Living On Rations In The Second World War | WW2: I Was There
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- Опубликовано: 13 май 2024
- In January 1940, the British government introduced food rationing. Basic foodstuffs such as sugar, meat and cheese were restricted and food was bought using ration books. What was it actually like for the people who lived through it?
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None of us today can hold a candle to these people. My hat is off to you
If you lived off foodbanks these days you might see the similarities to rationing from back then,most people get less than you think.
I also take my hat of to the brits….that’s how real living a hardship was ..these days kids have no idea of hardship , but moan they don’t have enough money to buy mindless rubbish .They don’t have a clue .Yes during the war , those occupied countries saw and felt the worst the devil can do …we were fortunate (on the mainland) we were not occupied ..but every one’s experience is just as valid as another’s, whichever country they were from .
So very true. Our mothers and fathers of “the greatest generation” were truly inspiration.
I agree no one would understand what they truly went through cause what they went through one can truly imagine.
I agree. What they went through is unfathomable. I could listen to this for days
My Mum, who passed away suddenly, was born on 30 September 1939, just 27 days after War was declared on 3 September 1939. As a child, she remembered vividly the rationing and savings, and would always be frugal and very aware of her food, energy and clothing usage...Even to 2023, when she died, she maintained a 'make do and mend' attitude, something which as a child of the throwaway 70s and later, mesmerised me. Thank you, Mum for the happy, happy memories and love 😣😣😣
My mother was born in 1921 and grew up during the great depression in America, and lived through the war years of world war two. She drove me crazy with her frugality at times. Her famous phrase was: "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."😆
@@aaronweiser5421 Consider yourself VERY Lucky, to have your Mum and undoubtedly a wonderful lady in your life in 2024! I'd give the WORLD to have my Mum back with me 😔😔😔😔😔
When I grew up in the 50s and 60s it was rare to see really obese people. In a class of 30+ there would usually only be one chubby child. Fish and chips were part of the healthy staple diet unlike the modern mantra. Bread and dripping for supper. Cooking on a coal fired range and a primus stove. As rationing ended meat and two veg was the normal evening meal after the menfolk came home from work followed by tinned fruit with bread and butter. Always a Sunday roast and the leftover potatoes and veg cooked as 'Bubble and Squeak' on Monday with the remains of the Sunday joint and plenty of 'black bits'.
In winter there was always a stew-pot on the back of the kitchen range which was continuously added to as it was used. The flavour just got better and better. We might have been poor but we were happy. No TV, just the radio with everything stopping in the evening to listen to the Archers. I remember Walter Gabriel well!
I lived in the south-west of UK, and I can relate to you what you say is so true. remember the Dailey Mirror paper was used to make are Christmas Hats. all trimmings were hand made flour and water for glue. yep w. Gabriel so do I. and can still hear his voice. Briddy
No TV in the 60s?? Was that widespread or just your household?
@@AdeleiTeillanaMy family didn't have a TV until 1969 and that was a rental one. You put a shilling piece in a slot at the back of the TV. A lot of people could not afford one back then although they were in work. Expectations and priorities were very different back then.
That generation is full of heroes as far as I’m concerned
Yes i lived through it, i wasn't evacuated like all the kids on my street so i didn't have anyone to play with, the first to come home was the boy next door, to homesick. We slept in the shelter at night. I was almost twelve when the war ended. The last thing to go off ration was meat in 1954, i remember because that was the year i got married. Many memories, dad was on many invasions. I'm 89 yrs old now but will always remember. London was bombed so much, i lived N.W.2
in london the noise of planes and the big guns going off from Hampstead Heath is what scared me the most.
You can take a person out of poverty, but you will never take the poverty out of the person. I grew up in one of the poorest areas of Coventry during the war and can well relate to its lifetime impressions on all who experienced it.
I was born and raised in the state of Oregon on the Pacific coast of the United States. My family didn't have a lot of money. One of my best memories is my mothers canned mule deer venison. It was absolutely delicious. Mule deer eat a lot of wild sage, so their meat is rich and delicious. She also made the best "chicken fried steak" out of venison.
