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In 1943-44 I was nine years old and a pupil at Raglan Road Elementary School in London N9. Because my widowed father was away in the army I lived with an aunt and uncle who kept a small, busy General Store and Newsagents shop in Bury St Edmundton.

Every 2oz of butter or tin of spam had to be marked off in the ration book of the customers who had registered at the shop; but sweets were a different matter. Each 2oz, or whatever fraction of the ration that was purchased involved the snipping out and saving of a tiny coupon (no more than a square centimetre in today’s measures).

On Sunday afternoons I was allowed to help in the counting of these tiny scraps of paper — for without them no fresh stock for the shop could be obtained. Each tiny oblong represented perhaps more pear drops or nut brittle toffee. The latter came in square sheets which had to be broken up with a little hammer before they could be sold. Very few customers bought a whole months sweet ration at once. Most rationed themselves to two or four ounces at a time and so made more work for us in the counting and recording.

This story was submitted to the People's War Website by T Bowdrey of CSV Action Desk on behalf of Ann Beams, and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site terms and conditions.

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