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All other adults were issued with Buff coloured ration books, except for seamen and travelers who could not register with a particular shop.
Ration books had to be renewed and new ones issued every Summer.
If a ration book was lost or stolen a special 'one week' card had to be applied for from the Food office who were under the direction of the Board of Trade.
Obtaining a new ration book that had been lost however |
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was not as easy as some may think, and could be a pains taking exercise trying to prove that the ration card had indeed been lost or stolen.
Ration books also had to be handed in at hotels or boarding houses if a person was staying there. The same went for those servicemen who were billeted out in homes etc. However Ration Books did not have to be shown in Restaurants or British Restaurants.
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| Householders had to register with their local shops. The shopkeeper was then provided with enough food for his or her registered customers. Once items were purchased the shopkeeper would then cross off and subtract the relevant points used for that product for that particular month. If the shop where people were registered happened to be bombed they would then need to register with another shop in order to use their Ration book in order to buy their goods. |
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Ration Book Fraud
Rationing however was not without its problems and opened up a whole new avenue for fraud and theft from the more unscrupulous trader and racketeer.
Eggs which were sold for breeding purposes and exempt from rationing often found there way on to the market .
Ration books were easy to forge for those who knew how and could be sold on the Black Market.
Unscrupulous postmen would steal ration coupons and again sell them on.
Shop keepers had to exchange the coupons they got from their customers at the post office for vouchers which were then used to buy more rationed goods to sell again.
The post officers however refused the fiddly job of having to count the envelopes full of coupons received from the shop keepers and was left to the Ministry officials to do.
Except these checks were only carried out on a random basis and very infrequently. As a result some of the envelopes handed in had far fewer coupons inside than the number of vouchers actually claimed. Sometimes the envelopes even contained just scraps of paper torn from a telephone book.
Even the used coupons which were sent to be re-pulped were sometimes stolen to be reused again to claim rationed goods to sell again. |
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The points system was extremely complex as products were rationed at different times and in different ways. Butter, bacon and sugar were the first goods to be rationed in January 1940. They were then followed by meat and preserves in March 1940, tea, margarine and cooking fats in July 1940 and cheese in 1941. Sugar, bacon, butter, cheese and cooking fats were rationed by weight and the relevant coupons entitled the customer to buy a given weight. |
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| Buying Goods with Ration Book |
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Later items such as rice, canned fruit, condensed milk, breakfast cereals, biscuits and cornflakes were added to the ration list.
Jam and other preserves were rationed as a group so that customers could choose to buy either jam, marmalade or syrup.
At some points in the war customers were allowed to 'swap' the jam ration for extra sugar. To complicate matters even further an individual's entitlement varied according to the food supply, occupation and other factors such as those with religious, vegetarian or special dietary needs. Vegetarians for instance were allowed to swap their meat coupons for others things such as fats etc.
Heavy manual and agricultural workers for instance were allowed an extra piece of cheese ration for their lunch boxes. |
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The distribution of a number of important foods such as milk, eggs and oranges were controlled to ensure that special allowances could be made for expectant mothers, babies and the elderly.
Expectant mothers children and invalids were allowed 7 pints of milk per week. Expectant mothers and children were also allowed up to 18 eggs per month. Children under 2 were allowed orange juice, black current and rosehip syrup as well as cod liver oil. |
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Milk Shortage
Milk was also in short supply, due in part to the slaughter of many dairy herds during 1940 in order to allow more land to be used for the growing of vital food crops for the nation.
There were of course concessions for fresh milk, such as children and pregnant mothers - as described elsewhere. Also if the parents joint income was below that set by the government of £2 per week then milk was free. The standard price for a pint of milk was 2d (Approx.1p) |
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| Milk being delivered by horse and Cart |
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The role of the traditional Milkman bringing the daily 'pinta' with his cheery smile also changed.
As the men were sent off to fight for their Country - like many jobs - Women took over the role that was once a Man's Job.
As the war progressed milk bottles too became scarce and were no longer made (the glass being needed for a more vital roll). |
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Shortages on the home front also meant that milk was soon being delivered using the traditional horse and cart to fill the family's jug as petrol became hard to get, except for essential journeys,
For many the only substitute for fresh milk was 'Dried Milk Powder', which was mixed with water as a substitute for real milk.
At least it was better than no milk at all! |
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