I know what you're talking about when you say that when you're poor you learn to appreciate what you have. I didn't feel poor. We always had enough to eat but it certainly wasn't fancy. Momma was also was a wizard at finding free fruit and vegetables to can in jars. She would go to orchard owners and ask if she could pick up windfall fruit… The fruit that fell off the trees and landed in the dirt so that she could take it home and preserve it by canning it. The people who owned the orchards were of the same generation as her… raised up during the Great depression. They instantly told her that would be fine. We had so much canned pears and peaches it wasn't even funny. We et gud.
I was there too.
The food was “enough” and as had NO iPads or televisions we played outside.
Very healthy lifestyle. I’m 92 now still ok. Yeeeh
I love how the floral wearing lady said that she rather liked the smaller newspaper unlike the modern ones because they only printed what was "really worth printing". I entirely agree.
I was born in 1942….my Dad was away at war. I remember the black-outs. My Mom would darken the house, we lived in the city and when the sirens went off all homes had to be dark. She would rock me and tell me all was Ok. As for rations, she would bargain with others for “special” things……I never lacked for anything and had all the love I needed. My Dad’s boat was torpedoed, he came home blind but recovered. I did not recognize him and was afraid…….
Rationing didn't end until 1954, though some foods and clothing items came off the listing as they became more available. Butter and tea rationing ended in 1950. Grandad's allotment provided us with potatoes, carrots, spinach, rhubarb, onions, and turnip.
I could listen to these lovely people for hours..
My mum was born in 1930 so was a child during this time. Even now she can't stand food being wasted, as there wasn't enough to waste then.
Neitjer can I. And still occasionally something will go bad.
@@angelikabertrand4045 Oh yeah. If it's gone off then throw it away. But what my mum (and I) don't like id throwing away food that is perfectly edible. I remember being at work once when I saw a prepared supermarket salad in the bin. When I looked I saw it had expired on that day. It was only lettuce, cucumber and tomato so I took it out of the bin and took it home. People don't know that most food (especially vegetable based) is perfectly safe to eat a few days after the use-by date.
There’s so much to learn from this generation. I’m so grateful when knowledge like this is preserved for others to learn from.
With what alot of the Western world is going g through at the moment the woke narrative victimhood every school should play this.
My Mum was nine when the war started. She told me that the British people were never as healthy as they were back then, either before or since. Everyone had enough but nobody had too little or too much.
You didn't see fat or obese people back during the war she said. Unlike now with our fat and sugar ladened diets and way too many calories in general. 🥺
Mothers were in the home too
@@roonilwazlib3089
Er ...... No!
"At first, only single women, aged 20-30 were called up, but by mid-1943, almost 90 per cent of single women and *80 per cent of married women* were working in factories, on the land or in the armed forces."
Source: www.gov.uk/government/news/the-women-of-the-second-world-war
no junk food
And they worked hard and walked everywhere bless them. Such great examples to us now
@@roonilwazlib3089 Not really.
Once children were at school, mothers were expected to work or volunteer, for the war effort. A hell of a lot of women began to earn their own living and enjoyed it, and post war, a lot of women divorced violent or unsatisfactory husbands, if they could find a job not ended so that men came back to jobs.
My mom described some of the things her family did during the war. They had a “Victory “ Garden. Any little bar soap ends were saved and compressed to use every bit of it. Mom remembered having to mix a little dye pack to color the otherwise white margarine a yellow color. When one of her friends had a birthday, the mothers would get together and combine their various rations for flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and so on.
Forgive me but these people ate during the war. My mother was pregnant with me during 1944 and delivered me in Feb. 1945 in the middle of the Hunger Winter in the Netherlands. My birth certificate is by now an historic primary resource as it detailed on the reverse to what additional food my parents were entitled. City based people starved unless they had a large circle of family to scrounge food where ever it was available. This famine was lifted by March 1945 onward when allied bombers dropped food including highly nutritious biscuits on the outskirts of The Hague. The taste of these still linger in the memory of my then 5 year old brother. To have a restricted food supply as portrayed in this video, to have none is more than tragic.
