Name/TitleReplica: War-Time Cookery
About this objectReplica of an original pamphlet titled 'War-Time Cookery To Save Fuel and Food Value ~ Issued in the National Food Campaign Exhibition 1940'. Contains war-time cookery tips and recipes for meat dishes; meat substitutes, vegetables and soups; and puddings and sweet dishes.
Fully digitised (14 pages)
MakerNational Food Campaign
MakerThe Memorabilia Pack Co.
Date Made1940
PeriodSecond World War
Place MadeEngland, Manchester
Place MadeScotland, Edinburgh
Place NotesThe Memorabilia Pack Co., 16 Forth Street, Edinburgh EH1 3LH
Medium and MaterialsOrganic, paper
MeasurementsH: 145 x W: 98 mm
Subject and Association Keywordswar & conflict
Subject and Association KeywordsSecond World War
Subject and Association Keywordsfood & drink
Subject and Association Descriptionhttps://2ndww.blogspot.com/2013/08/wartime-cookery-book-1940.html:
On 3 April 1940 the former managing director of the Lewis store chain, Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton (1883 - 1964), was appointed Minister of Food, replacing William Morrison. This appointment was made when Neville Chamberlain was Prime Minister and he remained in this role until 1943, serving under Winston Churchill from May 1940. One of the primary aims of Lord Woolton as Minister of Food was to ensure that, despite wartime rationing, there remained ample nutrition for all. Booklets such as the one seen above were part of the campaign supporting this aim. A simpler, but nutritionally adequate, diet was called for such as eating bread, potatoes, vegetable oils, animal fats and milk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_Food:
The Minister of Food Control (1916–1921) and the Minister of Food (1939–1958) were British government ministerial posts separated from that of the Minister of Agriculture. In the Great War the Ministry sponsored a network of canteens known as National Kitchens. In the Second World War a major task of the Ministry was to oversee rationing in the United Kingdom arising out of World War II. ... The ministry's work was transferred in 1921 to the Board of Trade which had a small Food Department between the wars. This became its Food (Defence Plans) Department in 1937 and was then constituted as the Ministry of Food on the outbreak of war in 1939.
In April 1940 Lord Woolton, a prominent businessman, was appointed Minister of Food by Neville Chamberlain, one of a number of ministerial appointments from outside politics. Woolton retained this position until 1943. He supervised 50,000 employees and over a thousand local offices where people could obtain ration cards. His ministry had a virtual monopoly of all food sold in Britain, whether imported or local. His mission was to guarantee adequate nutrition for everyone. With food supplies cut sharply because of enemy action and the needs of the services, rationing was essential. Woolton and his advisors had one scheme in mind but economists convinced them to try point rationing. Everyone would have a certain number of points a month that they could allocate any way they wanted. They tried an experiment and it worked very well. Indeed, food rationing was a major success story in Britain's war.
Woolton kept food prices down; eggs and other items were subsidised. He promoted recipes that worked well with the rationing system, most famously the meatless "Woolton pie" which consisted of carrots, parsnips, potatoes and turnips in oatmeal, with a pastry or potato crust and served with brown gravy. Woolton's business skills made the Ministry of Food's difficult job a success and he earned a strong personal popularity despite the shortages.
Object TypeBooklet
Object numberGWL-2017-36
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved