, cannot remember. The system was not approved by people, such is tyranny. But millions died during that time due to starvation, millions. So, I just cannot feel bad when I read about Depression years. For many in Soviet Union the food people had here would have been a huge Holiday feast. Sadly.


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## CWS4322

I know that there are those who follow the "Meatless Monday" trend ... thinking it might be fun to do "Depression-era Tuesdays." This would mean adhering to only buying/preparing ingredients that are in season, local and common--so no exotic ingredients unless you live where the ingredients are available...kinda like the 100-mile challenge. Anyone in?


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## Mad Cook

CWS4322 said:


> I know that there are those who follow the "Meatless Monday" trend ... thinking it might be fun to do "Depression-era Tuesdays." This would mean adhering to only buying/preparing ingredients that are in season, local and common--so no exotic ingredients unless you live where the ingredients are available...kinda like the 100-mile challenge. Anyone in?


I mostly do that anyway. I don't feel deprived because it's the way we always did it. Nothing tastes as good when it's flown thousands of miles as it does when it was grown a few miles up the road (or in your own garden). It makes seasonal produce a treat. I always look forward to the very short English asparagus season (and budget for it) and only ever eat asparagus then. The best thing to come out of Peru was Paddington Bear, not asparagus 

I went shopping today and out of interest looked at the display of apples in the supermarket (I usually buy my fruit and veg from the greengrocer). The English apple season is just getting into its stride. The s/market had apples from Chile, France and Germany but not a single English apple!


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## taxlady

Mad Cook said:


> ...
> I went shopping today and out of interest looked at the display of apples in the supermarket (I usually buy my fruit and veg from the greengrocer). The English apple season is just getting into its stride. The s/market had apples from Chile, France and Germany but not a single English apple!


Quebec grows a lot of apples. I usually find a one to three week window when I can buy organic Quebec apples.

Why would I want apples from the southern hemisphere at this time of year. Those apples must already have been stored a half a year. We get those here too. I don't buy them.


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## bluejeans

I've enjoyed reading through this thread.  Here's a link to some recipes and booklets that outlined the rationing efforts in Canada during the time of the Second World War.  

Canada Rationing

My grandparents were young adults during this time and their influence on my own youth does still carry forward at times when I strive to make a good economy of the resources we have.


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## buckytom

i guess my maternal grandfather was the only one who used the black market to supplement their rations. 

geez, he must have bought a lot of stuff to keep it all going by himself.


actually, my mom said that since he owned a bar and was his own bartender, he used to get an occasional freebie or extra rations from the restaurant next door, or from a customer short on cash.


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## taxlady

Well, my mum would probably have used the black market to get some extra chocolate, but she was in a strange country and I don't know if she could find it.


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## PrincessFiona60

Mom's family had farms.  Dad's family were not well off and I am sure they made use of whatever they could get their hands on, either legally or illegally.  My Paternal Grandmother was the Queen of the 40 pound buffet visit.


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## CWS4322

Mad Cook said:


> I mostly do that anyway. I don't feel deprived because it's the way we always did it. Nothing tastes as good when it's flown thousands of miles as it does when it was grown a few miles up the road (or in your own garden). It makes seasonal produce a treat. I always look forward to the very short English asparagus season (and budget for it) and only ever eat asparagus then. The best thing to come out of Peru was Paddington Bear, not asparagus
> 
> I went shopping today and out of interest looked at the display of apples in the supermarket (I usually buy my fruit and veg from the greengrocer). The English apple season is just getting into its stride. The s/market had apples from Chile, France and Germany but not a single English apple!


I generally cook using what I have on hand, and usually that means what I've taken out of the garden. I too only eat asparagus when it is in season here (harvested from the fence lines--not the store). I remember only eating things that were in season growing up and that still makes sense to me, except I really like having fresh limes and lemons...


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## Aunt Bea

This recipe for Cabbage Delmonico was an inexpensive main dish during the Great Depression and the war rationing years.  Try using bacon fat instead of butter for the roux.

It also makes a nice side dish served with ham and baked potatoes. 

Try making it with a head of cauliflower.