The “now people” couldn’t even shine these hero’s shoes…..
I was born in September 1945 at the end of the war ( apparently l was known as a "Victory Baby" ). Before l started infant school l may have been around 4 to 5 years old l remember going shopping with my Mum and my younger sister and brother, and our Mum was still using ration books for certain items. I think sugar was one of them. She also had vouchers or stamps to exchange at a welfare clinic for bottles of Cod Liver Oil, us kids hated the stuff, we had to take a spoonful every night before bed.
It just goes to show how lucky we really are and what things we easily take for granted.
Glasgow born in 1938 the queuing for our rations was one of my wartime chores. We never left the house without our string bag and our ration books. The worst wartime food to me was whale meat. In school we were given concentrated orange juice and one third of a pint of milk. , and we all looked forward to that each day.
I remember rationing. My grandfather and grandmother organised our family into be coming our own small cooperative
On Friday nights the whole met up at my grandparents house we all took what we had grown also any rabbits that were ready, my grandfather had chickens and an allotment garden. Everything that was grown got weighed and shared there was also a kitty for seeds etc. It all helped in addition to our rations. Even today my daughter and I try to grow as much as we can here in South Africa. If there was one thing about rationing it helped the Brits to queue in an orderly manner and to be patient. Yes those were the days of discipline which is much needed today.
These people were a different breed compared to today's folk
Most definitely. These were polite, decent people - not like the hooligans and louts we now see on our streets.
They weren't. They were just put into different situations than most now
@@gordontaylor5373 for real. My hooligan classmates even bites pieces of carton and throw it into the walls and stuff not to mention they even vaped once. I swear this new generation must have some kind of parasite in their brains making them failures.
Oh yes, how are we supposed to act now? If a war happens, 1or 2 buttons could destroy civilization as we know it, and you know whose fault it is? Your generation, for not getting along with each other and destroying the global economy so much, so much greed, more, more, more. Rife racism and intolerance, segregation, me, me, me, me, I, I, I!
I hope your generation are happy at the state of the world now, YOU created it.
Too True👍
I grew up with rationing until we migrated to 🇦🇺 Australia as _"Ten Pound Poms"_ where there were lots of vegetables, fruit and rabbits. The journey by sea took 6 weeks, and strangely enough, we had delicious meals on board. The smell of freshly baked bread reminds me of that wonderful ship, Shaw-Savill Line M.V. _"New Australia"._
You are the second person; in the comments; to mention that your family immigrated to Australia. Was it done to escape rationing, post war conditions, economic opportunities?
@@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564 All of those things, plus having learned about the big wide world as a full time soldier from 1939 to 1946 (fighting from England all the way to Rangoon, Burma) my father realised the chance to create a new life for his family was not to be missed.
What wonderful people. A great generation as were there parents.
Exactly. A truly wonderful generation of people who I truly and sincerely respect.
I remember the sweets ration book. Every month we were allocated 1 LB 8 OZ's, which consisted of four E's of 1/4 LB each and four D's of 2 OZ's each . Needless to say, we soon learned to avoid the chunky toffees and large lumps, because you didn't get many per coupon. The only large one's I ever opted for, were the gobstoppers. You could suck the big sweet and then put it in your trouser pocket for later. All you had to do, was suck off the fluff stuck to it when you took it out and you were good to go. My particular favourite's
were gumdrops, or fruit pastilles. You could make them last quite a while. Popular chocolates were called buttons, otherwise, I only got a bar of chocolate at Christmas, or my birthday. I think sweets were the last things to come of ration in the 1950's..
