We haven’t had a chance to cook together lately and had to cancel our first dinner party to keep our families safe, so I’ve had some time to reflect on when families struggle. It’s certainly no hoax that there’s something making people suddenly look up how to cook and bake from scratch. It was only 80 years ago that people all over the world were skimping, scrounging and saving everything they could in response to the World War II effort of the 1940’s. Anyone else remember American Girl Molly McIntire, the youngest daughter of an army doctor? The scene here really sets the tone of the entire movie: Molly: An American Girl on the Homefront Meat, butter, sugar, cooking oils and cheese were heavily rationed. There was a points-system put in place where stamps and different color coins were for different types of items, but the number value was how many points it was worth, kind of like a sub-economy as well as the regular price tag. Let me give you an example: A butcher sells sausage links for 40 cents per pound, then the government says it’s worth 8 ration points. You pay both charges. The WWII Museum has articles about this sort of system here.
During the years when my grandfather was in the navy aiming cannons, fresh fruits and non-root vegetables were increasingly costly, but seeds were practically pennies a pinch! City slickers could give their hand a green-thumb instead of shelling out the green in their purses. If you were a British kid, you were most likely evacuated to the countryside or overseas for your own protection. It makes you look at the 1st scene of the first Narnia movie directed by Andrew Adamson in a whole new light. Joan Collins even has a chapter in her autobiography about her family crowding into a bomb shelter.
The government assisted farmers by promoting the planting of Victory Gardens. 20 million were planted; 9-10 TONS of produce fresher than fresh were blooming out on peoples lawns. It was an agricultural BOOM that also boosted the morale of the homemakers and kids. They could help out by doing simple things around the house while the highly trained men and women were out taking care of major duties. Too bad the urban folks stopped in 1946, or there wouldn’t have been a shortage that year.
Naturally, the cuisine of the era was high-carb, low-sugar and low-fat. Honestly, it did England a favor in their flu, obesity, diabetes and cardio health rates for a solid 14 years. There were Victory Cookbooks printed for housewives to create balanced healthy meals for their families catered to the rations they were given. The key was to waste nothing and stretch your goods for as long as they could last before rotting. That’s why there were so many books and pamphlets out around town on canning, pickling and preserving.
One thing my grandmother remembered and Mom told me, was that chicken was often boiled, so that the meat would come off and the water and bones could become soup broth. After this, the chicken could be used for croquettes, pot pies, casseroles, sandwiches, salads, patte, stews and so much more than just roasting it and calling it a day. I would try and make chilli out of it if I had the spices for it.
Hey, Look! I found some cookbook titles from the war….
“Eating for Victory: Healthy Home Front Cooking on War Rations“
“Ration Cookbook: Recipes & History“
and a Mental Floss webpage with 11 pages more…here