[jamesicus]

Thank you AccyStanFan, ShortStuff & Sara for your responses -- I will keep this going as long as there is interest shown -- James

Food rationing, and food shortages, were a shock at first. After 1939 I didn't see a banana for six years. Sweets were rationed and you could usually only get your favorites (mine were Rowntrees fruit gums & pastilles) at the shops that you had frequented before the war.

Still, we ate healthy -- more whole wheat bread, lots of fresh vegetables, less sugar. Imported tinned and fancy goods were almost impossible to come by (battle of the Atlantic made cargo ship space a premium -- essential goods only).

Rumors of the Black Market and inferior food substitutes abounded -- my mother heard that some Fish & Chip shops were using dog fat for cooking (lard was rationed) -- that was heartily denied -- still she would only buy fish & chips at our local shop.

We ate a lot of home grown vegetables from our victory garden.