My mum was born in 1922 and remembered the depression and WWII and we always had a vegetable garden and I remember the rabbit stew and she would make her own Braun, often we had bread and dripping needless to say I'm a vegetarian since many years. One thing I noticed as mum got older she started to stockpile things under her spare bed she wasn't crazy or anything it was just that she obviously didn't want to be left with nothing. RIP Mum ❤❤❤
Dad flew Sunderlands from Cromarty Firth in 1944. They were given generous rations for their extended missions, including dark chocolate. He gave his chocolate to a fellow crew member for his young children. He said the kids were really hungry. The aircrew ate well on the bases.
I remember granny said Germans had rations. She would work for food at farming places.
She would get a bit of milk, she had my aunt and my mum. She would occasionally get butter . A few eggs. Cabbages and potatoes that she helped harvest.
I have my parents ration books still today
Me 2
I lived in the northern outskirts of London during WW2 and my father worked in Islington. Availability of food varied somewhat depending on where one lived. Living in suburbia, while rations were adequate, there was not much go choose from. On visiting my aunt in Glasgow, we were surprised by the variety of food on sale. I have since discovered that this was because a large proportion of the workforce was employed in essential war work in the shipyards and were required to be fit and motivated. I also, when life became difficult in my area after the advent of the V2 rockets, my grammar school extended the school holidays until well into the autumn, I spent that time on relatives farm where cream and butter were freely available, as well as poultry, eggs and rabbits. This was an area with a number of US miltary establishments, all preparing for the allied invasion of Europe. Jeeps driving recklessly around narrow, winding lanes with high Devon hedges, were a hazard!
My mother was an excellent and creative cook and we remained well fed and healthy, using vegetarian recipes and preserving, pickling and bottling food, such as salted runner beans (no freezers then), bottled fruit and tomatoes, potatoes stored in clamps, and eggs in isinglass (the eggs obtained from a neighbour who kept a number of hens and the only items which we ever had that we were not actually entitled to). I was not keen on meat, was not always wonderful at the time, so my mother registered me as a vegetarian and we therefore had more cheese. I don't remember there being anything other than cheddar in the grocery. There was no absolutely white bread but the National loaf, which contained
more fibre. The food situation, as I remember it, was worse immediately after the war and we were obliged to consume more starch.
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing that with us.
Yes so very interesting. Thank you.
Yes so very interesting. Thank you.
My grandma, in the USA, said gasoline was rationed so people picked up strangers and carpooled to save/get gas coupons. Especially going to/from military bases.
I was there, Born1939. Country boy, lived on Rabbit. the odd cockerel, grew all our food veg etc. we even had to peel the spuds peel twice if to thick. stuff for the winter was held in clamps of earth thatched to keep out the rain, Traps were set for Rats who tried to eat and foul the crop, we through nothing away, what we did not eat the Chickens Got. a pig was Killed every November all was used. we were all happy. briddy.
My dearest German grandparents were WW surivvors. Grandpa a POW .I learned some of granny's recipes.
1. Lentil stew my favorite. Sweet and sour.
2. Quark potatoes called Klitscher.3. German Lake potatoe pan cakes with apple sauce.
We ate very little meat.
Testimonies worth preserving. Thank you.
We were very poor in the 50’s & 60’s Mum had a vegetable garden chickens, shopped at op shops for jumpers undid the wool washed and knitted jumpers for us girls made dresses from old curtains ,
Smart woman!
To the end of the war Germans had PRAKTILLY NOTHING TO EAT...yes, I know, we lost the war, I am glad I don't remember, was a baby, but my mom went bagging at the farms with me on her back...most of the time she had to work for a few potatoes...we survived...my dad perished in the war...there are millions of such stories...
My grandmother, a Detroit debutante with no experience, started a bar, of all things, in an enormous old brick home nearest the exit of a huge armaments plant. and a diner at the junction of 2 highways, truckers used for long hauls. She employed the same staff for so many years, they all moved to an expanded diner she rebuilt on the old site after the war. The proceeds from the sale of "The Brick Tavern" bought a Gulf gas station, then another, as well. She taught me you didn't have to know a thing about the actual business, you had to be a gifted manager and accountant. I was and I did. " watch the back of the house darling, or they'll rob you blind". I loved that elegant, soft spoken creature.
