General Chat

And Boo yet again

Wish I could get some of the now

I know from my mother that the sweet ration for children was 1/4 of boiled sweets per week or a small bar of black chocolate. They didn't see exotic fruits until well after the war (she remains passionate about oranges to this day - and she's 73!) so the only types they knew were home grown.

Everything which was eaten was the typical working man's diet of the time, although the shortage of sugar meant that puddings had to be unsweetened or stretched.

We are from Northewrn Ireland so there were some welcome additions of butter, sugar and meat from the [then] Irish Free State which, although it had rationing during what they called the "Emergency", had more of the rationed foodstuffs than the families in the north. I'm told that train drivers' familes in particular were quite well off, particularly if the man of the house was on a regular, cross-border, run.

Angelina, you can still buy it, .M.

Hi all

I remember frys chocolate cream,is it still around?Was hazelet a sort of sliced meat mixture-seems to ring a bell.Mum remembers her stepfather coming home from sea and being passed from trawler to trawler to see all the fish being unloaded and then having to eat fish for days afterwards because all the crew were given a box each,they used to give it away to the neighbours in the end cos they were so fed up with it,she doesnt eat much fish now at all!
Angie
xx

PIGS TROTTERS
TOMATO SOUP CUBES
DRIED EGG (Lovely)
DRIPPING
CONDENSED MILK
We had plenty of veg as we had a allotment

June

Hi Merlin , also the cherry on the top of little cakes ... Made with powdered eggs ... was replaced with a little square of sweet beet

Pidgeon Pie, Brawn, Snook aka ( Whale meat ) Spam with everything,home made fruitpies and jam, Hazelet, things like that,and if you worked on the Docks or had someone in the Merchant Navy " Bananas"and "Oranges".Sometimes there used to be Parcels from Canada sent to Schools with "Frys Chocolate bars,The ones with the creamy type insides. .M.

Starling pie-mmmmmmmmmmm!
think I'll give that one a miss thanks Kim!
Angie xx

I have nudged this cos I was talking about this thread to my 83 year old mum last night and she told me the following ....
In the 1930,s her Mum and another lady used to walk into the local town once a week as they lived in a village . It was only 6 miles each way ! no cars ....anyway Mum stayed with another family in their street who had loads an loads of kids . They had pie for their dinner which was delicious .....
Turned out to be Starling Pie !!!! Kim x

I was just doing some looking up in books for Angie (we got them when my husband did this with his class some years ago). I then did a search on the web and found several good sites with recipes plus a good inexpensive book. This might be worth getting if anyone knows a school doing this project
http://www.glosters.org.uk/Second_World_War/Wartime_Recipes/69/450
It's only £3.99

Sue

'Yes We Have Bananas'
31/12/1945

The first shipment of bananas since the beginning of the war arrives at Bristol docks. It is greeted with much excitement and filmed by newsreel companies. Bananas are rationed and only available to children under 18 and expectant mothers.
Light Programme
29/7/1945

Thought I hadn't just imagined them!! ;O)

:O(

thanks everyone for your contributions-some great ideas to use and thanks for the recipe aswell-must remember not "bananas".
Nite all
Angie xx

Banana's were not available during the war think it was 1946 or 47 when they became available. I can remember eating my first one at Skegness when on holiday which was 47 when I was 6 years old.

My mother made Bread pudding - used up stale bread NB not to be confused with Bread & Butter pudding. Ron

Had this thread before, but here we go again

Lights........Animal Lungs
Sausages.with 15% meat in them
Spam.....Never eaten it since
Corned beef...Ditto
Braun......in jelly, I loved it
American dried egg..loved it with Baked Beans

My first taste of chicken was Xmas 1944 when the next door neighbour killed two that had stopped laying eggs

Xmas 1943 we had a pigs head to roast courtesy of the same neighbour who kept pigs in an old garage a few miles away..He was allowed one leg, the head, trotters and the Tail.the rest went to the Ministery of Food.

As kids we went collecting anything that was edible,.
Blackberries, Chestnuts, Elderberries, Beech nuts, Cob nuts, Crab Apples, Rose hips, fresh dandelion leaves and many more things.

As for bananas.........I had my first Banana before anyone else in the street only because my older brother came home from India in 1946 and he brought a big bunch with dozens of little green bananas on it,
It was put in the airing cupboard an I was allowed only one a day.

Those were the days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Old Geezer

Mac

Love this thread and the memories - my parents had a neighbour who was hunting shooting fishing old boy and we were lucky to have pheasants and rabbits that he prepared ready for cooking. We had chickens in the garden for eggs and eventually eating and in the autumn roosters for fattening up - and said neighbour did the honours so roosters were Christmas Dinner. My mother used to buy pigs head and make brawn and I remember also tripe and onions and breast of lamb which was boned and stuffing mixture put along it and rolled and roasted and sliced so it looked like swiss roll - all the bones were stewed up for broth! Dripping used to be wonderful on toast especially if there was jelly at the bottom of it!

Funniest story though - as i was too young to remember doing it - when I was on back yard sitting up in pram after shopping expedition (2 mile walk to town and up hill coming back) I found the ration of corned beef, a thick chunk for me & my parents and the neighbour called out to my mother - do you know what your girl is eating! Obviously I was hungry. Jx

Well I was talking of rationed food.
Bananas were introduced in 1945 so not too far out!

My daughter's class are doing WW2 and are having a 1940's day where there is a special school lunch. Menu for the day is
Meat and Potato pie/fishcake/cheese pie with
roast & mash spuds, cabbage & carrots
then jam roly poly or rice pudding
All luch staff will dress up, bunting in hall and 1940's music playing.
Dawn

If it is a WW2 victory party,you can't have banana sandwiches,as we didn't see bananas till 1947.
The fruit we had was what was grown in this country.....apples, pears,all the berries that we could pick.

My mum used to get sugar instead of jam and we made our own jams as the ration was so small.

I remember our victory party,and all the neighbours brought out something.Mum made fairy cakes,with flour ,dried egg,sugar and a bit of marg.She cut off the tops and put some butter cream (marg) on top,cut the sliced bit in half and made wings.
Meat paste sandwiches.We used to get meat paste from the local bakers who displayed it in a dish with a sort of fatty crust on,and we bought it by the ounce.
Salami.We had tomatoes as we grew them.
Cornflake cakes,not made with melted chocolate like we have now,but with a mixture of cocoa and milk powder and some sort of setting agent.

Minto sweets were made with dried milk and peppermint oil and rolled up and cut with scissors into lumps.

Jelly and junket(I bet a lot of you don't know what junket is!!)It is like blancmange.

Can't think of anymore now and going to watch the Restaurant,but that is a start!!

Brenda