WW1 rationing

Rationing was introduced towards the end of World War One, it became compulsory in February 1918. At the beginning of the war people began to panic buy fearing there would be good shortages, however calmed down quickly and the issue of food wasn't brought up again until much later in the war.

Rationing was introduced by the government when British ships carrying food began to get sunk by German u boats ( submarines). It meant that the government had to look for alternative sources of food and so came about the ideas of 'grow your own' and 'eat less'.

'Grow your own' was mainly seen in WW2 however was used to an extent in WW1. It encouraged women and children to plant their own vegetables and was a peice of propaganda that presented this in a 'fun' and 'positive' light. 'Eat less' was more commonly used. It was again a piece of propaganda however this time suggested the public cut down on what they were eating. One of the most famous prices of it is 'eat less bread'.

Ration lines were found in local shops and varied  in length throughout the day depending on what was available and where. Each member of the public was given a ration book in which held the amounts of each product they were allowed. They were a very frustrating place to be. Meat ration lines were proberly the most hectic as they didn't determine the type of meat you would receive and it would all depend on what was avalible when you got there.

 

Rationing is primarily seen as a negative thing however it did hugely improve the diet of people all around the country.

All this information is useful to us in our rationing piece as it allows us to acurately display on our faces how the people would have been feeling and what actions they may have been performing. One of the most key bits of information is that it was introuced at the end of the war as from this we know that the excitement of war would have worn off and people would instead be praying for it to end.