What’s that got to do with rationing in Britain… you lot didn’t know you were born compared to those in Britain 🙄🇬🇧
@Ionabrodie69 And they profited handsomely from the war. Nothing's changed.
@lonabrodie69 That is just not true! Americans went through rationing too, and many factories and other jobs were run by women because all able bodied men were fighting in the war. There was much pain and loss in our nation too. We had approximately 416.800 soldiers who died in WW2. This is very sad-I just found this RUclips channel today and was so happy to watch this video. To have Brits speak of Americans this way is very disappointing.
A wonderful generation of people. They went through so much and yet unlike this new generation who are constant victims, this generation never complained x
Not even slightly true. You apparently didn’t grow up knowing anyone from the time.
Nasty nonsense.
My great aunt lived in the North of England during the war, and the fresh egg ration was one per week. On at least one occasion the egg was rotten. Jeepers, the heartbreak.
There are a crap load of very valuable life lessons in all of the documentaries on the subject of survival during times of war
They should be expounded upon and taught to everyone, young and old alike as a key foundational basic curriculum.
That is a wonderful account of wartime rationing in Britain. As expected the stories only just skimmed the surface of what rationing was like;though relatable to me. Going through the war became a daily challenge as people devised some ingenious ways of stretching the food. Although there is no need to scrimp with food today the wartime rationing is so ingrained in me that even today I cannot abide food wastage and make use of every piece that comes into the house. We emigrated to New Zealand in 1953 and we marveled at what we could buy without coupons; especially meat. I did not know it but I was as skinny as a rake, we all were but didn't know it. When the authorities saw me I was immediately sent to a Health Camp for six weeks to put on some weight. It worked but in 2022 I still live as though on rations.
Mum was still very frugal up until she passed at nearly 90 years of age in 2020. She was a teacher for 38 years and had a good pension from that as well as a full State Pension but she still tried to "Make a penny do the work of a pound".
Mind you, my Brother and I were heartily sick of being served up Savory Mince when we used to visit her in later years. 😃
As a young American, I could not truly imagine living in something like that but I will say this. You all had incredible resolve and an appreciation of things most take for granted, especially today where anyone could have anything at any time with ease. But that can be an inherent weakness. To take things for granted diminishes the value it truly has. Perhaps if there can be a mandatory month of such deprivation, we could truly learn to appreciate and be more thoughtful of the food we eat and the things we have. And we would take stock on how we live our lives and see what is and is not important.
My Grandparents were born around 1900, my Dad 1923 and my Mom 1929. They never talked much about the daily going’s on during the war. But I do know my grandparents canned a lot of things, my Dad and Uncle hunted small animals, and they had chickens. My Mom didn’t get as much to eat since she was the last of eight kids. She said you had to be fast or the boys would eat it all!
During WW2, my grandfather and his friends would set up canvas tents here, in Northern Michigan, during deer season in November. One hunter needed to return home early to Detroit. He had special gasoline ration stamps for traveling salesmen, although he actually worked in an auto plant. Traveling salesmen were allowed an extra ration of gasoline. Before the man left, he shaved and put on a suit and tie to play the part of a traveling salesman when he needed to buy gasoline. Not very patriotic, yet, it happened here a long time ago.
I lived through it but don't remember ever going hungry. It was total War, we just got on with it. We thanked the Americans for Powdered Eggs, and Spam
That was their biggest contribution to the war.
@@karenblackadder1183Not according to them… we’d be speaking German if it wasn’t for them apparently..?.. Funny thing is i much prefer the modern Germans as a nation to the yanks.. ( post war obviously 🥴)
We lost a men. I know Americans bragged too much about their role, but I think the lives if young men would be acknowledged over eggs. I know many British would be ashamed of comments like yours
Imagine people having to do that now. They'd still start a protest saying its their right to buy what they want.
