5 days of eating a WW2 ration diet...and here’s what happened...

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  • čas přidán 22. 10. 2018
  • Instagram: gracebooth97
    Well that was fascinating. Sorry the video was a bit longer, there was just so much to fit in. and YES, obviously this isn't 100% accurate because the circumstances are now very different in terms of even fridges, microwaves, cling film/tin foil etc
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Komentáře • 1,1K

  • @SweetPerfectionnn
    @SweetPerfectionnn Před 5 lety +2267

    I've finally found it... The video that perfectly intersects all of my weird youtube niches

    • @MrsG_19
      @MrsG_19 Před 5 lety +7

      Same!!!! 😁

    • @NothingToNoOneInParticular
      @NothingToNoOneInParticular Před 5 lety +45

      Watch "Wartime Farm" gives you an idea of what is was like. "1940's house" is on YT in 4 parts as well. I love history like the Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, Tales from the Green Valley, Tudor Monastery Farm, the 1940's house. It's interesting "reality tv." These are on CZcams. Enjoy

    • @sophiaschier-hanson4163
      @sophiaschier-hanson4163 Před 5 lety +2

      Mine too!

    • @ragarast
      @ragarast Před 5 lety +5

      Can we be friends.

    • @SkysongOfSerenity
      @SkysongOfSerenity Před 5 lety +3

      @@NothingToNoOneInParticular Love those series! Wish they made more!

  • @user-hj3sj2bc1r
    @user-hj3sj2bc1r Před 5 lety +1735

    This is so interesting! My grandma grew up in Scotland during WWII and she said she used to think that heaven was a place where you could eat an unlimited amount of peaches.

    • @gardenvarietyvegan4096
      @gardenvarietyvegan4096 Před 5 lety +43

      Green 1998 That is so sweet 💕

    • @HopeGardner3amed
      @HopeGardner3amed Před 5 lety +14

      Missouri in the summertime then

    • @ladybugpoet2247
      @ladybugpoet2247 Před 5 lety +94

      Green 1998 my grandma was in Scotland as-well! She said one time she got a peach for Christmas and thought her parents were the richest people ever. 😂

    • @katrinepetersen2566
      @katrinepetersen2566 Před 5 lety +20

      Green 1998 I know a fella who went to Afghanistan in 2008. The Afghan truck driver had asked if They could show some pictures of Denmark to his children, because he wanted to educate Them about Life in other countries.
      Afterwards, one of the kids Said: ‘now I know what heaven must look like.’ The soldiers assumed he was talking about the picture of the forest, the Beach or Perhaps even the castle.
      He was talking about the supermarket... He was not starving, but Afghan markers Are not clean Lines of food upon food, but rather a few Random items laying in a basket next to some goat dung.

    • @MelissaThompson432
      @MelissaThompson432 Před 5 lety +4

      I agree. All the peaches.

  • @HM-yv9xk
    @HM-yv9xk Před 5 lety +799

    As a historian I'd say you were incredibly accurate with a lot of your foods and mentality too.

  • @marihus
    @marihus Před 5 lety +1841

    Fun fact: the amount of food wasted in the US alone is enough to end world starvation

    • @TraceUK
      @TraceUK Před 5 lety +16

      Mari OMG

    • @kheventplanner
      @kheventplanner Před 5 lety +12

      I believe it!

    • @kelseyl711
      @kelseyl711 Před 5 lety +24

      I believe it I’ve worked in grocery stores and fast food it’s so much it hurts my heart

    • @jasminetennis9855
      @jasminetennis9855 Před 5 lety +60

      Fun fact: A lot of superstores and restraunts would give out leftovers but had to stop because of law suits since one person would get food poisoning. (This isnt to lighten the situation but some places do try and someone ruins it for everyone)

    • @layneraconteuse934
      @layneraconteuse934 Před 5 lety +7

      @@jasminetennis9855 Fortunately, food groups are able to buy up near-expired things to hand out to savvy consumers. My family is in one.

  • @AimeeLouiseFit
    @AimeeLouiseFit Před 5 lety +1277

    I won't lie that ration bread looks actually nice

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety +83

      was LUSH

    • @onemercilessming1342
      @onemercilessming1342 Před 5 lety +27

      Aimee Louise Fit--Doesn't it? I saw an artisan bread for sale in my local chain supermarket that looked quite similar at--brace yourself--just under US $6.00 a loaf. OUCH.

    • @joannehunt3729
      @joannehunt3729 Před 5 lety +12

      The lard was much better quality I would think as it wasn't refined, did I miss the bacon, better watch it again, throughly enjoyed, we eat too big a portion now,just because we can,I think more veg was used as allotments were very productive

    • @janinecorwin9414
      @janinecorwin9414 Před 5 lety +18

      @@Grackle the thing was, that in the '40's people were eating predominantly white bread, so it came as somewhat of a shock to be eating brown bread. Interestingly, they soldiers were still being fed white bread.

    • @lesleyvivien2876
      @lesleyvivien2876 Před 5 lety +6

      @@janinecorwin9414 - I read somewhere that most of the fresh eggs went to soldiers too. Clearly not all!

  • @melaniesmith768
    @melaniesmith768 Před 5 lety +395

    They definitely had golden syrup! the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) used to make biscuits from their rations which had golden syrup in them. We still make them every year for ANZAC day, they're delicious!

    • @TheBeetress
      @TheBeetress Před 5 lety +9

      But it may of been rationed or not available at all in the uk during that time.

