rationing in britain wwii
TRANSCRIPT
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RATIONING IN BRITAIN WWII
During World War II all sorts of essential and non-essential foods were
rationed, as well as clothing, furniture and petrol.
W h y w a s r a t i o n i n g i n t r o d u c e d ?
To make the British weak, the Germans tried to cut off supplies of food
and other goods. German submarines attacked many of the ships that
brought food to Britain.
Before the war, Britain imported 55 million tons of food, a month after
the war had started this figure had dropped to 12 million.
The Ration Book became the key to survival for nearly every
household in Britain. Every member of the public was issued with a
ration book.
Ration Books
W h a t w e r e r a t i o n b o o k s ?
They were books which contained coupons that shopkeepers cut out or
signed when people bought food and other items. (People still paid for
the goods with money.)
W h y w e r e t h e r e d i f f e r e n t c o l o u r r a t i o n b o o k s ?
'The colour of your ration book was very important as it made sure yougo the right amount and types of food needed for your health.
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Buff-coloured ration books - Most adults had this colour
Green ration books - Pregnant women, nursing mothers and children
under 5. They had first choice of fruit, a daily pint of milk and a double
supply of eggs.
Blue ration books - Children between 5 and 16 years of age. It was
felt important that children had fruit, the full meat ration and half a pint
of milk a day.
W h y d i d t h e g o v e r n m e n t i s s u e r a t i o n b o o k s ?
To make sure that everybody got a fair share of the food available.
The government was worried that as food and other items became
scarcer, prices would rise and poorer people might not be able to affordthings. There was also a danger that some people might hoard items,
leaving none for others.
Rationing was introduced to make sure that everyone had a fair share of
the items that were hard to get hold of during the war.
W h e n w a s r a t i o n i n g i n t r o d u c e d ?
Rationing was introduced at the beginning of 1940.
National Registration Day
On National Registration Day on 29 September 1939, every householder
had to fill in a form giving details of the people who lived in their house.
H o w d i d r a t i o n i n g w o r k ?
Using the information gathered on National Registration Day, the
government issued every one with an identity card and ration book.
Register with local shops
Each family or individual had to register with a local supplier from whom
the ration would be bought. These details were stamped in the book and
you could only buy your ration from that supplier.
Coupons
The books contained coupons that had to be handed to or signed by the
shopkeeper every time rationed goods were bought. This meant that
people could only buy the amount they were allowed.
W a s r a t i o n i n g f a i r ?
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Some people considered food rationing to be very unfair. Eggs, butter
and meat could be obtained fairly easily without coupons in rural areas.
By the summer of 1941 greengrocers in the towns were taking their
lorries into the country to buy vegetables direct from growers.
W h e n d i d f o o d r a t i o n i n g s t o p ?
Fourteen years of food rationing in Britain ended at midnight on 4 July
1954, when restrictions on the sale and purchase of meat and bacon
were lifted. This happened nine years after the end of the war.
Rationing experience from one of the visitors to ourwebsite
"I lived in Godalming & London during WW2. I was 12 at thestart, 18 at its end (an apprentice in an aircraft factory).
Eating outOne point that your pages on rationing did not bring out was,that in most families at least one person was working &consequently relieved the ration situation at home by eating out.I for example had a lunch in the works canteen and a sandwichwith tea at the two other breaks during the day.
Even classified as a "Boy" I was working54 hours a week anddid evening classes on three nights (having supper at the 'techcanteen).
Another member of my family was a shop assistant during thisperiod. Because of the shortage of staff, her lunch break was tooshort to go home so she eat at a restaurant (Often Lyons, whereWelsh Rabbit (cheese on toast) cost 4d or a hot meat pie 7d).
Many schools also had school dinners.
All in all, many families really had double the official rationbecause they ate at their place of work."
W h y w a s f o o d r a t i o n e d i n B r i t a i n i n W o r l d W a r
I I ?
Before the Second World War started Britain imported about 55 million
tons of food a year from other countries. After war was declared in
September 1939, the British government had to cut down on theamount of food it brought in from abroad as German submarines started
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attacking British supply ships. There was a worry that this would lead to
shortages of food supplies in the shops so the British government
decided to introduce a system of rationing.
Rationing made sure that people got an equal amount of food every
week. The government was worried that as food became scarcer, prices
would rise and poorer people might not be able to afford to eat. There
was also a danger that some people might hoard food, leaving none for
others.
Ration books - notice the dates
These ration books were issued to Doris and Montague Corri.
H o w l o n g w a s f o o d r a t i o n e d f o r ?
Rationing of food lasted for 14 years and ended on July 4, 1954.
H o w d i d f o o d r a t i o n i n g w o r k ?
Every person in Britain was given a ration book. They had to register
and buy their food from their chosen shops. There were no
supermarkets, so people had to visit several different shops to buy
meat, vegetables, bread and other goods.
When people wanted to buy some food, the items they bought were
crossed off in their ration book by the shopkeeper.
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Page inside a ration book
W h a t w e r e t h e f i r s t f o o d i t e m s t o b e r a t i o n e d ?