Only in America, lol
Because people now are selfish and entitled.
Yep they all know their rights but none of their responsibilities!
They came out of underground stations after bombing and their house was destroyed. Some lost entire families. All they had was what they stood up in. Husbands away for years, kids evacuated, they were just expected to get on with it - and they did!
During lockdown people were having breakdowns because they hadnt seen grandma for a couple of months!
Everyone is aware of the "grab everything for me" brigade in the supermarkets. The way toilet paper went there must have been a lot of loose arses in england! We're now a nation of selfish, pathetic "i know my rights" moaners.
Too many protests over stupid things now a days
Have you seen the protest in iran.
Not so stupid now?
As an Allie of the UK (and a colony), we were also rationed in Australia during the Second World War.
I have a wartime recipe book and frequently use the recipes and have found for many years. They've come into their own since the COL had increased so much. Delish.
My gran hoarded whiskey, sugar and ciggies her entire life. I inherited three cartons of benson hedges, my share of her 50 carton stockpile.
There was sausages and there was sausages Fabulous stories
These people were impressive as they dealt with rationing. Everyone worked together for the war effort.
I still have my WWII ration book as a baby had to go to the clinic to be weighed and measured a bottle of orange juice and cod liver oil last used in 1953.
Love this, important to keep these memories.
We never was hungry , we had enough, with a garden, every one had a garden
So interesting, so very well done. Many thanks to all who participated.
When people were strong.
My parents were children during WW2. Dad rural Oxfordshire, Mum, Paris. Woe betide us if we didn't finish our plates. Dad claimed he didn't see an orange until 1947.
Regarding the comment about oranges. I remember oranges during the war. They were fairly rare and on ration. But records of the purchase were written on the back of the ration book. I asked my mother why not rub-out the marks and buy some more. She tried that, but the greengrocer noticed. He reprimanded my mother but gave her some more oranges!!
But everything was scarce and on one Christmas my only present was an orange. Bananas we didn’t see until the end of the war, and ice cream also.
Rationing lasted longer in Britain (1954) than in Germany.
@@oldman1734 Tescos and others would do well to recognise their customers are getting older. Bring nostalgia back to shopping.
Very true. my mother described bananas as very juice, very sweet. My disappointment when I finally tasted one was acute. I still don't like them!
That's sad. They were parenting through their trauma but just caused new ones. Being forced fed as a child increases the risk of obesity and related diseases as an adult.
our forefathers during that Time Could Teach Us Many Values In Today's Society!
Thank You For Sharing This Video
I remember the margarine,it tasted awful,I could only eat it with jam,I don,t remember being hungry,but then we got very good school dinners,which didn,t come off your rations.tea and sugar was very scarce,we never had enough
There was rationing in Canada too. My parents did okay because they lived on a mixed farm in the Ottawa Valley. They could have all the cream and butter they wanted.
My parents as well. Farms in New Brunswick. Sugar was the big one which effected them. Black strap molasses was used a lot.
These stories are so wonderful!
7th February 1953 sugar finally came off ration. I remember it very well I was 9 years old, in an isolation hospital with scarlet fever. Parents were allowed a once a week visit on a Saturday afternoon standing behind the glass windows of the Ward. The first Saturday after the 7th February We all were showered with every sweet known to man.
The Great British Queue! One of the last remaining signs of civilisation.
One of my wartime memories is of my Father sitting with a towel on his knee and making butter in a sweet jar. We lived in the country, and milk, eggs and essentials were easier to obtain. My great aunt was a farmer with hens and a huge flock of geese. She was extremely generous to us. As my Grannie lived with us, food coupons were pooled. A lot of people in the village kept a pig, and the meat was generously shared. My Father was a village schoolmaster, and we had a large school garden, where vegetables were grown.
I make Woolton Pie today! It’s one of our favourite recipes, and very cheap to make. I collect British women’s magazines and cookery books from that time, and the recipes are excellent. I was interested to hear from the vegetarian gentleman - The Vegan Society was founded in 1944, and the recipes made from rations were really good.