    • @sarahgillson4352
      @sarahgillson4352 Před 5 lety +45

      they had golden syrup in the uk and was a staple of ww2 recipes according to their own website. The factory was bombed 62 times and they still continued production seeing increased sales.

    • @ashleymomma6198
      @ashleymomma6198 Před 5 lety +26

      Anzac biscuits are the best! My family loves them

    • @Hugin-N-Munin
      @Hugin-N-Munin Před 5 lety +7

      @@ashleymomma6198 do you prefer your ANZACs chewy or crispy, that IS the question

    • @garyfoale3707
      @garyfoale3707 Před 5 lety +4

      Bethany DEAN the ingredients for ANZAC biccies were fairly easily sourced despite rationing, which was a bonus.

  • @onemercilessming1342
    @onemercilessming1342 Před 5 lety +316

    Grackle--Everyone's wartime experience during WW II was a bit different, so don't apologize for the variations in what you found in your research. For instance (and I am discounting the black market here), those with a bit of land to grow what was called in the USA a "victory garden" allowed some to preserve summer fruits and vegetables, cutting down on what ration coupons they needed to use over the course of a year. My father served in WW II, so his experience on US warships was MUCH different than my mother's, who was raised on a poultry farm. The acreage provided them with all the fruits and vegetables they would need from one harvest to the next. Even into the 1960s, my grandmother "canned down" almost all the produce we'd eat over a year (my mother's dowry--yes, she had one, as did I--included a non-productive acre of the farm where our house was built "through the hedge" from my grandparent's farmhouse). The poultry--after what was sold to markets--provided them with meat and eggs. So, they had to purchase very little. The ration coupons were a great help; they needed only things like sugar, as they also grew enough wheat, rye, maize/corn, and oats to provide grain for themselves and the poultry. This continued to be true into the late 1960s, when my grandparents grew too old to continue farming; my mother had no interest in it and my father wasn't in the bloodline, so he wasn't even considered as an inheritor; and my siblings and I were either about to enter college, or still too young to be much help. In the 1990s, I found a WW II coupon book in a local antique shop and I snapped it up for my classroom. Most of the coupons were still intact in the leather "wallet". Yes, leather. I was surprised by that. Rationing in the USA didn't continue as long as it did in Britain, and the small local grocery outlet that was one of the outlets my grandparents used to sell their poultry in continued to send tins of canned food to my mother's UK high school pen pal for quite some time after the war.

    • @nickyabrams
      @nickyabrams Před 5 lety +15

      One MercilessMing this is incredible thank you for sharing. What an amazing family history!

    • @onemercilessming1342
      @onemercilessming1342 Před 5 lety +11

      @@nickyabrams--Talk to your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, and cousins who are older than you are. Check the attic and basement for the saved letters and other documents. You'll be surprised at what an incredible family history you have as well.

    • @MrTweaver500
      @MrTweaver500 Před 4 lety +8

      Their were a few other tricks that could be played with those ration books here in the US. For instance, my mom turned 13 during the War, she didn't drink coffee, but was entitled to her ration. Grandma didn't smoke, but likewise got her ration. These were usually traded to neighbors for other coupons.
      Sometimes, they would mail things to Czech friends in the old country. You couldn't send a pack of cigarettes overseas (unless it was for US Service men) so they would take a pack or two occasionally, light each smoke, take 1 drag and put it out to send to friends.

    • @drunkvegangal8089
      @drunkvegangal8089 Před 3 lety +3

      For people not on farms, my Grandma told me that wild foods were gathered. Wild herbs, from watercress to garlic, were gathered by the kids and wives. Dandelions had many uses, from salad greens to roasting the root for tea, to wine. Herbs were also grown in window pots and 'starters' were shared with family and neighbours. Rose petals were used for cosmetics/rose water and the rosehips for tea (excellent source of vitamin C). These are just a few examples I remember her telling me. I'm certain folks found a whole lot more in the woods and wild lands.

  • @janinecorwin9414
    @janinecorwin9414 Před 5 lety +32

    Sue Perkins & Giles Coren in The Supersizers Go Wartime, Eating the '40's, talked about people in London during the war eating in community restaurants that were originally set up to feed residents and the rescue workers. At these restaurants, you paid a minimal amount and the food didn't count toward your weekly rations. Because of this, a high percentage of folks ate there. So, your lunch counts, and was totally "legal"!

  • @shannonway4935
    @shannonway4935 Před 5 lety +166

    Even if you made errors and didn’t follow what they would have to a T, you put in the effort and educated yourself. That is much more than many would do! Good on ya 👌🏼

    • @caseydykes117
      @caseydykes117 Před 5 lety

      Shannon Way amen! I definitely feel more educated and it’s definitely promoted my interest in trying some of this stuff so she’s done an awesome job!

  • @roastedcashews5957
    @roastedcashews5957 Před 5 lety +512

    This video is incredibly original! And the idea is brilliant, loved how informative it was💛

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety +12

      ahhhhhhh thanks :)

    • @Krootjes
      @Krootjes Před 5 lety +2

      Couldn't agree more!!

    • @katrinepetersen2566
      @katrinepetersen2566 Před 5 lety +2

      roasted cashews It kinda looks like Dark Rye bread. It is a type of fermented bread made from Rye and seeds. I live in Denmark and eat about 1-3 slices of This during a Day.

    • @kelvinh8327
      @kelvinh8327 Před 4 lety

      Check out the British series Supersize me.

