Victory Day For Housewives

Fourteen years of food rationing came to an end in Britain on 4th July, 1954, when restrictions on the sale and purchase of meat and bacon were lifted. Members of the London Housewives’ Association held a special ceremony in London’s Trafalgar Square to mark Derationing Day. Meanwhile, The Minister of Fuel and Power, Geoffrey Lloyd, burned a large replica of a ration book.

Rationing had been introduced due to difficulties importing food to Britain by boat during the war, but also affected the supply of clothes, furniture and fuel. During the war, the Ministry of Food urged the British people to grow their own veg to play their part in defeating the Germans.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the merits of a ‘mock’ fish and chips recipe; examine how the Conservatives used this ‘Victory Day for Housewives’ to score a political point of the previous Labour government; and reveal how to avoid ‘Humble Pie with Hitler’... 

Further Reading:

• ‘Food Rationing In WW2: When Did It Begin & End, & How Did People Cook?’ (HistoryExtra, 2021): https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/when-food-rationing-begin-end-ww2/

• ‘The wartime recipes that kept Britain going in the Second World War’ (Country Life, 2017): https://www.countrylife.co.uk/food-drink/victory-in-the-kitchen-easy-wartime-recipes-to-try-149921

• ‘Rationing Recipes from the Second World War - Potato Wrapped Sardines’ (Imperial War Museums, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNWCrYqGVkE&t

#WW2 #Food #UK #50s

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

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