world war 2 in tredegar part 4 food rationing
DESCRIPTION
World War 2 in Tredegar Part 4 Food Rationing Tredegar, 20th century, World War II, Rationing, Second World War, Home Front, Blaenau Gwent, Wales. www.access2heritagebg.co.ukTRANSCRIPT
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The Home Front in Tredegar
during the Second World War
A Key Stage 2
Educational Resource Pack
Part 4—Food & Rationing
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Food Rationing
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Before the Second World War much of the
food eaten in Britain was produced abroad
and brought into the country by sea.
After the war started, German submarines
sunk many British ships. However, ships
were now needed to carry weapons and
raw materials for the war effort.
In order to make sure that the reduced
amount of food that was imported was
shared out fairly, a system of buying
shortage foods was introduced, which was
called ‘rationing’.
Rationed foods included meat and dairy
products, eggs, tea and sugar. Other foods
became very scarce and expensive.
Right: Merthyr Express, 13 January 1940
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To buy rationed food you needed to
register with a shop otherwise you
weren’t allowed to buy it.
People received ration books
containing coupons that had to be
stamped and removed by a shop-
keeper each time that food, which
was rationed, was bought.
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Here is the front and back of a sheet containing tea ration coupons
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Each person was allowed a limited number of coupons each week, so
there was a limit to how much rations could be bought in any week.
Second World War rations for one adult per week
Children’s rations were half of that of an adult.
Item Maximum level Minimum level
Bacon and Ham 8 oz (227 g) 4 oz (113 g)
Sugar 16 oz (454 g) 8 oz (227 g)
Loose Tea 4 oz (113 g) 2 oz (57 g)
Meat 22 old pence worth 12 old pence worth
Cheese 8 oz (227 g) 1 oz (28 g)
Preserves (such as Jam) 1 lb (0.45 kg) per month 2 lb (0.91 kg) marmalade
8 oz (227 g) per month
Butter 8 oz (227 g) 2 oz (57 g)
Margarine 12 oz (340 g) 4 oz (113 g)
Lard 3 oz (85 g) 2 oz (57 g)
Sweets 16 oz (454 g) per month 8 oz (227 g) per month
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This was the weekly allowance of rationed foods for one adult
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The table on the right lists
average earnings for men
in the 1940s.
In old (pre-decimal) money,
12 old pence (written d)
made a shilling (written s).
20 shillings made one
pound (or 240 old pence).
Whilst the maximum
amount of meat allowed for
one adult for a week was
only 22 old pence worth,
this was still a lot of money
when you consider that
many men may not have
earned more than 68 old
pence in a week!
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Occasionally we’d get a treat—Canadian
sausage meat. It would be a tin holding about a
pound of sausage meat, which was absolutely
delicious. Around the sausage meat you’d have
the fat and I remember my mother scraping that
off very carefully to use for cooking.
Peter M.Jones
There was a British Restaurant near to where Tredegar Library is today. It was a restaurant where you could go in and have a meal ‘off-ration.’ Peter M.Jones
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British Restaurants
Tredegar had its own
‘British Restaurant’.
These were run by the
Women’s Voluntary
Service (WVS) to ensure
that people who had run
out of rationing coupons
were still able to eat.
A meal cost a maximum
of 9 old pence (9d) but no
-one could have a meal
consisting of more than
one serving of either
meat, poultry, fish, eggs
or cheese—as these
foods were rationed.
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In the table below, we can compare how the amount of some imported
foods and drinks changed before (Pre-War) and during the war (Now).
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Some foods including tinned produce, dried fruit, cereals and biscuits
were rationed using a points system. The number of points sometimes
changed according to how much was available at that time.
Extra allowances of milk and eggs were given to young children and
pregnant women. However as shortages increased during the war, long
queues became common. Prices of scarce foods were often controlled.
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A song from the 1920s became very popular during the war as people
tried to make a joke out of the fact that many foods were no longer
available. The Government banned the importing of bananas so
shopkeepers put signs up stating "Yes, we have no bananas" in their
shop windows!
Yes! We have no bananas.
We have no bananas today.
We've string beans and onions,
cab-bah-ges and scallions,
and all kinds of fruit and say,
we have an old fashioned to-mah-to,
Long Island po-tah-to,
but yes!
We have no bananas.
We have no bananas today!
Left: Children eating
their first banana
after the war!
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Recipes and Cooking
Rationing meant that certain ingredients
normally used for cooking were in short
supply or simply unavailable.
The Ministry of Food encouraged people
to try different ingredients and recipes to
make the most of foods that were plentiful
such as vegetables.
