Make It Do or Do Without: 1940s Ration Recipes - Retro Housewife Goes Green (2024)

FAQs

What food was rationed in the 1940s? ›

A typical weekly ration per person, when at its lowest level, was butter 4oz; bacon and ham 4oz; loose tea 4oz; sugar 8oz; meat one shilling-worth; cheese 1oz; preserves 8oz a month. By 1942, most foods were rationed except vegetables, bread, and fish.

The creativity that blossomed during the Great Depression carried on into the 1940s, as wartime rations necessitated substitutes and ingredient-stretching techniques — eggs and vegetables made popular replacements for meat, while meat-stretching recipes such as meatloaf and tomato-based soups became commonplace in the ...

Supplies such as gasoline, butter, sugar and canned milk were rationed because they needed to be diverted to the war effort. War also disrupted trade, limiting the availability of some goods.

Rationing involved setting limits on purchasing certain high-demand items. The government issued a number of “points” to each person, even babies, which had to be turned in along with money to purchase goods made with restricted items.

Typical main dishes might have been a hamburger, tuna fish, chicken casserole, dried chipped beef in cream gravy over toast, fried chicken, mac and cheese, Spam, canned ham, spareribs, hot dogs wrapped in Bisquick, hot dogs with barbecue sauce, liver and onions or various bean dishes.

Homemade lye soap was put in the bottom of the dish pan. Hot water from the teakettle was poured directly on the soap to make suds. Cold water dipped from the water bucket was added to the dish water to make a comfortable temperature for the hands. Some women had a metal utensil to hold the soap.

In the 1940s, the number of food groups expanded to 7 through “The Basic 7” (green and yellow vegetables; oranges, tomatoes, and grapefruit; potatoes and other vegetables and fruit; milk and milk products; meat, poultry, fish, or eggs; bread, flour, and cereals; and butter and fortified margarine) (10).

McDonald's, Established in 1940, San Bernardino

Started in 1940 by brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald––and later owned by Ray Kroc, famously––the restaurant established the red-and-white tile burger-joint look that California popularized.

Food rationing was introduced in January 1940. Everybody was issued with a ration book. This contained coupons that had to be handed in to the shops every time rationed food was bought. As well as the basic ration everybody had 16 coupons each month that they could spend on what they wished.

How bad was rationing in WWII? ›

Coping With Rations

Each person was allotted 33 pounds of canned food, about 28% less than normal consumption. Similarly, people had to make do with 28 ounces of meat a week.

Rationing remained in effect until the early 1950s. Meat was the last item to be derationed and rationing ended completely in 1954, nine years after the war ended. The UK was the last country involved in the war to stop rationing food.

Meals Ready-To-Eat (MRE)

The obvious question when you're talking about food is "How does it taste?" An MRE basically tastes like any sort of food out of a can does. For example, if you have had Chef Boy-R-Dee spaghetti out of a can, that is about what the MRE version of spaghetti in meat sauce tastes like.

A ration is the fixed portion of food or other goods allowed to each person in times of shortages. In the military, a soldier's meal is called a ration, especially if it's portable. As a verb, to ration something is to allow each person to have only a specific amount.

Rationed Foods. The categories of rationed foods during the war were sugar, coffee, processed foods (canned, frozen, etc.), meats and canned fish, and cheese, canned milk, and fats.

Meat was the first thing to be rationed in March 1940, and more items were added to the list as the war progressed. People were strongly encouraged to grow their own fruit and vegetables, as made famous by the 'Grow Your Own' and 'Dig for Victory' campaigns, and keep livestock like chickens.

Food rationing

When World War II began in September 1939, petrol was the first commodity to be controlled. On 8 January 1940, bacon, butter, and sugar were rationed. Meat, tea, jam, biscuits, breakfast cereals, cheese, eggs, lard, milk, canned and dried fruit were rationed subsequently, though not all at once.

In 1945 the war ended but rationing continued. Because of poor weather conditions, bread was rationed until 1948 and potatoes were also in short supply. Some food was not restricted at all e.g. whale meat but, not surprisingly, this never proved popular with British people!