So much to learn and prepare for the future
Thank you for capturing all of this history, and especially these touching personal stories, and these detailed accounts of all of the horrible, far-reaching and heartfelt consequences felt by people as a direct result of the second world. Thank you for capturing these heartfelt stories, on a permanent and very much immutable medium none the less, while the people who lived through these horrible times are still able to share their own personal stories. I find the stories about the disturbingly large swathe of far-reaching, immediate and terribly long lasting negative changes felt by people during the war, so in essence how to war impacted the daily life of people living on the British isles, the most touching, telling, and confirming that which I already knew: war is absolutely horrible, and while I understand that when it began a second world wide conflict couldn't really be avoided, we must do everything in our power to prevent and steer the world of today away from spiralling down a similar path for the third time. If it were to happen again, if world war three were to become a reality, then it would certainly be *the* war to end all wars. Whoever may win the third world war, if afterwards anyone could be called a winner at all, would surely be fighting every war after that with sticks and stones.
Yes, I was there, we would trade sugar stamps for coffee stamps ,or butter with relatives
Really? What did your relatives taste like?
Butter ration was two ounces per person per week. My sweet ration was a thin bar of five boys chocolate a week rationing finished 1953 .
Excellent!! Historians that were there, saved for the future.
LOL can you imagine the chaos when WW3 happens, there won't be anything holding society together because no one has identity anymore let alone the toughness and skills to survive
I remember queuing up for 2 hours for one potato
when I was growing up if we had a half day of school sometimes my mom for a special treat would take me and my little sister bowling. When my mom would put on her bowling shoes, she said" I got these with ration coupons" As a kid, I had absolutely no idea what my mother was talking about but my mom‘s been gone almost 40 years now and it blows my mind to think that that’s what she went through back then😮
I have still got a ration book,with some coupons in it.
I grew up in Britain with rations, I lived in a farm near Rusper with my father, so vegetables weren't much of a problem
You also got eggs, plumbs, mushrooms, chickens, etc.... and NO BOMBS. You hardly knew that there was a War on....
The people today don't know that they are born.... Tony cuenca
Ive got so much respect for this generation she should all be so proud of yourselves
My husband was a ww2 vet. They saw things most people could never fathom. 😢
Very few overweight people then - any connection?
Even sweets were rationed
Absolutely love this video, have watched it several times xxxx C
I remember thinking this would happen after 9/11
I had just learned about rationing in WWII at the time
Rationing all food Powdered eggs One Orange a month for children only quarter pound of sweets per month for kids only
My Dad's favorite recipe from war was "Bubble and Squeak " made from leftovers delicious
He made it for us in 1960s London
I love bubble & squeak. A British girl married my Australian friend's brother. She made it for dinner when we were in Cairns. Delicious.
The sweets were only for kids?
I was about 6 years old when I saw my first banana. I noticed my parents anxiously watching as I started to eat so I just ate half and gave the rest back.
I ate the whole banana and then was violently sick. Never ate a banana for years after
Why did it make you sick, was it too sweet? Unusual texture? @@Behappyalways609
So was I as a child; went to buy bread at local store, clerk ask for stamps, ran home got stamp back I went. Phoenix Arizona
In Los Angeles bread cost $.10 cents a loaf , had plenty of ice delivered to our door , milk was delivered to our door in glass bottles! Rationing was mainly on sweets and gasoline! Little red tokans ànd green rationing books.
memories... That was my life too. But it gave me respect and values for eg food that I have never lost during my long life and still I am careful with food. I remember being sent not for shopping or groceries but RATIONS . It was not to us hard or nastyl just how things were and had to be. Bread was "the national white loaf". Some US personnel as we lived near a base would give us kids chocolate! Everyone who had a garden grew vegetables and we had hens.. I never forgave my father for killing my pet rabbit. Cannot eat rabbit ever... Not because we ate arabbit but because he let me and encouraged me to make a pet of it knowing it would be killed and eaten.
