It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

charlies-aunt

Yikes! :eek: Have just been reading in the Ration Book Cookbook that during the war, the Government planned to issue leaflets on how to cook your pets!! :eek: but were persuaded not to by one of the most influential nutritionalists of the time - Magnus Pyke (remember him well from 1960's tv shows!) :eek:

Very shocking too to discover that many people in the UK died of starvation in the 1940s and 50's. I remember another of my dear old Dad's sayings when he was recalling their hard times in the early 1950's "the wolf never came to our door ...cos your Mam would have had his jacket off and him in the pot before he'd wiped his boots!".

As a child I remember my dad had a full time job at the steelworks, worked on the land for the local farmers, was a bushbeater for shoots and in his 'spare' time, he was the village chimney sweep - my mum worked on the land, dressed game for the local bigwigs, made peggyrugs and was a Mrs Mop. Every family in our lttle village was in the same boat and would turn their hand anything that they could... I am only just now beginning to appreciate how tough things were.

mardatha

Have you found any actual evidence or proof that people died of hunger ? I have never heard this before ..?

ceridwen

mardatha wrote: »

Have you found any actual evidence or proof that people died of hunger ? I have never heard this before ..?

I've never heard of that either - but I imagine that something like that could have happened but been "swept under the carpet". So - any details would be ....(tries to think of appropriate word and fails) useful. The Government would certainly have lied to us to hide it if this happened - excuse being "not to damage morale".

I did read that Mass Observation (?) diary one time and recall people commenting on feeling hungry all the time and lacking in energy because of the inadequate diet.

I am certainly cynical about all the comments about people had "never had it so good" in some ways and ate in a healthier way then than before or since. What I can see is that they had little fat and sugar - what I also suspect is that most didnt have enough to eat. I imagine people with large gardens (and honest neighbours.......) actually physically had enough to eat - if only by dint of growing LOTS of potatoes. I certainly read the list of rations as to what was available and, even after mentally swopping all the sugar with other people for other foodstuffs, and the fact that I would have moved to somewhere with a large garden several years before the war started if I possibly could (so the garden would have been in full swing production - complete with chickens - well before the War started if I had been able to do that) its quite a "heartsink" little list.

....goes off muttering to self "I would have been doing endless mental calculations several years before the War started as to how long I thought it would last for and stashing non-perishable foods up in the loft ready for when it did....but some things just have to be bought fresh...so would have been worrying about flour/dairy products/coffee/etc".

floss2

ceridwen wrote: »

...I am certainly cynical about all the comments about people had "never had it so good" in some ways and ate in a healthier way then than before or since. What I can see is that they had little fat and sugar - what I also suspect is that most didnt have enough to eat. I imagine people with large gardens (and honest neighbours.......) actually physically had enough to eat - if only by dint of growing LOTS of potatoes. I certainly read the list of rations as to what was available and, even after mentally swopping all the sugar with other people for other foodstuffs, and the fact that I would have moved to somewhere with a large garden several years before the war started if I possibly could (so the garden would have been in full swing production - complete with chickens - well before the War started if I had been able to do that) its quite a "heartsink" little list.

People didn't need to have a large garden - lots of people grew veg over their air raid shelter or in allotments in parks or on public land. Don't forget that the National loaf was a wholemeal one, there were seasonal fruit & vegetables available to all mostly off the ration and I would guess that the idea of rubber chicken was probably invented during WW2! Yes there was little fat or sugar, but what there was would have healthier amounts of cheese / dripping / butter /sugar /salt than the overloaded processed foodstuffs available today. And don't forget that then there was not the wide global choice of foods available that we take for granted today - pizza, curry, pasta or couscous would not have hit the wartime palate. As to your "must buy daily" items, coffee would have been a luxury item to many families, and there would have been a dairy in most villages and all towns with daily deliveries. Flour would have been more of a problem as the UK was becoming more dependant upon US wheat.

Personally I think that the limited yet healthier diet has a lot to do with the large number of OAP's who lived through the war - I bet the projected lifespan of the current generation of children does not match the actual lifespan of people like my OH's parents who are 79 & 84. My own mum died of cancer at 75, her mother lived to be 89.

westcoastscot

I don't know about folks actually dieing of hunger, but have read in several places that rationing and fixed prices improved the diets of poorer people no end, by making nutritious food available to everyone at a reasonable price for the first time.

