Rationing of certain foods was introduced in 1918 close to the end of World
War One, after German submarines had succeeded in sinking ships carrying imports
into Britain.
However, neither of my parents ever mentioned any sort of rationing in their
childhood, and my mother in her extensive recollections of life in that period
wrote nothing about it either So I cannot imagine that it affected ordinary
people very much, probably because it was in operation for such a short time.
This page is in response to finding my father's old ration card while going
through his papers. I describe and it below, with a scan.
The card is of a rather dreary non-descript colour with an elaborate background
pattern which was presumably intended to make it difficult to forge. It is printed
on one side only.
The card appears to have been printed for the immediate purposes of
rationing meat, butter and sugar, but there are also spaces for other commodities
to be added at a later stage. Individuals were apparently required to register
with a retailer for these three items, who rubber stamped the registration.
Unfortunately the stamps have become too blurred over the years to be legible,
but the word Silver can just be made out inside the butcher's stamp. So presumably
my grandmother registered my father with a butcher in
Silver Street,
Edmonton.
The issuing office was in Fore Street, Edmonton, but I cannot make out the number,
and it was issued according to Rationing Order 1918.
Presumably the ration cards were issued road by road, because my grandparents' address
of 3 Warwick Road shows a rubber stamp for the road name, with the number 3
inserted by hand.
Although the card is clearly in my father's name, Leonard Clarke, it was
never signed by either of his parents. (He was only 11 years old at the time.)
In fact it gives the impression of having never been used.
The card bears the instructions:
To register for MEAT, BUTTER and SUGAR, fill up the counterfoils
A B and C on the lower half of card, and give them to any Retailers you choose.
The Retailers must write or stamp their names and addresses on these spaces.
You will not be able to change your Retailer again without consent of the Food
Office.