Sorry about your rabbit. 💗
Your dad was harsh....and wrong for doing that. I'm sorry.
Pets or not, we ate rabbit in the fifties and sixties. My sister refused to eat it so I get hers. Rosie, Fluffy, Sandy, Boyo and other names - all Delicious!
Mom had a pet rabbit, it was sacrificed, there were 3 children and 2 parents. No money or meat. Queenie was sacrificed for a meal. Times were tough, but Mom never forgave that, she thought it was chicken, she never ate chicken again. That was what it was WW2. Europe or Canada.
Your dad was trying to make you understand that during hard times, there are no "pets." Your dad did you a favor because maybe he thought someday you might have to endure hard times again.
Whenever I get a chance to hear from the Depression, and War generation I feel a honor, and treat to hear them. Not only do I come away with person history in a historic times, and gain survival tips, l feel thankful for what I have.
When I see "Boomer reducer", and blaming a previous generation for all their problems, instead of being thankful they didn't have the same problems.
6:58 rather attractive.
I've heard many mention that older loved ones who lived through ww1 said it was a blessing, and much fairer system when ww2 rations came in early.
During ww1 it was less organised in the beginning. They learnt alot and we can learn alot from them.
Growing as much as we can here x
Nice video
I remember having a lot of rabbit stew as a child has wild rabbits were plentiful. I can also remember taking any waste food to put in bins which were for pigs swill. I was told a story about a family that kept a pig in their garden and when the inspectors were coming to see if the pig was ready for slaughter they would put in a pram and go for a walk untill the inspectors had gone, so they could keep all the meat for themselves.
What is a pram ??
Looked it up. In America we call it a stroller.
No a pram is different from a stroller, that we would call a push-chair.@@heidimisfeldt5685
I was in gGermany. I don’t remember any of this food they are talking about. We lived in the city no garden. We ate chestnuts; eel, small fish, a potato sometimes. My Opa caught fish no bait, it was different in Germany.
LOL....I was born in 1938 and I remember the British sausage......we never went hungry as my father had a large vegy garden and he exchanged vegies for other things with the neighbors.......onions were a very high priority as it made any meal a Gourneau meal.
I was born in 1939. We lived on rations and we made it. I'm 84 now.
My parents were born in '31 and '35 respectively in Australia. Their families had ration books also during WW2. I was born in '56 and as a child we ate, what I guess they had gotten used to, a lot of: rabbits, offal - all sorts including, brains, kidneys, liver, tripe, tongue etc., a lot of fishing was done to supplement our diet. I remember eating, my great uncle's old chooks, which had dark meat and I hated, the fresh chicken from the butcher's or supermarket was a delicacy and served only on some Sunday's for dinner. My dad would buy and eat Black Pudding, which looked disgusting. My husband's dad ate pigeon pie as a child.
There were many things that you could not get during the war and you had to make do with what you could get.....are you listening people of today because you don't know what hardship is.
There are many children growing up in poverty today. But definitely not as many as there were.
I enjoyed these very much - lovely to hear (what is sadly) the last of that generation
Many of us are having the experience of food rationing here in Canada right now.
The factories that made sweets and chocolates started making things towards things for the war.
My Mother was a child when this happened She never wasted anything when we was growing up She also told me during the war if you had cloths to hold on to them
Iam 84 I was young born 3 months before the war we got through OK we lived near bostel heath were a gun site operated Abbey wood first banana I ate iwas 9
Weren't people actually healthier during rationing than before?
Not specifically before, But significantly more healthy than we are now. But that's the advantage to the diet being set by science. The u s and british armies still use the dietary plans made at the time, with some modern knowlege, for soldiers in boot and in the field.
If modern day poeple would have to ration there food, they're basicly gonna start protesting saying "i have the right to buy and eat whatever i want".
True. Everyone can have the 'right' to anything, whether they can get it is another matter.!