Also hunger is not a thing to be feared per se - growing up in the 60's we were regularly hungry - and then we ate, only at mealtimes, whatever was put in front of us. I don't think the modern way of never feeling hunger is good for us - I think it adds to the problem of obesity when we don't recognise the feelings of hunger it follows that the feeling of being replete will not register either.

being 'faddy' about food would have been a luxury - sugar/fats were needed for their calorific value - everyone worked physically in one way or another and energy from food was much needed

Primrose

I think the lack of winter heating during the period of Austerity Britain was as miserable as the shortage of food. The quality of domestic coal was poor as all the best stuff went to industry and the domestic ration only permitted one small fire per household. Even that was forbidden to be lit until mid afternoon as I recall. I remember as a very small child my father taking out the pram for a long trek to our local woods to collect wood to eke out the coal ration as it was absolutely impossible for mothers to get washing dried during the winter without a fire of some kind and when my mother took me for walks, she always had a bag for picking up smaller pieces of wood she would find. My father had a small Austin 7 but was only allowed to drive it for his official District Air Raid Warden duties as petrol was severely rationed too and I believe that "official petrol" had a colourant added. If you were caught using coloured petrol and were not on official duties you were subject to a large fine.

mardatha

Fabulous thread, am loving this !

[Deleted User]

Having grown up during and after the last war it wasn't a feeling of being hungry so much as there was enough food it just was not as flavoursome as today My old Mum bless her did her best with what she had and was an amazing manager .But some of the things on our plates you didn't ask too much about you just ate them ,usually very quickly as a pud was there to tempt you to finish everything up.No empty plate were allowed in our house as Mum would say sternly 'Men have died to get that food to this country' so no arguements about 'I don't fancy this or that ' The one I hated was Snoek which was some sort of fish and it tasted revolting ,also tripe was not pleasant to eat, but eat it we did, or we went hungry.The cold was the worst, as my early childhood always seemed to be cold and you layered up when you went to bed and Dad's army coat was over your feet with if you were lucky a hot water bottle. They were highly prized and it was a disaster when the stopper went or the bottle perished as they were hard to replace.Mum always said that the country ate better on rationing as it was a lot fairer than prewar when food was rationed then by how much money you had.You made friends with the local butcher,baker and fishmonger as his smile could mean a difference in what you got on your plate.As for the cold well if you were really cold you could always cuddle up in between Mum and Dad to get warm on chilly winters nights ,but always woke up in your own bed come the morning :)Todays foods are so different and the availability of herbs and spices makes even the plainest of pasta's tasty.Never saw pasta when I was young and the starches all came from rice,tapioca ect.Huge Toads in the hole with tiny toads in you had to search for, mounds of cabbage and carrots took the place of meat often, and left over veg was always bubble and squeak next day

mardatha

Since food started getting so dear, I have discovered the joys (yeugh) of cabbage meself ! Great thread, I am telling my daughter all this

Primrose

I too am enjoying this thread. Your various comments and memories often flit through my mind as I'm going about my household chores, remembering how you've described how things were in your own childhood homes. Yes, JackieO - I remember snoek too. :eek: I was served it once, vomited and made to stand briefly in the corner to remember "all the brave men who risked their lives to feed us". But my vomiting was a major victory as my mother never served it up again. I suspect she too probably felt like vomiting but decided there was a lesson here to be taught! (And how well I learned it! All these years later I still can't abide seeing food wasted).
I reckon between us we could write our own fascinating collective "Austerity Britain" memory book. Today's children would think they were reading horror stories rather than events which actually happened as everyday life.
Some years ago I met an elderly Polish lady who told me about her life in Poland under the Nazis, where they almost starved to death. She came to live in in England after the war and she told me that even now, decades later, she had to physically restrain herself from admonishing parents whenever she saw them in parks wasting bread by giving it to their children to feed to the ducks because the only bread they had during the war was made from ground up acorn flour which was apparently bitter and tasted vile.