Rationing in the United Kingdom

thumb|Civilian rationing: A shopkeeper cancels the coupons in a British housewife's ration book in 1943.

Rationing was introduced temporarily by the British government several times during the 20th century, during and immediately after a war.

At the start of the Second World War in 1939, the United Kingdom was importing 20 million long tons of food per year, including about 70% of its cheese and sugar, almost 80% of fruit and about 70% of cereals and fats. The UK also imported more than half of its meat and relied on imported feed to support its domestic meat production. The civilian population of the country was about 50 million. It was one of the principal strategies of the Germans in the Battle of the Atlantic to attack shipping bound for Britain, restricting British industry and potentially starving the nation into submission.

To deal with sometimes extreme shortages, the Ministry of Food instituted a system of rationing. To buy most rationed items, each person had to register at chosen shops and was provided with a ration book containing coupons. The shopkeeper was provided with enough food for registered customers. Purchasers had to present ration books when shopping so that the coupon or coupons could be cancelled as these pertained to rationed items. Rationed items had to be purchased and paid for as usual, although their price was strictly controlled by the government and many essential foodstuffs were subsidised; rationing restricted what items and what amount could be purchased as well as what they would cost. Items that were not rationed could be scarce. Prices of some unrationed items were also controlled; prices for many items not controlled were unaffordably high for most people.

During the Second World War rationing—not restricted to food—was part of a strategy including controlled prices, subsidies and government-enforced standards, with the goals of managing scarcity and prioritising the armed forces and essential services, and trying to make available to everyone an adequate and affordable supply of goods of acceptable quality.

First World War 1914–1918

thumb|A [[First World War government leaflet detailing the consequences of breaking the rationing laws]]

In line with its business as usual policy during the First World War, the government was initially reluctant to try to control the food markets. It fought off attempts to introduce minimum prices in cereal production, though relenting in the area of control of essential imports (sugar, meat, and grains). When it did introduce changes, they were limited. In 1916, it became illegal to consume more than two courses while lunching in a public eating place or more than three for dinner; fines were introduced for members of the public found feeding the pigeons or stray animals.

In January 1917, Germany started unrestricted submarine warfare to try to starve Britain into submission. To meet this threat, voluntary rationing was introduced in February 1917. Bread was subsidised from September that year; prompted by local authorities taking matters into their own hands, compulsory rationing was introduced in stages between December 1917 and February 1918 as Britain's supply of wheat decreased to just six weeks' consumption. To help the process, ration books were introduced in July 1918 for butter, margarine, lard, meat, and sugar.

Each consumer was tied to a retailer. The basic ration of sugar, butter or margarine, tea, jam, bacon and other meat came to about 1,680 calories. It was adjusted for vegetarians, children and workers performing strenuous labour. Nutritional programmes for nursing mothers and young children were established by many local authorities. Unlike most of Europe bread was not rationed. It was argued that the civilian population's health improved under rationing, though tuberculosis increased. During the war, average energy intake decreased by only 3%, but protein intake by 6%.

Second World War 1939–1945

Food rationing

thumb|upright|A child's ration book, used during the Second World War

Emergency supplies for the 4 million people expected to be evacuated were delivered to destination centres by August 1939, and 50 million ration books were already printed and distributed. A popular music-hall song, written 20 years previously but sung ironically, was "Yes! We Have No Bananas".

Game

Game meat such as rabbit and pigeon was not rationed. Some British biologists reportedly ate laboratory rats.

Bread

Bread was not rationed until after the war ended, but the "national loaf" of wholemeal bread replaced the white variety. It was found to be mushy, grey and easy to blame for digestion problems. There were four permitted loaves and slicing and wrapping were not permitted.

Like other foods, fish was seldom available in abundance. During the war, the Royal Navy requisitioned hundreds of trawlers for military use, leaving primarily smaller vessels, thought less likely to be targeted by Axis forces, to fish. At one point, supplies dropped to 30% of pre-war levels, Wartime fish and chips was often felt to be below standard because of the low-quality fat available for frying.

Honey

Due to the vital role beekeeping played in British agriculture and industry, special allotments of sugar were allowed for each hive. In 1943, the Ministry of Food granted beekeepers supplies of sugar not exceeding ten pounds per colony to keep their beehives going through the winter, and five pounds for spring feeding. Honey was not rationed, but its price was controlled – as with other unrationed, domestically produced produce, sellers imposed their own restrictions.

Alcohol

All drinks except beer were scarce. Beer was considered a vital foodstuff as it was a morale booster. Brewers were short of labour and suffered from the scarcity of imported barley. A ban on importing sugar for brewing and racking made beer strengths weaker.

