Use It All; Wear It Out; Make It Do; or Go Without!
Read the article this discussion is about
- barrie
- cdrawriter
- android
- BrigadoonDays
This archived discussion is "read only".
For the corresponding "live" discussions, post in the active topic forum here.
» barrie - The good or bad old days
Hi CareyI enjoyed your article.
It is fun to look back on the past. It seems to me that for many families rationing started in the depression years of the 30s. In the 30s there were products to buy but no money and in the war years there was money but few products to buy.
You are right about the cutting back on red meat although we made up for it in the post-war years. During the war there was a flourishing rabbit industry in Southern California. I had a Grand Uncle who had a very large rabbit ranch in Long Beach. The business died with the ending of the war.
Here in Canada we also had horsemeat available but it was only sold in specialty butcher shops and was not widely used. When we had a Sunday Roast there was often comments about where Mom found the coupon. We may have eaten more horse than we thought.
There was also a very active black-market in booze and gas coupons. We have a relative who was in the taxi business during the war. If you wanted a bottle you paid him for the booze, taxi fare, plus two booze coupons, and a fuel coupon. If someone was having a wedding or celebration Uncle________ had a big payday. Taxi operators also got extra gas coupons so he was a popular guy. Canada entered the war in 39 so he had 6 years to amass his tax-free fortune --- which he did.
When the neighbor hood ladies got together for coffee it was a regular swap meet. Two of my Sugars for your one Butter etc. At birthdays and celebrations the mothers always chipped in to be sure the cake got baked.
Regards
-- posted by barrie
» cdrawriter - Reply to Barrie
Thanks again for the kind words. When my article on food rationing first appeared in Michigan History Magazine, it was accompanied by scads of remembrances from many of our readers, who talked about everything from eating SPAM to trying to run a successful restaurant in a college town and deal with rationing at the same time!I'll be posting Part II of World War II rationing shortly and more rationing recipes. I'll be talking about victory gardens, home canning and what some of the stores in Michigan did to attract customers despite the rationing of so many staples.
I always appreciate your comments and the fact that you generously share your memories that my stories seem to spark. Thanks again.
Carey Draeger
-- posted by cdrawriter
» BrigadoonDays - WW II Spice Cake
Thank you so much for preserving this recipe!I have fond memories of helping my grandmother make this cake as a child in the 1940's. Mom was one of those cooks who never wrote anything down, and when times got better she was able to fill the holidays with a variety of pies and cakes. Still, on request she would occasionally reach back into her memory and make the cake whose batter two generations delighted in scraping from the pot. It never occurred to me to copy down the ingredients, or watch closely what she was doing, until on one visit when I'd asked her to make it, she could not recall all the ingredients.
Age and failing memory deprived her of all but the simplest cooking, and when she passed away ten years ago at the age of 92, one of my sorrows was thinking that this great family memory would not be carried on.
Just as I booted up this morning, the TV was featuring holiday desserts, and despite all the georgeous cakes and pies they showed, the one I thought of was Mom's raisin spice cake. I hit the search engines with all kinds of names, finally recalling that I'd seen a reference to it in a story about the hardships of cooking during World War II. I was reminded, for instance, of the "privilege" of squeezing the margarine packet to distribute the yellow coloring, and the the ration coupons that I scribbled on with no idea of their value!
So, again, thank you for this special gift this Holiday Season. It will not be lost to this family again!
-- posted by BrigadoonDays
Please follow the guidelines set forth in the Suite101 Posting Etiquette when adding to the discussion.