Proper old style! Living on WW2 rations

I remember being dosed up every Friday night for some reason with Califonia syrup of figs and if you had been grumpy of bad temempered Mum would say 'dose of syrup of figs for you child, get rid of your bad temper ' :) rose hip syrup my late dad would make himself for us kids, but then he was a chemist which helped I guess. he also had a big bottle of what we called "the black bottle" it cured virtually all ills and it tasted disgusting, and if you thought you could wangle a crafty day off of school out would come the "black bottle' and even the threat of this revolting stuff was enough to make you feel better and want to go to school

I also remember some vile green stuff called I think Minadex which was given after an illness to get you appetite back, that too was an incentive to eat rather than have a dose of this 'tonic'

Strepsils or penicillin tablets for a sore throat, and my late Mu swore by a hot lemon PLJ drink every morning which gave me a love for anything lemony. Cod liver oil caplsules at school at milk break time I only once bit into one to see what it tasted like and everything tasted horrible for ages afterwards.
Beechams powders cured all ills when I was small, and pink germolene in a tiny tin for knocks and scrape on your knees

We rarely went to a Drs at all as my Dad would cure us with something from his shop. I remember being terrified when I saw a Dr for the first time as I had rheumatic fever when I was about 10, and there was talk of going into hospital and then a convalescent home and I was petrified that I was going to be away from my Mum, and for some reason I wouldn't be able to return home. Thankfully Mum said 'No she would nurse me at home' which she did. I am still not keen on going to the Drs even now well over 60 + years later :):)

Ditto JackieO. Except that my dreaded tonics were Parish's Food, full of iron and had to be drunk through a straw because it did dire things to teeth, and Scots Emulsion, that had the appearance and consistency of milk of magnesia plus a very strong fishy taste. I date my hatred of fish to being forced to take spoonsful of the revolting stuff in a bid to build me up.
I wish they hadn't bothered, I've been attempting to 'unbuild' myself ever since.

Like you, a small round tin of pink Germolene cured everything. The modern tubes don't even come close.

We'd better be careful. Sooner or later some spoil sport will be along to remind us that this is a thread about rationed food and our peaceful trip along Nostalgia Lane will be stopped abruptly.

Oh bouicca, I still have my mum's Wartime Stork Cookery Book. It's falling apart, extremely battered and very precious.

I have quite a few reprints of wartime cookery books but most of the authentic ones did a runner during one of my moves. I can only assume that it was an accident as anyone who knows me would know how I treasured those grubby, stained, well used books and leaflets.

The only one that I tried in vain to find was a booklet by Elsie and Doris Walters -- Gert and Daisy. They used to broadcast on The Kitchen Front.

JackieO wrote: »

Wern't they Jack Warners sisters ??? him of Dock Green fame:D:D

Indeed they were!

I am loving this thread!

I was born after the War...but to parents who had both lived through it - and as money was always tight, Mum used much of her experience in helping to stretch the pennies.

Her war-time memories will be slightly different to many of those here....as she was from Germany. I know that bread was rationed in Germany during the War - and if I am right, then it was never rationed in the UK?(From what I have read, the UK was encouraged to eat wholemeal bread...the 'National' loaf....and I think there was some rationing AFTER the War but not during)

Mum tells how she grumbled once to her Mum (my Omi) about the lack of food....she had a real hankering after a 'proper' sandwich!...Omi went into the kitchen and returned with a plate of sliced meat and cheese with bread....Mum's eyes lit up and she made grabby-hands...only for Omi to place it in front of her and explain that this was a week's rations, Mum COULD use it for her between-meal sandwich snack, but then there would be nothing for the rest of the week!

The fish-oil thing was still going strong when I was young...but we were lucky!...we had ours in the form of haliborange.

I also have fond memories of malt tablets...you would suck them like sweets...they were very sweet, but I loved the warm-maltiness. ...and they supposedly were 'healthy' for us.