  • @joycejudd5109
    @joycejudd5109 Před 5 lety +465

    I'm not sure about Britain, but in America, we all saved our meat drippings...bacon grease, sausage grease etc. We could whip up a tasty gravy easily with the drippings as our base. I'm enjoying this video!

    • @ikreer9777
      @ikreer9777 Před 5 lety +52

      I still save drippings for gravy.

    • @healinggrounds19
      @healinggrounds19 Před 5 lety +8

      @@ikreer9777 me too!

    • @sarahnuernberger1398
      @sarahnuernberger1398 Před 5 lety +6

      Me three

    • @walterwings2222
      @walterwings2222 Před 5 lety +36

      The meat dripping was saved and could be used as a meal of dripping on toast. The jelly that stormed under the dripping fat was a good base for a soup.

    • @joycejudd5109
      @joycejudd5109 Před 5 lety +21

      @@walterwings2222 YES!!! That jelly!!! I frequently purchased "ends" of bacon - greatly reduced in price to pretty bacon! - and I put them in my crockpot on low for a few hours, stirring occasionally. When I pour off the liquid, I put it into a canning jar, and the fat turn solid white at the top, and at the very bottom, there's about 1/4" of jelly. This is the BEST flavoring for beans, for soups and stews and I love it!

  • @lucyclarke3440
    @lucyclarke3440 Před 5 lety +56

    the bread's gonna keep you fuller for longer because it hasn't got the 'filler' that commercial breads have, and it's heavier too

    • @raibeart1955
      @raibeart1955 Před 4 lety +1

      Lucy Clarke Hi, Modern day bread has the opposite of filler. It is made by the Chorley Wood Method which is dough with air pumped into it to enlarge it to make it rise and cook faster.

  • @allanmacbadger5692
    @allanmacbadger5692 Před 4 lety +6

    Its been very interesting watching your 1950's vlog and then this one, I was born in the early 1950's and I think there is one main thing you need to be aware of as it makes a huge difference - men went to work and women were housewives. As far as I can remember all meals were home made, there was no refrigerator, no microwave, only a very basis electric or gas stove, if you were wealthier then mabe an AGA or Rayburn. The reason I mentioned the men / women situation is because the preparing and cooking of home made food took quite a but of time so it would have been pretty impossible for both men and women to work as there was not enough time in the day to do everything - remember there was no washing machines in those days so all the family washing was done by hand, and that took time as well.
    Also your food portions are far bigger than I remember, whereas we are always feeling full up today in those days we were nearly always hungry, not hungry starving, although some were in big city's, but just a feeling of hunger. Proper meat was only ever eaten on a Sunday and a chicken was a thing of fantasy and only eaten at Christmas. If we did have meat it would be cheap cuts like scrag-end, rolled shoulder and liver.
    Gravy was only ever made in the roasting tray using the left over meat juices and some flour to thicken, I don't remember anyone making gravy using Bovril, but it could have been done, it would need to be thickened or its just hot brown water.
    Its worth remembering nothing was instant in those days, it was all time consuming and hard work, that's why we were all thin and healthy.

  • @jamiecampbell2637
    @jamiecampbell2637 Před 4 lety +6

    I wouldn’t dream of coming for you, I think you did brilliantly well. It was so impressive that you carried your experiment through over 5 days. You thought about what you had, planned things, used what was available and generally made the best of things which is exactly how wartime cooking was done. I grew up in the 50s and 60s, but cooking methods and attitudes to food was still heavily influenced by the war. For example no waste, things like eggy bread or sugar toast for breakfast, and definitely no snacking. All things I tend do even now, so maybe the war diet is still around in a way. Anyhow, thank you for a fascinating video.

  • @mangocobler
    @mangocobler Před 5 lety +290

    You should drop the recipe for that bread

    • @rupaulqueen9730
      @rupaulqueen9730 Před 5 lety +9

      Anabella flour and yeast and stuff

    • @wyldlibrarian3549
      @wyldlibrarian3549 Před 4 lety +1

      @@rupaulqueen9730 what is anabella flour ? that looks so dense and dark

    • @grethebrunnee9081
      @grethebrunnee9081 Před 4 lety +6

      Wyld Librarian they were replying to anabella and didn't put a coma. they just meant flour and yeast

    • @Sally4th_
      @Sally4th_ Před 4 lety +4

      You can find the recipe online but it's basically a plain wholemeal bread (not sourdough) like you'd find in a posh artisan bakery these days! It's denser than most modern bread but very tasty and filling. Lovely with butter and honey :)

  • @debbielough7754
    @debbielough7754 Před 4 lety +6

    Golden Syrup was definitely around during the war. They changed the 'tins' from metal to cardboard because of metal shortages, but the factory was still producing 2000 'tins' per day.
    There are a couple of rationing recipes that have golden syrup in them, too.
    The key thing to remember about golden syrup and wartime - the stuff lasts for ever. It doesn't go off. And it's so sweet that you don't need that much of it.
    My Nana used it to make toffee during the war, when she was a cook.

  • @JeroenWijnands
    @JeroenWijnands Před 5 lety +173

    Considering the quality of the average British loaf and the fact it has little fiber.. I'm not surprised the war loaf keeps you fuller

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety +20

      Yeah, but even when I make a homemade loaf I never get that full up, so interesting isnt it!

    • @JeroenWijnands
      @JeroenWijnands Před 5 lety +14

      interesting.. now I want to give this a go. Which recipe did you use for your loaf? Can you share?