Fuel

On 13 March 1942 the basic petrol ration was abolished, effective from 1 July

Restaurants

Restaurants were initially exempt from rationing but this was resented because of the public perception that "luxury" off-ration foodstuffs were being unfairly obtained by those who could afford to dine regularly in restaurants. In May 1942, the Ministry of Food issued new restrictions on restaurants:

Meals were limited to three courses; only one component dish could contain fish or game or poultry (but not more than one of these)
In general, no meals could be served between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. without a special licence
The maximum price of a meal was 5 shillings (). Extra charges allowed for cabaret shows and luxury hotels.

Public catering

thumb|A [[British Restaurant in London, 1943]]

About 2,000 new wartime establishments called British Restaurants were run by local authorities in schools and church halls. Here, a plain but adequate three-course meal cost only 9d (), and no ration coupons were required. They evolved from London County Council's Londoners' Meals Service, which began as an emergency system for feeding people who had had their houses bombed and could no longer live in them. They were open to everyone and mostly served office and industrial workers.

Cooking depots were set up in Sheffield and Plymouth, providing roast dinners, stew and pudding. Hot sweet tea was often distributed after bombing raids. but rationing improved the health of British people; infant mortality declined and life expectancy rose, excluding deaths caused by hostilities. This was because it ensured that everyone had access to a varied diet with enough vitamins. Blackcurrant syrup and later American bottled orange juice was provided free for children under 2. Those under 5 and expectant mothers got subsidised milk. Consumption of fat and sugar declined while consumption of milk and fibre increased.

!rowspan="2"|Item

!colspan="2"|Army Rations Home Service Scale

!rowspan="2"|Seamen on weekly articles

!Men

!Women

|Meat

|Bacon and ham<br>(uncooked, free of bone)

|Butter and margarine

| (in any proportions of butter and margarine)

| (margarine only)

|<br>(not more than butter)

|Cheese

|Cooking fats

| (may be taken in the form of margarine)

| –

|Sugar

|Tea

|Preserves

jam and syrup
for boys and young soldiers battalions:<br>jam, marmalade or syrup

|<br>(jam, marmalade, syrup)

1s 2d bought about of meat. Offal and sausages were rationed from 1942 to 1944. When sausages were not rationed, the meat needed to make them was so scarce that they often contained a high proportion of bread. Eggs were rationed and "allocated to ordinary [citizens] as available". In 1944, thirty allocations of one egg each were made. Children and some invalids were allowed three a week; expectant mothers two on each allocation.

1 egg per week or 1 packet (makes 12 ersatz eggs) of egg powder per month. Vegetarians were allowed two eggs.
plus, 24 points for four weeks for tinned and dried food.

Arrangements were made for vegetarians so that other goods were substituted for their rations of meat.

Milk was supplied at each week, with priority for expectant mothers and children under 5, and for those under 18. Children unable to attend school were allowed , certain invalids up to . Each person received one tin of milk powder, equivalent to , every eight weeks.

Special civilian rations

Persons falling within the following descriptions were allowed of cheese a week in place of the general ration of :

vegetarians (meat and bacon coupons must be surrendered)
underground mine workers
agricultural workers holding unemployment insurance books or cards bearing stamps marked "Agriculture"
county roadmen
forestry workers (including fellers and hauliers)
land drainage workers (including Catchment Board workers)
members of the Auxiliary Force of the Women's Land Army alongside rising inflation, and the inclusion of purchase tax on clothing in October 1940, prices of garments and textiles increased. As a result, civilian access to clothing tightened. Government regulation was required in order to ensure the ability to buy clothing was maintained across the civilian population. and therefore reduce the amount of clothing produced for civilians. Coupons were to be presented on purchase of clothing, shoes, and fabrics alongside cash payment. Initially people were allocated 66 points for clothing per year; in 1942, this was cut to 48, in 1943 to 36, and in 1945–1946 to 24.

thumb|upright|The Board of Trade promoted "[[Make Do and Mend" through posters such as this, c. 1943.]]

Different types of clothes were ascribed different coupon values, determined by how much material and labour went into each item's manufacture. For example, an adult's skirt would require seven coupons and a pair of child's pyjamas six coupons.

Clothes rationing ended on 15 March 1949.

Soap

All types of soap were rationed. Coupons were allotted by weight or (if liquid) by quantity. In 1945, the ration gave four coupons each month; babies and some workers and invalids were allowed more. A coupon would yield:

bar hard soap
bar toilet soap
No. 1 liquid soap
soft soap
soap flakes
powdered soap

Fuel

The Fuel and Lighting (Coal) Order 1941 came into force in January 1942. Central heating was prohibited in the summer months.

