From: Pamela Lazarus (pamela39@optonline.net)
Date: Thu Oct 23 2003 - 19:37:38 PDT
Hi, Matt: Can't really tell you a lot - after all, I was just a kid, and it was my mother who had to deal with the rationing.... but just a couple of anecdotes. Remember - there was no refrigeration in people's homes then, (nor such things as saran wrap or tin foil) and as is still the case in most of Europe, people would buy daily what they needed. But some things were bought larger than for a day, and would sit and age..... Cheddar cheese is British. (I didn't know there was any other kind until I came to America!). A block would be purchased.... and it would age, and get harder and drier each day. Fresh vegetables and fruit were in short supply. One day, toward the end of the life of the cheese, when it was hard and dry and almost tasteless, mother couldn't stand that this was all that we had to eat. So she waited until it was dark, then stole out into the garden; she tiptoed quietly, squeezed through the neighbor's fence, and stole an onion from their veggie patch. She snuck back inside, and with great, great pleasure sliced it - and ate it with the cheese. And a cup of tea. Tea. The drink of sharing joy, sadness, alleviating tiredness, beginning and ending the day....Tea leaves were used, saved, and used again. And maybe, even again. Ever weaker, but..... Clothes: I had a plaid skirt to wear to school, with a white blouse. Year 1: it had straps that went over my shoulders, X'd at the back, and buttoned at my waist, with the hem falling below my knees. Year 2: it had straps that went over my shoulders and buttoned at the back at my waist, falling to my knees. Year 3: the hem was let down; the straps were attached at the front with safety pins to the very edge of the fabric, and it was went over my shoulders to the waist, falling above the knees. Shame is what was felt at wearing this outfit. My brother started school 3 years after me.... and he was dressed in my winter coat and wooly hat. Shame is what he felt at having to wear this outfit. Friday night is chicken for dinner. Rationing: 1/2 of one chicken ---- Friday - have the soup with a potato and carrots in it; Saturday: 1/2 chicken for parents and children. youngest child (my brother - gets the wing; Father gets the drumstick and thigh; Mother gets the breast; I get.... I don't remember... pieces. What does this do to the family, you ask? Well, if one did not eat everything on the plate - then the parents were quite upset, because how could one be so insensitive as to waste what was so hard come-by. Then again, if one asked for more - the parents were upset because it was an indictment of their ability to provide. And simply not liking something was absolutely not allowed. Be disgusted if you must, but swallow it! A very narrow, cautious road to navigate! Company comes.... a package of Peak Frean biscuits is opened, and they are spread out on a small plate. "F.L.O." is the code. (Family Lay Off!) They are only to be had by the company. IF there are any left after company leaves, then we may have one. 1952. Dad took a bus 45 minutes to a Jewish neighborhood where he knew he could buy cheesecake (not a gentile, English kind of pastry available in our gentile, English neighborhood). He bought one wedge shaped slice and took the bus 45 minutes back to our house. It was placed ceremoniously on the table; we all sat around the table and waited breathlessly. Mother sliced the wedge into four thinner slices. One for each of us. My brother and I took a forkful of the cake and put it in our mouths. Yuck! It's so goooey! So sticky! We don't like it. Riot! Rage! Hurt! Bedlam! Uproar! "How dare you waste that mouthful? Do you know how much that cost????? A fortune!!!! Go to bed! At once!" 1954, June, emigrated to Montreal, Canada. Met by Uncle & Aunt and taken to their apartment, where a spread of bagels, cheese, lox, cakes, pies (and, of course, tea) is waiting. We had never seen so much food on one table at one time! It was a banquet! A Feast! We ate and ate - and had to fight for entrance to the bathroom to vomit. Our stomachs could not handle such rich foods...... stuff we now eat for breakfast without a second thought. Oh, enough.... I don't want to remember any more! Good luck, Matt! Pamela ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Rent DVDs Online - Over 14,500 titles. No Late Fees & Free Shipping. Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/Tq9otC/XP.FAA/3jkFAA/r1FolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: timewitnesses-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/