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Front Cover and Inside Front Cover of a Ration Book

Photograph courtesy of Swansea Museum

Where did this lady spend most of her ration coupons?

What reasons did the Government give for rationing food?

1)Rationing prevents waste of food

2)Rationing increases our war effort

3)Rationing divides supplies equally

4)Rationing prevents uncertainty

Can you explain the following statements?


1) Rationing prevents waste of food We must not ask our sailors to bring us unnecessary food cargoes at the risk of their lives.





2) Rationing increases our war effortOur shipping carries food, and armaments in their raw and finished state, and other essential raw materials for home consumption and the export trade. To reduce our purchases of food abroad is to release ships

for bringing us other imports. So new shall strengthen our war effort






3) Rationing divides supplies equally There will be ample supplies for our 44 ½ million people, but we must

divide them fairly, everyone being treated alike. No one must be left out.

.






3) Rationing divides supplies equally There will be ample supplies for our 44 ½ million people, but we must

divide them fairly, everyone being treated alike. No one must be left out.

4) Rationing prevents uncertainty Your Ration Book assures you of your fair trade. Rationing means that there will be no uncertainty – and no queues.

Questions to consider

“We couldn’t waste a crumb…we used

to queue for hours for things –

sometimes the manager of the local co-

op would give a little whisper that some

tinned fruit was coming in…we would be

queuing at half past seven…then it

would be gone in two minutes and we

used to wonder when we would have

the next treat.”Phyllis James, Rhondda, remembers rationing during the war years

Source taken from Wales and the Second World War - Voices, 1989, by Philip Tapper

What does this source tell you about the availability of

foodstuffs during the war years?

“It was living by our wits really. The boys

would have the egg ration and get half an

egg each for breakfast; we’d make toast

on the fire….I remember making sponge

cake with liquid paraffin and using the

dripping from the Sunday joint as fat for a

tart afterwards, although I was too

ashamed to tell anybody!

I also remember my aunt using her week’s

rations to make cakes, then leaving the

cakes on the window-ledge to cool. Some

evacuees ran off with them! My aunt was

really upset!”Mrs. Nell David quoted in Wales and the Second World War - Women, 1989, by Fay Swain

How does this source reinforce the information provided within

the previous source?

This picture shows eight people sitting down to Sunday lunch. There are a number of families present – the Turners, the

Mintos, Mr. and Mrs. Francis, Mrs. Francis’ sister and her four year old little girl.

Why do you think that so many people have gathered together for Sunday Lunch?

Picture from Picture Post, February, 1941

The caption for this photograph includes the line: ‘Two of the women will wash up, while the men light their pipes..’

“All three families are registered at the same shops, and

ration cards are handed to each cook (from each house) in

turn every other day. Rations, indeed, go much further by

this plan. There’s a big saving in fats, for instance, since

chips for eight people take very little more fat than chips for

two. Meat, too, goes further. These families get two

excellent joints a week on eight ration cards, choosing cuts

without much bone.”

How have these families attempted to solve the food shortage problem that existed during the war?

From an article that appeared in the Picture Post, February, 1941

What is the message of this article from the War Years?

Click here to read more of this article

Source taken from Wales and the Second World War - Women, 1989, by Fay Swain

“FOOD is your munition of war. The Government sees that

you get the right stuff and it’s vital that you should know

how to use it to full advantage…

There’s cheese: it makes muscle and bone

There are potatoes: they give energy and warmth

Carrots, that give vitality and help you to see in the dark.

Green vegetables, with their valuable salts and vitamins,

which are so important for clear complexions and sound

teeth.”


“Did you know that 5 quarts of summer milk – milk at its

richest and when it is most plentiful – go to the making of

1lb. Cheese?

Or that swedes, the juice of which you used to give to

babies because of its valuable Vitamin C, are now to be had

at most greengrocers cheap enough and in big enough

quantities for you to serve as a second or third vegetable to

the entire family?”

All good live stuff. And you need them all: every day. Serve

everything appetisingly as you so well can do. Then you can

be proud of your vital, active part in the drive to Victory.”


How effective do you feel the Government are at encouraging the housewife to ‘do their bit’ for the war effort at home?

Highlight the positive words found

within this advert from 1941.

What is the message behind the advert?

Who do you think produced this poster

and why?

Why do you think that the Government were interested in promoting characters such as Potato Pete?

What tactics did the Ministry employ in their bid to help people

use their ration coupons safely and stay healthy?

Try to create your own Food Ministry Poster.

Why do you think that so many booklets like this one were produced during the

War Years?

An advert taken from The Free Press of Monmouthshire

What is the message of this advert?

(What should be conserved and why?)

Why do you think that housewives

have been shown marching with men

from the armed forces?

Is this an effective image to use?

Why?

Click here to enlarge the advert

Housewives ‘fall in’on the march to victory

Paper – it means more ammunition, so collect every bit of it. Paper I also wanted for many other purposes.

Metal – It means more guns, so collect every scrap of it. Tanks, ships and ammunition of all kinds need metal.

Bones – They mean more planes, so collect them all. They are wanted, too, for explosives and fertilizers.

Remember always to put out paper, metal, bones, separately by your dustbin.* They will be collected and they will be used. They are wanted urgently.

* Also food waste for pigs if collected in your district.

UP HOUSEWIVESAND AT ‘EM!

ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF SUPPLY

Are you

surprised by

any of these

statements?

If so why?

END

Can you work out the link between these pictures?

Example

Rationing andSalvaging

END

Can you work out the link between these pictures?

Rationing andSalvaging

Questions to consider:

Why was rationing necessary during and after the

war?

In what way and to what degree did rationing affect

people’s lives?

Why do the official Government advertisements,

articles and advice regarding rationing often differ

greatly from the publics own experience of this

system?

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Documents

rationing food

purchases of food

rationing means

unnecessary food cargoes

war effort3 rationing

following statements

war effortwhat reasons

war yearssource