People were urged to cut down on their
food waste as well.
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Bread and flour were in short supply dur-
ing the war but neither were rationed
even though most of the wheat used to
make bread was shipped in from abroad.
To make wheat go further, the Govern-
ment introduced ‘National Wheatmeal
Bread’, which used more of the wheat
grain, and it expected bakers to use it.
It was also illegal for bakers to sell ‘fresh’
bread! Bread had to be at least one day
old before it could be bought. The
Government said that it was difficult to
cut thin slices with fresh bread but it
probably had more to do with the fact
that fresh bread was more appetising
and you were likely to eat more of it if it
tasted better!
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Woolton pie was named after the Minister of Food in 1940. The recipe
included potatoes, parsnips, cauliflower, swede, carrots and turnip or
whatever vegetables were available or in season. The pie was topped
with potato pastry and served with vegetable gravy. Woolton pie, which
lacked meat entirely, was quickly forgotten after rationing ended.
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To encourage people to eat more potatoes, Potato Pete was created.
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Everyone especially children were urged to eat more carrots during the
war because they were a healthy food that was plentiful. The "Dr.
Carrot" advertising campaign also encouraged the eating of carrots.
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Carrots contain vitamin A which is important to human health. A poor
diet lacking in vitamin A can cause poor vision, including night vision,
which can be restored by adding it back into the diet.
A story or myth developed during the war that British gunners were
able to shoot down German planes in the darkness of night because
they ate lots of carrots! However this had more to do with the fact that
the Royal Air Force wanted to cover up its discovery and successful use
of radar, which pinpointed the positions of aircraft in the sky at night!
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This story or myth that the Royal Air
Force told also encouraged British
people—looking to improve their
night vision during the blackouts—
to grow and eat carrots too!
Carrots do help you to keep your
eyes and vision healthy because
they contain vitamin A. But eating
tons of them will not allow you to
see in the dark!
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Some vegetables were in shorter supply
than others. Most onions were imported
before the war so became scarce after
1940. People were encouraged to grow
leeks as a substitute for onions. The
Ministry of Food placed adverts in
newspapers featuring recipes which
used ingredients that were plentiful.
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Fish wasn’t rationed but there were regular shortages as supplies
dropped to 30% of pre-war levels. As a result, long queues often built up
at fishmongers. The Food Ministry encouraged people to eat other types
such as salted fish but it wasn’t very popular!
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Tea was rationed during the
war as it had to be imported
from overseas.
Coffee was never rationed
but it was in short supply and
expensive.
Coffee substitutes became
popular during the war.
Camp coffee contained only
4% coffee, sugar syrup and
26% chicory, which was
made from the root of a herb
that had a similar, bitter taste
to coffee.
Tea rationing finally ended on
3 October 1952.
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‘Red, White & Blue’ was another popular
coffee substitutes during the war. It too
was a coffee and chicory mixture.
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Dried Eggs and Dried Milk!
Eggs and dairy products were rationed and often in short supply during the
war. Dried or powdered egg became available instead of fresh eggs!
Left & right: Two adverts about
eggs in the Merthyr Express
newspaper from 1941 & 1944
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Merthyr Express newspaper,
30 January 1943
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Dried milk, known as ‘household milk’,
was also available for children during the
war when liquid milk was in short supply.
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Sweet rationing
To the great dismay of children,
rationing of sweets began on 26th
July 1942. The ration was just 8
ounces (227 grams) of sweets (or
chocolate) every 4 weeks!
Children struggled to make their
ration last and chose sweets that
lasted, such as gobstoppers!
Sweet coupons could be spent
anywhere allowing children to shop
around.
What does 227g of sweets look
like? This was all you were allowed
to have for 4 weeks!
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Due to rationing,
packaging of
sweets and
chocolate was
plain and simple,
and often wrapped
in greaseproof
paper!
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2 adverts for sweets—underneath the price in old pence (d), the number
of ration coupon points is shown
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Chocolate makers couldn’t get
enough milk to make ‘milk
chocolate’ and often had to
use milk powder instead. Plain
(dark) chocolate became the
norm! Sweet rationing ended
on 5 February 1953, which was
greeted with scenes like the
one below across Britain!
More wartime chocolate below!
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Sweets could be made at home using Ministry of Food recipes.
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Even in the war, most
children still had parties
on birthdays and at
Christmas although
they would have been
much less lavish than
we would have today.
Mothers had to be really
inventive to create
sweet treats out of
meagre sugar rations.
