Newsreel: Rationing in Britain

View larger at source here.

An interesting American-made newsreel about British Rationing during the war. Some scenes that stood out to me for being glossed-over or put in a better light:

- The length of food queues is not shown in the film, though the cut-away to see the rest of the family doesn't necessarily hide that it is was a long wait. But when she walked out of the general market and there was no line, I thought that was a bit odd.

- She can only bake one cake a week? Shoot, that seems a lot more frequent then the articles I've read about rations. I was made to believe it was more like a cake a month or each fortnight, if they were lucky. Does anyone know of info that can back-up this cake a week suggestion the actress states?

- Buns of bread? What about the government loaf that was joked to be Hitler's true weapon against the Brits? I thought it was only in loaf form.

- I like the scene where they talk about clothing rations and issues with cosmetics. Is it just the lighting, or does that actress have cropped hair? If so, I love that she keeps the little curl pinned to her side!

- Hello, I am in love with the "British family" living room. The grouping of the sofa chairs and the placement of the radio is just perfect.

Via Cool Chicks from History.

Comments

[Sarah]

Nella Last's diaries do not support the notion of a cake a week unless she had well producing hens for eggs and used no sugar. There was not enough lard and butter rations or flour. PS: I love her stories of how the families of potential brides and grooms saved their sugar rations to pool together for the wedding cake whether it was made at home or made by a baker. Bakers used customers points to make the cakes.

[Kate in England]

Even at the end of the war, the sugar allowance was 8oz per person per week, plus 2oz butter and 6oz margarine or lard (only 1 egg though), so in theory you could make a cake (especially if you assume there are several people in the household contributing their rations, too) if you didn't mind going without those things for the rest of the week. But just because you were allowed that much, didn't always mean you could get your hands on it. Supply varied enormously.

[Thomas at My Porch]

What a great newsreel, thanks for posting it. Sugar is the one thing that would have been most difficult for me. I could use a little sugar rationing in my life. Other things like tea (or coffee), beer, and tobacco don't interest me in the slightest so maybe I could have done some trading to up access to sugar...

[Arabella]

Daughter's elocution lessons would definitely have been 'on the points'!
Great clip.
And yes the short hair is a surprise. Perhaps she was in a run of Shaw's 'Joan' at the time of shooting........