THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

jk0

That reminds me of a funny story attributed to Winston Churchill:

Winston was shown what the food ration was, and said: 'I don't know what people are complaining about. That looks like a decent meal to me.'

'No, no, Mr Churchill,' said his minister, 'That's the ration for one week.'

monnagran

It is very difficult to assess how people felt about the difficult times they were living through from a purely academic viewpoint. I promise you that things take on a whole different aspect when you are in the middle of it.
The fact remains that given most of the healthy working men, and a good proportion of women, were in the forces, farmers were trying to grow far more crops than ever before, convoys of ships were being blasted out of the water and their precious loads lost, the civilian population coping with rationing, little or no sleep, deprivation in most every area of their lives, terror, anxiety about family members and loved ones involved in fighting a long way from home...........given all that, the government of the day had the massive task of not only orchestrating the conduct of the war, but keeping the people at home as safe as possible, feeding them all, trying to maintain services such as education, hospitals, transport, preparing the country for almost certain invasion......

This is almost impossible to grasp. Of course mistakes were made, mistakes are always made.
Of course some people grumbled and felt hard done by, that is the nature of some people.
Of course people some eighty years later will nod wisely and say, "Of course it wasn't like what they say, that was just propaganda, we know better."

However, after all that rambling, the rationing might not have provided the optimum diet, but it did provide the optimum diet at that time and under those circumstances. Many people who had never had even an adequate diet, let alone an optimum one, did indeed eat better during the war than before. The government did their best to plug the gaps. The lack of citrus fruits and consequently Vit C saw school children drafted into picking rosehips to be made into syrup.
Protein was the hardest thing to come by...hence the rise of backyard hens, ducks, rabbits, communal pig clubs et al. Fruit and vegetables were grown in every conceivable square inch of space and a few inconceivable ones.
The 'propaganda ' ensured that the whole population were more genned up about food values than they had ever been before ............or since.

To go back to the original subject, (you knew I'd get there eventually didn't you?) no, the diet wasn't perfect but it was as perfect as it could possibly be in the circumstances. Yes, some people were weak and tired, as much from sleepless nights, endless worry and stress as much as from lack of food.
Yes, people on the whole were healthier.
Yes, the population rolled up its collective sleeves and got stuck in.
Yes some people moaned and griped, as it was, is now, and ever shall be.Amen.

x

Karmacat

monnagran wrote: »

Those were different days Lyn. Food was of necessity more basic, less plentiful and the choice was more restricted. In fact quite a lot of families saw their standard of living RISE due to the rationing and some families actually had more money due to women being encouraged to work in places like munitions factories and earning money for the first time in their lives.

I've been reading my mum's letters to her mum and dad, written when she was a 15 year old evacuee in Herefordshire. In addition, there's one from the farmer's wife who looked after my mum and my auntie - asking about how many times they should go to church, for example, or what they were allowed to do in the evenings, it's very sweet.

She was also working hard on reassuring my nan and grandad that their girls were thriving - in the first week, for example, they both put on two pounds in weight, and my mum has told me in the past that she put on half a stone in the first four weeks there. This was 1941. After the first panicked evacuation when the war broke out, kids had drifted home, back to Liverpool, but the Blitz saw them evacuated more or less permanently.

Food was always scarce in working class Liverpool - the only thing that changed during the war, I think, is that there were no oranges and bananas being imported so there were no luxury fruits falling off the lorries. That was the only difference my mum remembered until she got to the farm. I can't tell you how glad I am that I asked her about that sort of thing, as well as having her letters.

mardatha

Great post monnagran!

DigForVictory

On a completely unrelated note, just seen an American "Life Hack" which struck me as a canny way of concealing that emergency note in your bag.

Tuck it in a sanitary towel.

I think a certain amount of deep in-bag scuffling to remove note from concealment would be in order too, lest the vendor decide that suddenly they don't accept ten pound (or whatever!) notes.

Is there any equivalent for a chap? As I can't see how to stash a note in a sealed c*ndom without blowing the gaff as it were, & although a carefully folded & ziplocked bag might conceal inside a Zippo, the fuel might cook the bag...

[Deleted User]

You could easily conceal a note in a bus pass/card wallet it would sit behind a card and not be noticed at all, or rolled up inside a coloured ballpoint pen with the ink used up, no one would know the pen wasn't functional.

NewShadow

Given - if we're talking about a mugging - it's likely your bag and/or wallet would be taken in their entirety, I was thinking about where on your person you might be able to secrete something.

When I was going to school I used to be given a note each week to pay into my school meal account - in the age before this new fangled online muck - and the best way to get it into school without forgetting or losing it would be to put it inside my tie - there was always a flap in the bottom of the wide end like a pillowcase (unsure of the technical term) that acted like a pocket.

On a similar theme - I have a coat with a torn pocket lining.

I've been known to slip items in there because the area the pocket is in is hemmed around to only slightly larger than the pocket. This would allow me to 'turn out' my pockets to demonstrate I'm not carrying anything.

If you're expecting not to have your bag taken - and you're handy - making an alteration to the handle to allow you to tuck a note under the fabric of the grip might work. obviously dependent on the design of the bag, but a single slit might be all that's needed. Or on a hiking rucksack you could possibly replace a section of the back padding/pad the frame with a larger amount.

In the sock/under the foot is another traditional one. I know some travellers who like to keep an emergency stash in the shoe to keep it safe from all manner of professional pickpockets - you don't want to get your money out in public, but perhaps less frustrating than some of the more technical options?

ETA - https://www.corporatetravelsafety.com/safety-tips/how-to-hide-money-on-your-person/

Some good suggestions - depending on circumstances.

[Deleted User]

Traditionally valuables were hidden inside a bra or knickers but I forsee much embarrassment in retrieving items from such places in a public place!

Cappella

I have sewn inside pockets in woolies for travelling when we've been to Eastern Europe, and also added small ones to skirt seams when we've been on holiday here. A quick trip to the ladies to retrieve cash and Bella's your auntie. Saves carrying a tempting bag round with you - haven't carried a bag abroad since I had it snatched in Barcelona. Not that they got much apart from tissues and sunscreen but why tempt fate? Here I have a very small bag which I wear under my coat if I'm not too happy about the area I'm in.
Think I might resurrect the idea and pop an emergency note in for everyday emergencies here as well as using a tiny bag.
Goodness, I sound as if I expect to be mugged whenever I step foot outside my front door, but better safe than sorry.

monnagran

Goodness, there are some good ideas here.
Some 30 odd years ago when I used to bounce around the metropolis without a care in the world I had a friend who was jostled by a group of teenagers passing her on the escalator. When she got to the bottom she discovered that she just had a leather strap hanging over her shoulder, the handbag that had originally been attached to it had been neatly razored off.

Ever since then I always travelled around London with paper money tucked into my bra.

Hiding money in unexpected places can have its dangers. It might have been on another thread when I got very excited because I had just found some notes rolled up tightly in an empty Strepsil tube. I have no recollection of putting them in there, (it's the dementia!) and was on the point of throwing the tube away. Thank goodness I looked in there first.
So be careful.