The Ministry of Food
produced lots of advice
to help people make the
most of ingredients that
were available such as
these below:
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Letter received by Tredegar Council from London County Council on 23 December 1940.
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On Christmas 1940,
parties were held in
Tredegar for all
evacuees staying
there.
On 23 December,
Tredegar Council
received a letter
from London County
Council advising
that 2 ounces of
sweets would be
available for each
evacuee for Christ-
mas. The sweets
must have arrived in
the nick of time!
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Letters received by Tredegar Council from London County Council in 1942 & 1943 about
Christmas party arrangements for evacuees. This time plenty of notice was given!
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A Spade and Fork Army—
Dig for Victory!
Some foods including vegetables
weren’t rationed at all during the war.
The Government realised that farmers
and gardeners in Britain needed to
produce more food.
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A campaign to encourage people to grow vegetables in their gardens
and allotments was launched called ‘Dig For Victory’. MP and Secretary
to the Ministry of Agriculture, Tom Williams, said on 30 October 1940:
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At Tredegar, the Council wasted no
time in securing the extra land
needed—allotments sprung into
being almost overnight by the
hundred.
Despite the unpromising nature of
the ground, the results were very
good.
Exhibitions and competitions were
held in the autumn of each year
which proved that excellent
vegetables could be grown in
Tredegar, despite its altitude, as well
as anywhere else in South Wales.
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During the war, the Ministry for
Food encouraged people to
help harvest crops during the
autumn as there weren’t
enough farm workers available
to do the work.
During the first year of the war,
a great number of potatoes
were lost because there was a
shortage of labour at harvest.
The Ministry of Food organised
‘holidays’ for volunteers to help
harvest the crops!
Would this be your idea of a
perfect holiday?
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In order to grow more food in
Britain, more help was needed on
the farms and so the government
started the Women's Land Army in
June 1939 as the likelihood of war
grew. It was intended that young
women would replace men called
up for military service who had
worked in farming before the war.
Women who worked for the Land
Army were known as Land Girls.
They were placed with farms that
needed workers; the farmers being
their employer.
By 1944, over 80,000 women
worked as Land Girls on Britain’s
farms.
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Women's Land Army Song
Back to the land, we must all
lend a hand.
To the farms and the fields we
must go.
There's a job to be done,
Though we can't fire a gun
We can still do our bit with the
hoe...
Back to the land, with its clay
and its sand,
Its granite and gravel and grit,
You grow barley and wheat
And potatoes to eat
To make sure that the nation
keeps fit...
We will tell you once more
You can help win the war
If you come with us - back to the
land
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The Government suggested that children could also help grow food!
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Because of the pail,
the scraps were saved,
Because of the scraps,
the pigs were saved,
Because of the pigs,
the rations were saved,
Because of the rations,
the ships were saved,
Because of the ships,
the island was saved,
Because of the island,
the Empire was saved,
And all because of
the housewife's pail.
Meat rationing increased the need for
people to keep animals for eating.
Councils allowed people to keep a pig
in their backyard. People grouped
together to form pig clubs to organise
feed (swill) collections.
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People saved food
scraps and waste
such as potato
peelings. This was
collected and boiled
to feed to pigs.
Almost every part of
a pig could be eaten.
Butter was in very
short supply during
the war. People made
their own lard from
pig fat, which they
used to spread on
bread instead of
butter!
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Children were expected to collect acorns and beech mast for pig feed!
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During the war, 700 pigs were
slaughtered in Tredegar–few of
these animals would have been
kept if it had not been for pig
clubs.
The Vale Terrace pig club sold
nearly 8 tonnes of meat to the
Ministry of Food which was
roughly the same as one week’s
ration for 90,000 people! The
Constitutional Club’s pig club
did even better, selling 112 pigs
to the Ministry—a week’s ration
for 116,000 people!
In addition, the members of the
pig clubs were able to supply
themselves with meat as well!
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As meat was rationed for much of the
war, people were encouraged to
keep rabbits for eating!
Rabbits could be fed on kitchen and
garden waste including many weeds
so they cost very little to keep.
Below: A one-pot stew made from
rabbit and just a few ingredients.
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People were also encouraged to
keep chickens so that they could
produce their own eggs. During
the war, eggs were severely
rationed; the allowance for one
adult was only one egg per week!
If you had enough space for
chickens then you could get a
ration for ‘feed’. Some councils
organised waste food collections
in their areas.
Many people who kept chickens
swapped any unwanted, spare
eggs for other foods which were
difficult to get or rationed as well.
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