    • @MelissaThompson432
      @MelissaThompson432 Před 5 lety +1

      @@Grackle Grace, what kind of flour did you use?

    • @MelissaThompson432
      @MelissaThompson432 Před 5 lety +4

      National flour was drier than modern whole wheat, and the bread that people bought (as opposed to making their own) was the equivalent of day old bakery bread, only made with poorer quality wheat....

  • @zellamorrow1205
    @zellamorrow1205 Před 5 lety +59

    The fairy toast was usually made with butter as well as sugar ! My granny used to make it for us when we where little and it tastes kind of like cake with butter icing if it's on cold white toast 😊

    • @kitdubhran2968
      @kitdubhran2968 Před 5 lety +9

      Zella Morrow my mom made something similar when I was growing up. Toast butter and a mix of cinnamon and sugar. So tasty.

    • @pipmitchell7059
      @pipmitchell7059 Před 5 lety +3

      True - but she was out of butter. In American terms, the ration was half of one stick a WEEK.

    • @NOT_THE_BEETUS
      @NOT_THE_BEETUS Před 5 lety +1

      Zella Morrow what’s fairy toast? I’m not English

    • @OddlyElly
      @OddlyElly Před 5 lety +3

      In Australia we have fairy bread which is sandwich bread with butter and hundreds and thousands sprinkles :) I wonder if it was first made during wartime?

    • @tabbycat3610
      @tabbycat3610 Před 5 lety +1

      @@kitdubhran2968 omg same

  • @annholmes9650
    @annholmes9650 Před 4 lety +4

    Well done, really enjoyed your video, I am 73 next month and can remember my mum talking about rationing. In fact, I was born in 1947, I can vaguely recall having my own ration book for sweeties!

  • @DeterminedDIYer
    @DeterminedDIYer Před 2 lety +6

    For woolton pie, you can put mashed potatoes on top instead of the wheat pastry. Much tastier. Also I'm sure people ate meals at friends houses now and again, so your free lunch probably would have happened back then too. ;)

  • @1940sExperiment
    @1940sExperiment Před 2 lety +5

    Awww absolutely loved this!! I wish more people would do what you did out of curiosity, love how you really entered into the spirit of it and tracked your rations. Fabulous!!! C xxxx

  • @barbarabavier675
    @barbarabavier675 Před 4 lety +4

    This is FASCINATING to me! My parents were young marrieds during WWII (in the US -- my dad was a Marine Captain on Okinawa). I've always been obsessed with this era!

    • @AC-gb7do
      @AC-gb7do Před 4 lety

      Barbara Bavier My uncle married a Japanese woman right after WW2, he’s told me they got a LOT of stinkeye from people back home in Texas.
      He’s how I started my WW2/Japan obsession as he was stationed in Japan before the end of the war.

  • @hoser7706
    @hoser7706 Před 2 lety +2

    That dense bread looked great! You’re a great “drama queen” on camera, honest, creative and inventive. The most interesting ration vid by far. Thanks for making it. Loved it!

  • @robertlets6848
    @robertlets6848 Před 5 lety +131

    GRACE! You have so much original talent, please keep inspirinh the rest of CZcams to be as individual and creative as you are x

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety +7

      ahhhhhh stop that, such a lovely comment :) xxx

  • @citrinedragon1466
    @citrinedragon1466 Před 5 lety +10

    Rationing in UK lasted well into 1951 or so... and the rations did slowly change over time. There were a few interesting flexibilities in the system... For one, cabbage was planted everywhere because it grows fast on little soil, for another people who kept bees received a ration of sugar to feed the bees over winter and those with several chickens had a grain ration to help feed them. (My grandparents had chickens and bees, meaning they had more access to sweet things than most people, and more eggs as well, so my mother's breakfast each day included a boiled egg. All extra eggs and most of the honey were surrendered to the rationing board in their locale.) I remember my mother telling me that apart from the sugar for the bees they only used honey as a sweetener and that toast and dripping was a favourite light meal. She also said that toast brought you a choice: you could have jam, or you could have butter/margarine, but never both on the same piece of toast. The rationing of fruit also depended on whether you grew it yourself or had it as a ration item, and bananas were only given to the elderly. Cabbage was in every main meal except breakfast, and as a result when rationing ended my mother refused to ever eat cabbage again.
    You did fairly well with what you produced, but you could have added more herbs, edible weeds and explained that ALL oranges were imported. Apples, pears, berries and stone fruit were grown locally, and sometimes were not rationed at all. Meat, most dairy and baking needs were heavily rationed as were tea, coffee, alcohol and ready made confectionery. Golden syrup, treacle and molasses were rationed, though molasses was often kept exclusively for supplementing animal feeds. Carrots, potatoes, parsnips and greens were often home grown along with the cabbage, but turnips and swede were stock foods. For my mother, her milk was raw since the dairy was literally down the road, and her mother made their butter. A lot of Brits used barter to expand their range of foods, so when my grandparents had extra honey or eggs, they were exchanged with the dairy for milk or cheese. Yogurt was not a common food item there. Schools taught their students how to grow cabbages, potatoes and other non-greenhouse vegetables, and thus supplemented their own rations (for some, school lunches contained all the meat they would see in a week)

    • @NothingToNoOneInParticular
      @NothingToNoOneInParticular Před 5 lety +4

      Rationing ended in Britain in 1954.

