´óÏó´«Ã½

This memory has been submitted to the People’s War site by Maddy Rhodes a volunteer with Radio Suffolk on behalf of Doris Turner and Vera Allen and has been added to the site with their permission. They fully understand the site’s terms and conditions.

WHAT ARE YOU QUEUEING FOR?

During the war if you saw a queue you joined it.

We went to M&S in Peterborough once and joined a queue. That’s how I got my first pair of nylons. They were really stiff, and quite thick.

During the war you could get something called ‘Ration Chocolate’. If the rumour went round the office that the local shop had some, the office emptied in no time!

I remember joining a queue for sausages once. When we cooked them they were so disappointing – all bread and vegetable.

When I was setting up home, we had dockets for utility furniture. You could have sheets or curtains, not both. We were able to get dining room chairs and a table and a sideboard. We got a bed, but no other bedroom furniture. You had to choose what was most important. The utility furniture was quite good – it lasted for ages, in the end we got fed up with it. It was stamped with two letter C’s.

There was plenty to be bought on the black market if you had the money.

If you didn’t want what you’d queued for you could always find someone who did!

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.