On 8 January 1940, bacon, butter and sugar were rationed.
W h a t o t h e r f o o d i t e m s w e r e r a t i o n e d ?
Many different foods were added to the food ration list during the war.
These included:
meat (Mar 1940) jam (Mar 1941) biscuits ( Aug
1942),
fish tea (Jul 1940) breakfast cereals,
cheese (May 1941) eggs (June 1941) milk,
tinned tomatoes (Feb.
1942)
peas (Feb. 1942) dried fruit Jan 1942
rice (Jan 1942) canned fruit, cooking fat (Jul
1940)
Some foods such as potatoes, fruit and fish were not rationed.
H o w m u c h f o o d w a s o n e p e r s o n a l l o w e d t o b u y
p e r w e e k d u r i n g t h e w a r ?
The weekly ration varied from month to month as foods became more
or less plentiful.
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A typical ration for one adult per week was:
Butter: 50g
(2oz)
Bacon and ham: 100g
(4oz)
Margarine: 100g (4oz)
Sugar: 225g
(8oz).
Meat: To the value of
1s.2d (one shilling and
sixpence per week. That
is about 6p today)
Milk: 3 pints (1800ml)
occasionally dropping
to 2 pints (1200ml).
Cheese: 2oz
(50g)
Eggs: 1 fresh egg a
week.
Tea: 50g (2oz).
Jam: 450g
(1lb) every
two months.
Dried eggs 1 packet
every four weeks.
Sweets: 350g (12oz)
every four weeks
A weeks supply of rationed food for an adult
In addition to the above food, everyone was allowed 16 points per
month to use on what ever food items they wished.
H o w d i d t h e g o v e r n m e n t m a k e s u r e p e o p l e h a d
e n o u g h f o o d ?
People were encouraged to provide their own food at home. The 'Dig for
Victory' campaign started in October 1939 and called for every man and
woman to keep an allotment. Lawns and flower-beds were turned into
vegetable gardens. Chickens, rabbits, goats and pigs were reared intown parks and gardens.
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/moneyold.htmhttp://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/moneyold.htm -
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D e - R a t i o n i n g
Food rationing lasted for 14 years in Britain, from 1940 until 1954.
Rationing continued even after the war ended:
Meat rationing continued for 10 years after D-Day (June 1954)
In 1946, when food was just as short as during the preceding years,
bread was added to the ration and the sweet ration was halved.
C l o t h e s R a t i o n i n g
It wasn't just food that was rationed during World War II.
Clothing also became scarce.
Clothes rationing began on June 1, 1941, two years after food
rationing started. Clothes rationing ended on 15 March 1949.
Clothing ration book - Can you spot the two books for children?
W h y w e r e c l o t h e s r a t i o n e d d u r i n g t h e w a r ?
There was a shortage of materials to make clothes.
People were also urged to "Make do and mend" so that clothing
factories and workers could be used to make items, such as parachutes
and uniforms, needed in the battle against Germany.
H o w d i d p e o p l e b u y c l o t h e s w h e n t h e y w e r e
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/war/campaigns.htmhttp://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/war/campaigns.htm -
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r a t i o n e d ?
Everyone was given a Clothing Book with coloured coupons in it. Every
item of clothing was given a value in coupons. To buy clothes people
handed over their Clothing Book to the shopkeeper. who cut out one of
the coupons. They then handed over money to the shopkeeper to pay
for the clothes.
Clothing coupons
The coupon system allowed people to buy one completely new set of
clothes once a year.
W h e r e d i d p e o p l e g e t t h e i r c l o t h e s c o u p o n s
f r o m ?
The government gave every person a clothes ration book full of
coupons.
W h y w e r e t h e r e d i f f e r e n t c o l o u r c o u p o n s ?
Each page of coupons was a different colour to stop people using up all
their coupons at once. People were only allowed to use one colour at a
time. The government would tell people when they could start using a
new colour.
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Coupons from one colour could be saved and used with the next colour.
H o w m a n y c l o t h i n g c o u p o n s c o u l d e a c h p e r s o n
u s e ?
Each person was given 60 coupons to last them a year. Later it was
reduced to 48 coupons.
Children were allocated an extra 10 clothing coupons above the
standard ration to allow for growing out of clothes during a year.
C l o t h e s C o u p o n s
The two images below show how many coupons you would need to buy
different items of clothing.
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TASKS
Look carefully at the rations allowed to a typical person in one week. Then work out a
menu of 3 meals per day using the food available for at least 4 days.
TO FIND OUT - -
The booklet gives one main reason why rationing was introduced by the British
government. Find out at least 2 other reasons why rationing was introduced and also write
down where you got the information from.
NOTES
Make your own brief notes on Factsheet 4 using the following headings - -
(A)THE PROBLEM
Food shortages
The U boat threat
(B)THE GOVERNMENT ACTS
Emergency Powers Act
Ploughing up campaign
Dig for Victory
The Allotment movement
Rationing
AND the results of my investigation