大象传媒

"This story was submitted to the People's War site by CSV/大象传媒 Radio Nottingham on behalf of Barbara Hardy with her permission. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions."

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF THE FORTIES

(Born 1936, and a child of 3 - 9 during the Second World War)

You might think a banana's a banana,
That really isn't true for me,
This fruit was once a rare luxury,
Never in the shop for you to see.

Occasionally the greengrocer had the odd bunch,
You had to run with the green ration book,
Leap in the queue with hope in your heart,
Adults didn't get even a look.

The tea you drank was very weak,
Only a few leaves in the pot,
Your quarter pound ration had to last all the week,
Never mind, at least the water was hot.

Sweetened drinks were just a mere dream:
Sugar was a thing of the past,
Oh how we missedthose paper bags of blue,
How long was that war going to last?

Sweets and chocolate were no more,
Well, it saved our teeth from going bad,
In the forties we expected so many cuts
because of the war that we had.

When these commodities returned on the shelves,
Children munched chocolate and drank fizzy pop,
A bananais something special no more,
And supermarkets replace the Old Corner Shoppe.

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