    • @citrinedragon1466
      @citrinedragon1466 Před 5 lety +2

      NothingToNoOneInParticular ... Oh thank you for correcting me... I appreciate accuracy in historical accounts.

    • @margueritejohnson6407
      @margueritejohnson6407 Před 5 lety +1

      My mother worked in a bank in a small country town during the war. Quite often local farmers would ‘pay’ off an overdraft with produce like eggs, cheese, bacon or meat. All very ‘under the counter’!

    • @taraelizabethdensley9475
      @taraelizabethdensley9475 Před rokem

      I believe it lasted until 1954

  • @feliciak.3139
    @feliciak.3139 Před 5 lety +38

    Eggy bread is called French toast in Canada, at first I had no idea what you were talking about haha! Love this vid :)

    • @andrewsowerby5498
      @andrewsowerby5498 Před 4 lety +3

      In Northern parts of the UK especially in North Lincolnshire its called "Gypsy Toast". 😊

    • @zyoeru
      @zyoeru Před 4 lety +1

      @@andrewsowerby5498 As a Yorkshireman living in the North East I don't know how I feel about Lincolnshire being described as northern.

    • @andrewsowerby5498
      @andrewsowerby5498 Před 4 lety +5

      @@zyoeru in North Lincolnshire we are further north than South Yorkshire so I'm a northerner. Just try me. I bleed gravy 😂

    • @zyoeru
      @zyoeru Před 4 lety +1

      Oh well so you are!

    • @mrss3534
      @mrss3534 Před 4 lety +1

      It's « pain perdu », or lost bread, in France.

  • @miayana2539
    @miayana2539 Před 4 lety +1

    This was such an enjoyable video! I admire your determination to plough on even when you weren't enjoying the food. And the interactions with your Mum were a treat to watch.

  • @virginiasoskin9082
    @virginiasoskin9082 Před 4 lety +3

    My Mom has a recipe for WW2 bread. She lived thru WW2 as a young woman. I am 69, she is 99. Yikes! She can still remember rationing and we have some remains of ration books. My grandfather was a pork butcher with his own small business, so my Mom's family had a good amount of meat, not pork chops (which he sold at local markets) but his own sausage, bologna, scrapple (ingredients and flavor much like Scottish haggis), and EVERYONE had large vegetable gardens in their yards or any extra land; they plowed under the grass and planted victory gardens. Ladies in my kin would get together in late summer and bring lots of different vegetables and Mason jars and lids to one lady's kitchen. All the veggies were washed and cut up and cooked and then canned to make chow chow, a sort of pickled vegetable side dish that could be served all winter. They made pickles -- both dill and sweet -- as well. And relishes too. Everyone would go home with their jars all filled and sealed. American wives canned a lot of food. We also dried food. One good entree was dried green beans with ham and potatoes and an onion. Dried corn was another fave and I still buy John Cope's dried corn in vacuum bags and make casserole side dishes with it. Dried apples were also popular; we ate many apples during the winter and mother had all sorts of recipes for apple pies and dumplings. People also had fruit trees; in the 1950s we would collect up the fallen apples from my Grandma's five apple trees which were probably in their prime during WW2, and she would cut, core, remove brown spots and then cook, sieve and freeze applesauce. This would take sugar, but during war time homemade honey or golden syrup could have been used. After the war families got freezers and would freeze their garden produce. In the 1950s I remember shelling lima beans and peas. We had two sour cherry trees and we pitted the cherries and Mom froze them for use in winter fruit salads. I would often eat them right from the freezer box in winter -- what an icy treat full of cherry deliciousness. They also froze corn, green beans, etc. They would parboil most of the veggies, then pack them in plastic bags, and put the bags in little cardboard boxes. Into the chest freezer they'd go. She would also can pears, peaches, and make jams and jellies. We didn't have to buy canned veggies at the store until March -- our garden foods lasted all winter. Of course this was when most moms stayed home and did all this food preservation. Dad would come home from his office job, eat dinner and then work in the garden til nightfall, plowing, planting, weeding, watering when needed, and finally harvesting. We three kids helped with all this too. Thus we learned a LOT about growing food and fruit, and how to preserve it. Who needed video games? With all this activity plus school and play, we were busy and slept very well because we were bone tired by the end of the day, but in the best way possible!

  • @mimblewimble12
    @mimblewimble12 Před 5 lety +7

    Such a good idea for a video at this time of year! I remember having conversations with my great-grandma about her queuing up at 4am for rations. Had to laugh at your mum throwing serious shade 😂

  • @sparkleineyes
    @sparkleineyes Před 5 lety +430

    Good content, but the wateryness of your gravy gives me anxiety 😂

    • @Jogjosmowwdkfs
      @Jogjosmowwdkfs Před 5 lety +21

      I'm from the south my nana would have poured that out and been like "that weighs nothing" a cup of gravy weighs a pound here almost. In the south we use thick gravy

    • @ikathiggs13
      @ikathiggs13 Před 5 lety +24

      @@Jogjosmowwdkfs thought you meant the south of England for a sec and was like, "...do we?"
      Yeah, English gravy is fairly watery when its made from instant gravy granules.