Cabbage Delmonico Casserole Recipe from CDKitchen.com


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## Kathleen

buckytom said:


> i guess my maternal grandfather was the only one who used the black market to supplement their rations.
> 
> geez, he must have bought a lot of stuff to keep it all going by himself.
> 
> 
> actually, my mom said that since he owned a bar and was his own bartender, he used to get an occasional freebie or extra rations from the restaurant next door, or from a customer short on cash.



Bucky, there was a boat-load of bartering.  My guess is that your grandpa was grand central for those seeking a trade.    My dairy-owning grandma would have definitely bartered after she gave what she gave to the war effort.


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## CWS4322

Kathleen said:


> Bucky, there was a boat-load of bartering.  My guess is that your grandpa was grand central for those seeking a trade.    My dairy-owning grandma would have definitely bartered after she gave what she gave to the war effort.


My grandfather bartered (well, accepted barter offers) in exchange for medications (he owned a pharmacy). Sometimes he'd come home with a chicken, a gallon or two of milk (including the cream), other times with a braided rug or a woven rag rug. He accepted what people could afford to offer in exchange for their medications. I still have one of those braided rugs and a couple of the rag rugs. My mother used to tell me stories of the things her dad would unload from the car after a day of rural deliveries. My grandmother was a gifted cook, seamstress, and very frugal. She also was a very optimistic and loving person. I don't think my grandfather made dandelion wine because it was so great tasting--on top of living in a very remote part of MN, my grandparents also lived in a dry county.

Because of the changing demographics where over 80% of the population in NA live in urban/small towns, most people would be hard pressed to adopt a self-sufficient lifestyle. We do our best to grow as much of our food as possible, and we'd probably do okay if we were suddenly faced with the hardships our ancestors faced during the Depression and WWII, but it wouldn't be fun. I would hate to go without Internet!


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## PrincessFiona60

I would miss the Internet the most.  I likely no longer have the stamina and strength to live off the land., but I do have the knowledge.


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## CWS4322

PrincessFiona60 said:


> I would miss the Internet the most.  I likely no longer have the stamina and strength to live off the land., but I do have the knowledge.


I'd really rather take a bubble bath with a glass of wine than process tomatoes, cabbage, and beets. And yes, I would miss the Internet most!


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## Caslon

Sort of along the line of efficient gardening and 1940 I hope. Anyone try the hanging basket tomato, strawberries  AS SEEN ON TV thingy?   I did.   Not good, lol.  It looked good in the TV infomercial.  I may try it again someday as I bought two full sets.  Not good.  It came out...not good. lol.

I also was into "square foot" gardening back in the late 80's.  I think PBS even had a series about square foot gardening.  I may try that again someday.  That is truly 1940's inspired vegetable gardening.  Maximizing space.


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## buckytom

lol, caslon. plants don't know up from down. just which way is the sun?

kathleen, i'm sorry if it appeared to poo poo the idea, but i was really struck by my mom's reaction. she was really hesitant to talk about the ways around rationing, even 70 years after the fact.

THAT'S what made their generation great. that they knew right from wrong and had a hard time justifying anything in between. even 7 decades later.

but you did what was necessary to feed 8 kids; my mom the youngest.


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## forty_caliber

Fascinating thread.  Checkout Crisis Education |.  I'm going to try the 4 foot farm in the spring.

.40


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## Addie

Caslon said:


> Sort of along the line of efficient gardening and 1940 I hope. Anyone try the hanging basket tomato, strawberries  AS SEEN ON TV thingy?   I did.   Not good, lol.  It looked good in the TV infomercial.  I may try it again someday as I bought two full sets.  Not good.  It came out...not good. lol.
> 
> I also was into "square foot" gardening back in the late 80's.  I think PBS even had a series about square foot gardening.  I may try that again someday.  That is truly 1940's inspired vegetable gardening.  Maximizing space.



We have a news station and one of their reporters does a segment every Wednesday called "Does It Work." She tries out all "As seen on TV" stuff. Those hanging plants were a disaster.


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## Aunt Bea

The recent posts make me wonder what things would look like today if we faced a similar challenge.  During the Depression and WWII people used what was available and made it work.  

