When reading a diary or other contemporary primary source, it is important to remember that they take for granted what was commonplace at the time.
In the 1940s and 50s shopping in Britain was dominated by small, independent corner shops. Hazel Wheeler’s father’s shop was in many ways typical of any urban area and provided the mainstay of the local community.
Despite the end of the war, rationing continued for many years.
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HAZEL [In her diary]
Not many customers this time of the morning; workers on morning shift at mills mostly, in for their tobacco. 'Five Craven A and a couple of pickled onions, lass, and make it snappy...' Old Mrs. Brook was in early, though, to see what was on offer.
MRS BROOK
Owt interesting today, Hazel?
HAZEL
Not much new, Mrs. Brook. Deliveries next Tuesday.
MRS. BROOK
I don’t know. It’s worse than the war, this. I’ll just have my Craven A, then, love.
HAZEL
That’ll be one and tuppence.
Ta. My Tommy had his call-up papers last week.
HAZEL
Little Tommy? Is he old enough?
MRS. BROOK
Aye. Old enough, and ugly enough. I wouldn't mind him having a spell abroad, but you never know when the balloon's going to go up these days, do you?
HAZEL
That's a fact
The ongoing rationing of meat meant that alternative sources of protein had to be found. One such source was snoek.
To encourage interest in the popular South African fish the Ministry of Food published various recipes, such as Snoek Piquante.
Other recipes published by the Ministry included Snoek and Potato Pie, and Watercress and Snoek Spread.
However, Snoek was not overly popular with the British public.
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HAZEL
Can I get you anything?
STANLEY
I haven’t had a good look yet.
HAZEL
Why not try some snoek.
STANLEY
Snook?
HAZEL
Snoek. A new fish from South Africa. One and four pence ha’penny a tin and only one point on your book. Some say it’s a bit slimier than cod but then again, it is cheap.
STANLEY
Er...I was actually wondering if your Mother was around…
HAZEL
There’s a free recipe for snoek piquante from the Ministry.
STANLEY
Is your Mam available, though?
HAZEL
You mash it up with salad cream and add a few lettuce leaves. You could throw in one of your black market eggs.
The diary entry for Monday 9th August, 1948 provides a reference to a shopping trip to Leeds to buy a “New Look” dress. Christian Dior’s New Look, with its flamboyant use of fabric, was a welcome break from the wartime utility designs and “make do and mend” mentality.
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HAZEL [In her diary]
To Leeds shopping with Sylvia. Pouring with rain. She bought a “New Look” dress and me a hat with velvet, and veiling tying under the chin, which just about uses up my points for the month.
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Relaxation of the rationing regulations only began in 1948 and was to prove a slow and gradual process.
Dates of various products being taken "off the ration":
- July 1948 - bread
- March 1949 - clothes
- April 1949 - sweets (sweet rationing was re-introduced again four months later)
- May 1950 - petrol
- September 1950 - soap
- February 1953 - sweet rationing finally ended
- May 1954 - butter
- July 1954 - meat and bacon
![Ration Book [The National Archives, BT131/40, Crown Copyright]](/openlearn/files/ole/imported/8202/ration_book_flickr_RHS.jpg)
![Crowd outside Buckingham Palace [Photographer: Michael Pead]](/openlearn/files/ole/imported/8205/golden_jubiliee_crown_RHS.jpg)
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Comments on: "Rationing"
Mike Minogue has started a thread discussing Rationing.
Hello
I'm a BBC World Service producer with the history programme Witness. We are looking for anyone who was around during the period of rationing, and who might have some stories to tell us from that time. We are particularly interested in speaking to those who were children in 1953 and can remember when sweets came off ration.
I can be contacted on neil.gallagher@bbc.co.uk.
Please drop me a line if you have a rationing story you'd like to share.
Neil.
I was born in May 1946, just one year after the War ended and I can just about remember rationing. Being young and not knowing anything different, I just assumed that rationing was the way things always were. When rationing ended, in 1954 I think it was, it seemed very strange. I seem to remember that petrol rationing came back in for a while in 1956 at the time of the Suez Crisis.
Re: Comments on: "Rationing"
I soon learned to choose the smallest sweets possible for my weekly ration ('a qyarter' i.e. 4 ounces) as my mum would invariably bump into another mother accompanied by her child she and would always say to me "Give little Mary (or hatever the child's name was) one of your sweets". If I had only had 4 or 5 large bulls-eyes to last the whole week handing over one was a huge deprivation but handing over a midget gem was not too bad.
Re: Comments on: "Rationing"
no: central heating , double glazing, colour television, telephone, divorce, internet
I clearly remember the sweet rationing.
It did not feel at all unusual, it was just the way things were. Careful descisions had to be made, Dolly Mixtures; Jelly Babes or my best value, Barley Sugar.
At threepence, a stick of Barley Sugar repsented 50% of my weekly pocket money,so it had to last. It was possible to suck the orange stick until it came to a point, then one had to take care in case the point broke and some got lost.
Not having known anything else it didn't seem wrong,quite the opposite, normal.
Going to the Co-op with green ration books, for children, was also just part of a shopping experience. Mr Brown had a shop at the top of the road with a hand operated bacon slicer. Shoping was a daily necessity.
Mike m