    • @ikathiggs13
      @ikathiggs13 Před 5 lety +7

      @@Jogjosmowwdkfs unless you did mean the south of England in which case I'm still confused :P

    • @Jogjosmowwdkfs
      @Jogjosmowwdkfs Před 5 lety +11

      @@ikathiggs13 I meant the united States lol. We're a wild bunch, Isobel

    • @jamie-leighgibson2338
      @jamie-leighgibson2338 Před 5 lety +12

      @@ikathiggs13 that nonsense we use gravy granules and it's thick you just add more granules

  • @gracemackie5889
    @gracemackie5889 Před 5 lety +262

    Is it weird to ask for the recipe for the national bread or whatever it’s called kinda intrigued to try it haha x

    • @oregonwanderer
      @oregonwanderer Před 5 lety +7

      The recipe is all over the internet however its for 10 loaves and not for a bread machine. Would live to have the bread machine recipe.

    • @HelenEk7
      @HelenEk7 Před 5 lety +26

      The recipe is to me a completely normal bread really.. (I live in Norway where we hardly eat any white bread)

    • @janinecorwin9414
      @janinecorwin9414 Před 5 lety +12

      @@oregonwanderer if you just scale it down to one loaf, it should work. As she says, the bread machine couldn't really knead it, it was too heavy.

    • @kheventplanner
      @kheventplanner Před 5 lety

      Same!

    • @HannahHappyHomemaker
      @HannahHappyHomemaker Před 5 lety +5

      I thought the same thing! Found this page that has the original for 10 loaves and a single/double loaf adaptation!! :)
      www.google.com/amp/s/thedeadbeatssociety.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/wartime-world-part-one-the-national-loaf/amp/

  • @cijmo
    @cijmo Před 4 lety +4

    Over a year late to the party, I really loved this! My mum came through the depression in Western Canada and they really WERE hungry. 8 of them living in a grain shed, sometimes they had steamed onion for 3 days. (Her dad was Scottish though so they always had porridge for breakfast). My dad grew up in Scotland so the war hit him harder than it did mum, he liked to say that they were starving and didn't have anything...but they ran a restaurant. So they had chickens i.e. fresh egg, they had a cow i.e. fresh milk and they got triple rations that everyone did. Sorry dad, no tears.

  • @anya1012
    @anya1012 Před 5 lety +12

    The carrot cookies are actually very good. In primary 7 we made them during our world war topic and I even made them at my own house after the topic was done

  • @ThePringle268
    @ThePringle268 Před 5 lety +108

    This level of content originality...queen of the never seen before kingdom omg

    • @NothingToNoOneInParticular
      @NothingToNoOneInParticular Před 5 lety +1

      Watch "Wartime Farm" gives you an idea of what is was like. "1940's house" is on YT in 4 parts as well. I love history like the Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, Tales from the Green Valley, Tudor Monastery Farm, the 1940's house. It's interesting "reality tv." These are on CZcams. Enjoy

  • @Bravecomet
    @Bravecomet Před 5 lety +1

    Loved your fun, funny, and smart video. Highest compliments for the brilliant insights in the wrap up

  • @MajickkShow
    @MajickkShow Před 5 lety

    This was fun to watch . I think its great that you are trying things like this. It keeps those memories alive.

  • @pollybliss1679
    @pollybliss1679 Před 4 lety +4

    Bistro Gravy Powder was available in the war. It’s been around a long time. Apparently it came on the market in 1908. Love what you are doing with food.

  • @mischastol1542
    @mischastol1542 Před 5 lety +6

    ooh the stale toast with sugar had to shed a little tear brought back so many memories love your videos young lady

  • @crazytinch
    @crazytinch Před 5 lety +1

    That was such an interesting video concept, absolutely loved seeing it. You always make me want to try my own 5 days challenges. :)

  • @meike707
    @meike707 Před 5 lety +2

    The bread looks actually really good!! Great video, I love the originality

  • @janinecorwin9414
    @janinecorwin9414 Před 5 lety +6

    Hi, I recommend you watch Supersizers eat the '40's and Supersizers eat the '50's, to see Giles Coren and Sue Perkins and Mary Berry and another chef show the food during the war. You'll love it! You didn't actually stray off the ration diet. On Supersizers, they explain that restaurants opened during the Blitz, for rescuers and people bombed out. They were quite popular, and weren't part of the rations. I think you did a very good job!

  • @susieenglish302
    @susieenglish302 Před 5 lety +12

    National loaf is brilliant if hand kneaded. Its a denser texture so is designed to fill you up so you don't go hungry

    • @denisecomeau6847
      @denisecomeau6847 Před 2 lety +1

      I make alot of our breads,and I especially lov the denser kind.They do fill you up on less pieces for sure! When I buy them in store I try to find the denser breads also-I dont care for the factory commerical nothing but air bread!

  • @notesofanorthern5503
    @notesofanorthern5503 Před 5 lety +1

    Your creativity when it comes to new content is amazing! Subbed 😋

  • @LittleBargainNook
    @LittleBargainNook Před 5 lety +2

    Love this! I’m a huge WWII buff and you did a great job on the ration diet. It sure was not easy on them in so many ways in those days and to feed a full family, especially the children who were probably used to sweets.
    That bread looks really good, like a hearty wheat! Thanks for sharing!

    • @MelissaThompson432
      @MelissaThompson432 Před 5 lety

      I'm not so sure they were used to sweets. My mother grew up during the Depression (in the US) and they only ate what they grew most of the time. If they had lived in town it might have been a little different, but I don't think it would have been very different for most people. We were late to WW II, and war spending saved A LOT of people in the US from starvation....