What would be the inexpensive almost free meals of today?

Would you be able to garden?  I suppose I could grow potatoes or mushrooms in the dark rich soil under the refrigerator but that would be about it! 

Would we all be huddled in the alley outside of an internet cafe seeing if we could get a connection?

I wonder what we would come up with.


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## CWS4322

Aunt Bea said:


> The recent posts make me wonder what things would look like today if we faced a similar challenge.  During the Depression and WWII people used what was available and made it work.
> 
> What would be the inexpensive almost free meals of today?
> 
> Would you be able to garden?  I suppose I could grow potatoes or mushrooms in the dark rich soil under the refrigerator but that would be about it!
> 
> Would we all be huddled in the alley outside of an internet cafe seeing if we could get a connection?
> 
> I wonder what we would come up with.


My almost free meal today was eggs, beans, cabbage, and tomato. Almost free--I have to work the garden, feed and tend the Girls. So, not free, but I certainly would not have had to use a ration coupon or find money to pay for what I ate. I cooked the eggs in water, and since I have a well, I don't pay for my water, but I do pay for electricity. 

I've sat in a parking lot to get a "free" connection when at my parents (who do not have Internet). I know where all the free hot spots are...

Our wake up call was the Ice Storm in 1998. We were without power for 12 days. That's when we made the decision to get serious about being more self sufficient.


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## PrincessFiona60

forty_caliber said:


> Fascinating thread.  Checkout Crisis Education |.  I'm going to try the 4 foot farm in the spring.
> 
> .40



Thanks for that link.


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## Caslon

Yes...PF, that link is the hanging basket AS SEEN ON TV product  done right.

I still have another set of hanging tomato/strawberry basket product in my storage garage I haven't tossed out yet  that I may try again someday.  It looked so successful on that TV ad infomercial.  How come mine failed so miserably?

Square foot gardening PBS show was pretty cool.  I even bought a book about it.  I watched that PBS show every week with keen interest.
I bet you that that 1980's PBS square foot gardening    show  was born out of WW2 victory gardens.


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## GotGarlic

Don't feel bad, Caslon. I tried the upside down tomato thing and it was a huge failure, too. I don't know why - the plant just didn't grow well. It seemed to be trying to grow up against gravity and maybe that put too much stress on it. I think I got two or three tomatoes out of it. Remember that TV ads are about marketing and don't usually reflect reality.


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## Aunt Bea

This is an advertisement from one of our local companies in 1918.  

None Such was eventually sold to Borden and is now owned by Smucker's.  

I thought it was an interesting example of a small sacrifice on the home front in a time of war.


.


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## Addie

Caslon said:


> Yes...PF, that link is the hanging basket AS SEEN ON TV product  done right.
> 
> I still have another set of hanging tomato/strawberry basket product in my storage garage I haven't tossed out yet  that I may try again someday.  It looked so successful on that TV ad infomercial.  How come mine failed so miserably?
> 
> Square foot gardening PBS show was pretty cool.  I even bought a book about it.  I watched that PBS show every week with keen interest.
> I bet you that that 1980's PBS square foot gardening    show  was born out of WW2 victory gardens.



When Leslie (the TV reporter) tried it, she hung her tomatoes out in the back of her house. In the shade. She gave one to some on her neighbors to try their luck. Most of them hung theirs in the full sun. Leslie's was a total failure. Her neighbors for those whose baskets got full sun all day long, were the most successful. For those whose basket got only the morning sun and a little of the afternoon, were slightly less successful. So the need for full sun all day seems to be the secret.


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## GotGarlic

I hung mine from the roof of the shed next to my vegetable garden. It got the same amount of sun as the garden did. It's just a gimmick, imo.


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## Addie

GotGarlic said:


> I hung mine from the roof of the shed next to my vegetable garden. It got the same amount of sun as the garden did. It's just a gimmick, imo.



It probably is. But if you are going to spend your hard earned money on it, why not do everything you can to make it a success.


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## GotGarlic

Addie said:


> It probably is. But if you are going to spend your hard earned money on it, why not do everything you can to make it a success.



Um, I did. You didn't see where I said it got the same amount of sun as the vegetable garden?


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