大象传媒

All clothing and food were rationed during the war and for sometime afterwards. We were issued with ration books so had to be careful not to spend all the coupons at once. People would queue for hours for two or three bananas or oranges and if the word went round that the butcher was about to sell sausages a queue would form before the shop opened.

The Americans sent over Spam. We had never heard of it before but it was Spam Fritters, cold Spam, fried Spam with powdered egg (very few fresh eggs). Eventually we got to like it. The meat ration was 4oz per person per week so occasionally my mother would save part of the ration for several weeks so that we could have a small joint for Sunday dinner. The butter ration was 2oz per person per week just enough for 2 slices of bread - we saved that for Sunday night tea.

Nylon stockings were a real luxury. They could be bought on the black market and silk stockings were very scarce. The chemist shops sold 'stocking lotion' (rather like instant tan) which was rubbed on the legs to resemble stockings. Some girls would draw a seam line from the heel to the back of the knee with a special pencil, stockings then had a seam at the back. I only tried it once but as I couldn't draw a straight line I gave up! More often than not we went without stockings even during the winter which wasn't very pleasant as my knees and feet were frozen. When it rained the stocking lotion would run so I finished up with streaky legs. Women in those days were not allowed to wear trousers to work. They would have been much warmer.

Darning wool and coloured embroidery wool were not rationed so I bought lots and lots of skeins to knit a sweater. I was very proud of the result even though it looked rather like Joseph's technicolour dreamcoat. It was quite warm, there were so many joins in the wool which gave extra thickness. I also made myself a winter coat from a grey blanket. It must have been a success because later I sold it to a friend. She eventually married an American soldier and took the coat with her when she went to the USA. I ofter wonder what the Americans thought of that coat!

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