  • @ilselindberg6557
    @ilselindberg6557 Před 5 lety +4

    I love people recreating ration diets! When it was time for me to start losing weight I did a version of this for a MONTH. I didn't lose any weight that first month, but it did teach me how to be aware of my eating and keep track of my intake. It made it really easy to switch to calories counting. 45lbs down, 55 to go!

  • @user-pc8dl4cy3i
    @user-pc8dl4cy3i Před 5 lety +3

    You're so charming and sincere! I learned a lot from this video and so enjoyed your honest reactions. Thank you so very much!

  • @xmardi.louisex1057
    @xmardi.louisex1057 Před 5 lety +2

    Probably the best and most interesting video you’ve done :)
    I’d love you to do another one as WW2 is also the war that i find most fascinating (in a non morbid way)
    Keep up the great work!

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety

      xMardi.Louisex thanks so much for the kind words!! Ohh I’ll have a little think of some more ideas!!

  • @TwistedBlonde
    @TwistedBlonde Před 5 lety +1

    That was a great video. I also find ww2 fascinating from the view of the people at home. Rationing, food stamps, etc would have been very hard to get used to! Thank you for doing this video, it was fun to watch

  • @libbylilley4880
    @libbylilley4880 Před 5 lety +182

    I swear you’re the only lactose intolerant person who actually avoids dairy 😉

    • @maria_winter
      @maria_winter Před 4 lety +2

      No, she isn't. :-)

    • @ajrwilde14
      @ajrwilde14 Před 4 lety +1

      I think she's intolerant to the protein

    • @nonbinarypotatoes6038
      @nonbinarypotatoes6038 Před 4 lety

      I know I dont
      Cheeese

    • @sarahtonin_p7869
      @sarahtonin_p7869 Před 4 lety +1

      I think she's dairy free not lactose intolerant. There is a difference between the too.

    • @funmif30
      @funmif30 Před 4 lety +10

      @@sarahtonin_p7869 she puts it on the screen at 0:45 that she's lactose intolerant

  • @llamasugar5478
    @llamasugar5478 Před 4 lety +18

    This just showed up in my recommended videos. Well done!
    I’ve always been fascinated with WWII, but I felt guilty saying so because (unlike my guy friends) I was never any good at remembering battles and such. One day, I was looking at my collection of WWII books and realized that my interest was in the home fronts and how people lived.
    Those who have the will to win
    Eat potatoes in their skin.
    Knowing that the sight of peelings
    Deeply hurts Lord Woolton’s feelings.

    • @thegirlwithglasses3153
      @thegirlwithglasses3153 Před 4 lety +2

      Llama Sugar don’t be guilty, that you like social history. It’s a fun sphere of historical study. We’re basically time travelers in training.

  • @audrinabedoya3735
    @audrinabedoya3735 Před 4 lety

    I love when you do these kinds of videos! We definitely need a part 2!

  • @starlytesplanet
    @starlytesplanet Před 4 lety +2

    That's a fascinating video. Shows how times have changed, so much! My mum was housewife with 2 kids during WWII so although I was born after that, the economy and recipes were sort of part of my childhood (I'm a little over 60). It must have been much easier for those in the countryside, and considering that there was less spread out of cities too. You can get salads, fruits, have a chicken or 2, stuff like that, and barter your jam for example, for your neighbour's milk or whatever. Glad I live in the mountains, where there are wild plants you can pick up, and veg gardens etc. Well done.

  • @katrinepetersen2566
    @katrinepetersen2566 Před 5 lety +17

    Apparently I eat national load every Day. In Denmark it is the stable of the lunch table.
    We just Call it Rye bread, though.

    • @eliseblair5228
      @eliseblair5228 Před 5 lety +2

      Katrine Petersen we eat rye bread in the UK too. I don’t think it’s quite the same as the national loaf, but I guess on the same level as they both contain seeds/grain etc!

  • @UltimateBibliophile
    @UltimateBibliophile Před 4 lety +12

    Watching this in the time of the coronavirus. Hopefully will get some tips as all the supermarkets are empty from all the panic buying 🤦‍♀️😅

  • @Undankbar
    @Undankbar Před 5 lety

    I really enjoyed your editing and the information given in the video! you got yourself a new subscriber :)
    (also: it was so hilarious when it dawned on you that you would have had to actually steam the food)

  • @teriguiccioli226
    @teriguiccioli226 Před 3 lety

    That was very interesting, Gracie. You did very well. Thanks for posting.

  • @Marialla.
    @Marialla. Před 5 lety +6

    No criticism, just a thought: what you describe as fairy bread seems a lot like cinnamon toast I grew up on. But the difference is you butter the untoasted bread, then sprinkle on sugar and cinnamon, then toast it. The sugar melts into a delicate crust and is very good.
    You toast it flat on a tray in the oven, of course, not in a toaster.

  • @rachaelb3274
    @rachaelb3274 Před 5 lety +3

    Loved this video. Would love to see more baking and trying recipe's from other periods of history x

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety

      Rachael B that’s a cracking idea, I’ll try thinking of which period to give a go next

    • @tenuousgrip6599
      @tenuousgrip6599 Před 5 lety

      Check out "The Supersizers Eats..." documentary series (on youtube) for ideas. Very entertaining

  • @debbielough7754
    @debbielough7754 Před 4 lety +1

    Also, what you say about using things up is really interesting. I do that without noticing (allowing for the odd fail when I'm busy).
    But I was brought up, and taught to cook by my Nana, who as I said in the other comment, was a cook in the 30s and 40s till she was called up for munitions work. So it was instilled in me from being tiny - if you're making a recipe, but something in the fridge is about to go off, chuck it in to avoid wasting it.
    I still feel guilty if we have a chicken and I don't boil the carcass for stock, like Nana did.