Paper

Newspapers were limited from September 1939, at first to 60% of their pre-war consumption of newsprint. Paper supply came under the No 48 Paper Control Order, 4 September 1942, and was controlled by the Ministry of Production. By 1945, newspapers were limited to 25% of their pre-war consumption. Wrapping paper for most goods was prohibited.

The paper shortage often made it more difficult than usual for authors to get work published. In 1944, George Orwell wrote:

Other products

Whether rationed or not, many personal-use goods became difficult to obtain because of the shortage of components. Examples included razor blades, baby bottles, alarm clocks, frying pans and pots. Balloons and sugar for cakes for birthday parties were partially or completely unavailable. Couples had to use a mock cardboard and plaster wedding cake in lieu of a real tiered wedding cake, with a smaller cake hidden in the mock cake. Houseplants were impossible to get and people used carrot tops instead. Many fathers saved bits of wood to build toys for Christmas presents, and Christmas trees were almost impossible to obtain due to timber rationing.

Post-Second World War 1945–1954

On 8 May 1945, the Second World War ended in Europe, but rationing continued for several years afterwards. Some aspects of rationing became stricter than they were during the war. Bread was rationed from 21 July 1946 to 24 July 1948. Average body weight fell and potato consumption increased. Certain foodstuffs that the average 1940s British citizen would find unusual, for example whale meat and canned snoek fish from South Africa, were not rationed. Despite this, they did not prove popular. In 1950, 4,000 tonnes of whale meat went unsold on Tyneside.

When sweets were taken off ration in April 1949 (but sugar was still rationed), there was, understandably, a rush on sweetshops, and rationing had to be reintroduced in August, remaining until 1953.

Timeline

1945

27 May: Bacon ration cut from per week. Cooking fat ration cut from per week. Soap ration cut by an eighth, except for babies and young children. The Daily Telegraph predicted that households would be grossly hampered in making food items that included pastry.
1 June: The basic petrol ration for civilians was restored. ordering a red dye to be to put into some petrol, and that red petrol was only allowed to be used in commercial vehicles. A private car driver could lose their driving licence for a year if red petrol was found in their car. A petrol station could be shut down if it sold red petrol to a private car driver.
June: The basic petrol ration was restored, but only allowed about 90 miles per month. this was because attempts to enforce it were defeated by continual massive illegality (black market, unofficial trade in loose clothing coupons (many forged), bulk thefts of unissued clothes ration books).
June, July and August 1949: The basic petrol ration was temporarily increased to allow about 180 miles per month.
April 1950: The Ministry of Fuel and Power adoubled the petrol ration for 12 months from 1 June.

1951

25 October 1951: 1951 United Kingdom general election. The Conservatives came back into power.

1953

4 February 1953: Confectionery (sweets and chocolate) rationing ended.
September 1953: Sugar rationing ended.

thumb|upright=0.75|A [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party poster celebrating the end of food rationing]]

1954

4 July 1954: Meat and all other food rationing ended in Britain.

Although rationing formally ended in 1954, cheese production was affected for decades afterwards. During rationing, most milk in Britain was used to make one kind of cheese, nicknamed Government Cheddar (not to be confused with the government cheese issued by the US welfare system). This wiped out nearly all other cheese production in the country, and some indigenous varieties of cheese almost disappeared. and it was only in the mid-1990s, following the effective abolition of the MMB, that the revival of the British cheese industry began in earnest.

1958

Coal rationing ended in July.

Suez Crisis 1956–1957

During the Suez Crisis, petrol rationing was briefly reintroduced and ran from 17 December 1956 until 14 May 1957. Advertising of petrol on the recently introduced ITV was banned for a period.

Oil crises of 1973 and 1979

Petrol coupons were issued for a short time as preparation for the possibility of petrol rationing during the 1973 oil crisis. The rationing never came about, in large part because increasing North Sea oil production allowed the UK to offset much of the lost imports. By the time of the 1979 energy crisis, the United Kingdom had become a net exporter of oil, so on that occasion the government did not even have to consider petrol rationing.

References

Sources

External links

History in Focus: War – Rationing in Second World War London World War
Information about clothes rationing

Rationing in the United Kingdom

First World War 1914–1918

Second World War 1939–1945

Food rationing

Game

Bread

Honey

Alcohol

Fuel

Restaurants

Public catering

Special civilian rations

Soap

Fuel

Paper

Other products

Post-Second World War 1945–1954

Timeline

1945

1951

1953

1954

1958

Suez Crisis 1956–1957

Oil crises of 1973 and 1979

See also

References

Sources

Further reading

External links