Based on experiences in Edgware, north London in the 1940s
In the shortages of the Second World War, there was no way to buy what
might be regarded as 'nice clothes'. Quite apart from the fact that money
was so short, clothes were rationed and could only be bought from shops
on a point system. This page is about how people coped legally, rather than
through the illegal 'black
market'.
Buying 'utility' clothes
The 'utility' mark, stamped on basic, functional
goods made during the war.
The clothes that were available in the shops were basic and functional
because all non-essential resources had to go into the war effort. These
clothes, like most other things produced in the war bore a mark that was
called 'the utility mark'. I grew up with it all around me, as even though
we 'made do and mended' various items really did wear out and have to be
replaced. Furthermore, utility goods never seemed to wear out and could
still give good service many years afterwards, in better times, had we chosen
still to use them.
Passing on outgrown clothes
In view of the shortages of nice clothes and the severity of clothes
rationing, there was no stigma in giving and receiving outgrown clothes.
I remember some particularly expensive-looking dresses in two sizes which
had been bought for a neighbour's two girls before the war, and which served
me well for several years. As I grew out of one size, the next size up was
ready and waiting. Families too provided cast-offs, which were in relatively
good supply while I was young because they had been bought before the war
started, ie before there was rationing. Children born towards the end of
the war and in the years of austerity afterwards were less fortunate because
outgrown clothes had already received wear from several children.
Making clothes
Women made a lot of their family's clothes. Although fabric was rationed
and relatively basic (with the utility mark stamped on the edge), making
clothes was cheaper than buying and the style was one's own choice.
Women also did a lot of knitting,
and girl-children were also taught to do it from an early age, as was I.
Life was still very sexist at that time, and it would have been unthinkable
for a boy to knit.
Gifts from American soldiers
Living as I did in Edgware, I never saw an American soldier during the
war, but I knew that they were regarded as having no shortages at all. (This
still puzzles me, as presumably the merchant seamen who brought their luxuries
were risking their lives to do so. Or perhaps the goods were flown in.)
My cousin did see American soldiers and got
chewing gum from them.
Young British women who befriended American soldiers would get gifts
from them like nylon stockings, which were simply unavailable in our British
shops. Young women who were not so fortunate would often stain their legs
and paint a seam along the back.
Bartering
Peter Johnson, a child at the time, remembers:
Although selling rationed things for money was classed as
Black Market for
which there could be a prison sentence, swopping was legal. So bartering
came into its own in this time of rationing and shortages. People would
swap things, most shops had postcards in their windows saying things
like:
Swap two rabbits for a wedding dress.
Babies cot swap for men's trousers.
This website Join me in the 1900s is also known as
Join me in the 1900's and is © Pat
Cryer.
The 1940s and 1950s are also written as the 1940's and
1950's.
