General Chat

I think the trick was to get someone to draw the line on for you - lol


Jac

We had parcels sent from America from a family named Howlett. I remember getting some floating soap my sister and I were fascinated with it and believe it or not I still have a tin of dried egg (un opened) which goes to school every year when the kids are doing WW2. Elaine.

I've recently bought a book called 'Make Do And Mend'.It contains 'reproductions of official second world war instruction leaflets'.

It's full of useful (!) advice about getting the most wear out of clothing and household linen...Some of it's quite bizarre! I can't imagine how some of their ideas worked.

Sandra.
xxx

I was born towards the end of the war but recall everything being on ration and gradually foods and clothing coming free to buy but not till I was old enough to shop. We lived in a village and apparently we could generally get most foods even meat from our local farmer and the others by sharing. There was the story of the American servicemen that shot the sheep in our farmers field when they were bored due to their train breaking down and being stuck outside our village. Mum said we did all right for lamb for quite some time.
She worked at the village bakery so a little bit of white bread was around for sunday tea. She said it was not allowed for her to have white bread so when our village policeman called one Sunday evening she had to quickly hide the bread under the table.
We swopped our tea ration for a friends butter ration for years after the war ended as I remember going with the little packages to the post office. We lived in the Midlands and the friend in London!
Pickled eggs in the pantry can anyone remember them? I must have been about 4 years old and can remember putting my hand into this large ceramic pot and lifting out the egg.We had chickens at the end of the garden in fact we even had our own duck.

If you kept a Pig you were allowed The head, the trotters and tail and you were allowed a leg, the rest went to the Ministry of Food.
Our neighbour kept Pigs and Christmas 1943 he gave us the head to roast, delicious, we picked at it for 2 weeks
Christmas 1944 was the first time I tasted Chicken when the same neighbour killed two hens that had stopped laying, he had one to go with his leg of pork and we got the other.
we used to eat Tripe, Hearts, Liver and Kidneys (when we could get them) but I lived on American dried egg and baked beans, there was always some Spam or Corned beef to be had.
My Mum used to save up any Sultanas & Raisins to make a cake at Christmas, I used to go to the cupboard and steal about 2 from time to time
We had a small garden but it was surprising how much we could get from it, every square inch was devoted to eatables and not a flower in sight
In season I used to go out and collect anything that was eatable from the Parks and along the banks of the River Thames, Chestnuts, Beechnuts, Cobnuts, Blackberrys, rose hips, Horseradish, Dandelions, Crab apples, Elderberries and Mulberries etc
Although you could get Fish I used to fish in The Thames for Eels in spite of the river being so polluted that nothing else would live in it, we had to keep them in fresh water and feed them with a few breadcrumbs for a few days to purge them of anything nasty before we ate them

Hard times, but in spite of the bombs dropping all around us, they were exciting and happy days for a young boy, I was a latch-key kid, only there wasn't a key the back door to the house was never locked.
Mum worked for Pickfords assembling Army lorries from 8am to 6pm and Dad worked for the Council and was an Air Raid Warden

Memories, they were hard days but I am proud that I lived through it, I was bombed out of School twice, once when I was in it and I nearly "copped it" when I was caught out in an air raid by a "doodlebug"

Doodlebugs you didn't mind so much, you could hear them coming and when the engine stopped you dived for cover, the bad ones were the V2's you didn't hear them coming, If you heard the bang you were still alive, We had about 150 Doodelbugs in a 4 mile radius and 9 V2's

Mac.



Mac

I find this thread fascinating, and really important in regard to our common interests - i.e. the past and what we know of it.

Keep it up.

Jac

From what I have posted this week

Do you think I should write a book ???????

Mac

Why not Mac?

interesting it will be!

nite now!

Posting bits and pieces on some of the threads started me off collecting them for future generations Mac....and the war stories are always good to read...so why not?

Susan
x

I have written quite a bit for my two Grandchildren to be given to them when they reach an age that it will interest them

Mac

I have just read this all through it would be good to record it all every ones stories .my mum can still pass on a few they got a lot of stuff like nylons and chocolate from the americans also .she still undoes ribbon and string wrapping paper carefully .we have become too extravigant.My dad made furniture from old orange boxes and recycled timber for years .

What a fascinating thread, I was born during the war so don't remember it. My mum said they used to stain their legs with gravy browning and draw a line up the back for seams. Her wedding dress was made out of parachute silk, and all the neighbours used to contribute ingredients if a celebraton cake was needed.They grew their own vegetables and used to swap for something the neighbour grew that you didn't. One day the greengrocer in the village had one banana, he hung it in the window and all the mothers took their children to see this marvelous thing called a banana. The string bit still went on with my mum into her seventies, she couldn't bear to throw any away.
Mac, you would be a natural to write a book about growing up in the war.

Caz xx

well, my Dr,. has me on a diet for "high cholesteral", I call it the ration book diet....lol

I hope this thread keeps going we could av a street party on line !!!! or off line it would be more like a global party

what a really interesting thread, thank you to everyone for their memories and stories, i really enjoyed reading them

Does anyone remember (Lord) Woolton pie?
Was it recommended three? inches of water in your bath.?
And the wonderful radio programmes.

Happy days

Aint that old what was the pie made of? My dad was as stubborn as a muel when they ran out of something at a weekend he would not shop until the right day his words were we managed in the war we can manage now.that was basics like milk flour etc

Woolton pie was woman,s work, not for urchins. he was minister of food during the war and he used to come on the wireless each week giving tips on how saving food could help win the war.
Happy days

Bit like the tips I passed on to my student daughter at the end of term

Woolton pie
potatoes,cauli,swede,carrots,turnips,rolled oats or oatmeal, spring onions topped with potato pastry or mash and grated cheeses.
extracted from fore mentioned book.

Krystyna