| john |
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During the war sweets were on ration, we had to have our ration books and have the coupons clipped out of them when we bought a quarter of sweets. Our standby when we ran out of coupons for the month was to buy a bag of 'broken biscuits'. We always seemed to be hungry!
Those boiled sweets seem to have had a serious effect on our teeth. Chocolate wasn't so bad, we could buy a small bar for 3d (threpence as it was known).
Editor's note: Send your wartime memories to us and they can appear like this one. Email address does not have to appear.
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| angela |
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I remember how dark it was during the war. There were no street lights and when my parents kept saying when we heard the song "when the lights come on again" I used to ask them what that meant. I had seen the lamp posts (gas) but had no idea what it would be like with street lights. Signs giving town names were removed as well.
Editor's note: No electric street lamps then! How did we manage? Have you a story about hardships during the war or pre-electricity days?
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| Noreen |
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My parents owned a sweetshop and I remember those sweet coupons well. I think it must have been once a month that we had to sit round a table and count the wretched things and tie them into bundles. Mum had to deliver them to an official office and the value of the coupons that she handed in was calculated and that then was how much confectionery we were able to purchase to replenish the shop shelves.
On about the day sweets were derationed I remember that we sold out of every piece of confectionery in the shop.
Editor's Note: Thanks for that Noreen. Did anyone else out there have the shop as their home? Must be some interesting stories to tell. What about the return of icecream, and bananas?
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| diane |
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During the war, clothes were on-ration as well as sweets. We had to have what were called "clothing coupons" and you couldn't buy the clothes you wanted unless you had sufficient coupons. I remember when our milk delivery girl told us she was getting married all the people in the street saved a few of their clothing coupons and gave them to her as a wedding present. "Why" I asked. Because she wants to be able to buy a nice trouseau, the reply. Incidentally, the milk was delivered on a van and was in a huge churn. The milk was then ladled out using measures and then poured into your jug. There was time for a chat and I remember our older milkman used to have a sit down on a stool while he poured the milk. Later on we could have small bottles from the delivery (third of a pint) with a cardboard top which had a small circle in the centre which you could remove. We then used to drink the milk from the bottle. Started an early trend!
Editor's note: Thanks Diane. Not quite so much choice then, no semi-skimmed, skimmed etc, flavoured. It still tasted really good though.
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