  • @EraLuna13
    @EraLuna13 Před 4 lety +2

    So happy to see young people take an interest in the past! I love watching all kinds of vids on the British Home Front. Well done, Grace! Also, could you point me in the direction of the recipe you used to make the War Time loaf? Thanks x 😊

  • @pip5409
    @pip5409 Před 5 lety +123

    this was really good, very interesting

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety +10

      I am SOoOOO glad you found it interesting! I was a little worried no one else would find it as interesting as I do hahaha

  • @ibbisierra8237
    @ibbisierra8237 Před 5 lety +35

    shes going to 100% going to have her own cooking show
    thumbs up to see grace the grackle on food network

  • @StorytellingwithJen
    @StorytellingwithJen Před 4 lety +1

    Hello, thank you for this. We're learning about food rationing in WW2 in homeschool and this gave us a much better idea of things were during that time. So interesting!

  • @lydiaforster3058
    @lydiaforster3058 Před 5 lety +1

    your creativity and originality never fails to impress me

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety

      thanks for the support, always there oxoxoxoxo

  • @6sheldon
    @6sheldon Před 5 lety +73

    your vids are great for procrastinating. I should leave my house now....

  • @ajrwilde14
    @ajrwilde14 Před 4 lety +8

    they would have gathered wild stuff to make tea with: nettle, dandelion, hawthorne, blackberry leaves etc

  • @tomwalsh2244
    @tomwalsh2244 Před 4 lety

    Hello from Dublin! This was really interesting. Watched the 50s diet too. Well done you. I really enjoyed it.

  • @bchad28ify
    @bchad28ify Před 5 lety

    Top notch vid, Grace. Educational AND entertaining.

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety

      alll for the extra education

  • @solr.883
    @solr.883 Před 5 lety +31

    Love your personality, came across your channel yesterday and im hooked! also you look like Drew Gooden's British sister, lol

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety +7

      LOL, I get this a lot, I just watched one of his videos for the first time, kind of a cracking human I guess so flattered

  • @thisisme9229
    @thisisme9229 Před 5 lety +21

    where do you come up with these ideas?! you're awesome, amazing and inspirational and you're teaching me to love food and live life again after my eating disorder - i honestly wish i could find a way to thank you materially...do you have a PO box?

  • @grethebrunnee9081
    @grethebrunnee9081 Před 4 lety +2

    my grandpa lived in germany and during WWII they had to eat potato peels and gone off food from the richer neighbours. My grandma got an orange and a sock puppet and that was an amazing christmas gift to her.

  • @Iluvthe1960s
    @Iluvthe1960s Před 3 lety

    Great video! I nearly clicked on another of your videos but WWII diet sounded really interesting! We take so much for granted these days!

  • @sarahmockingbird6433
    @sarahmockingbird6433 Před 5 lety +7

    This was such a neat idea! When I was teaching third grade we did a project where we studied what George Washington (first US president) would have eaten for breakfast. One mooring the kids came to school in colonial grab and we ate George Washington's breakfast and drank tea (not a standard beverage for American kids.) It was really fun but not as cool as you week of British WWII rations. The bread and leek and barley soup looked good to me.

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety +2

      Sarah Mockingbird it’s sooo fun exploring history and what people used to eat, soooo fascinating!

  • @TheBeetress
    @TheBeetress Před 5 lety +20

    'Supersizes go wartime' is another good video for everyone who was interested in war time rationing

    • @NothingToNoOneInParticular
      @NothingToNoOneInParticular Před 5 lety +4

      Watch "Wartime Farm" gives you an idea of what is was like. "1940's house" is on YT in 4 parts as well. I love history like the Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, Tales from the Green Valley, Tudor Monastery Farm, the 1940's house. It's interesting "reality tv." These are on CZcams. Enjoy

    • @TheBeetress
      @TheBeetress Před 5 lety +1

      Yes! How could i forget those too. I love Ruth.

    • @TheBeetress
      @TheBeetress Před 5 lety

      @@NothingToNoOneInParticular Yes! How could I forget those series.

    • @NothingToNoOneInParticular
      @NothingToNoOneInParticular Před 5 lety +2

      The beetress Don't forget Peter and Alex! Can't believe it's been 20 years since they did all those series!

  • @kathyyoung99
    @kathyyoung99 Před 4 lety +1

    Thanks for sharing your research and experiences with us! I, for one, find it incredibly interesting.

  • @MrsARick64
    @MrsARick64 Před 4 lety

    I am thoroughly enjoying your videos! I really should get up and get something done around the house but I feel compelled to watch every CZcams video that you have posted. LOL! :)

  • @jodwai
    @jodwai Před 5 lety +51

    I always put Marmite in stew! I love these '5 days of' videos. I always wonder what a week of clean eating or doing food prep would be like.....then I'm like nope I'll just watch somebody else do it instead haha

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety +6

      IT WAS SO YUMMY! think im going to be doing that again

    • @Hugin-N-Munin
      @Hugin-N-Munin Před 5 lety +3

      Yeah, you do it if the recipe calls for something like a beef stock, and you realise you don't have any, so a glob of yeast extract is a valid substitute.

    • @taraelizabethdensley9475
      @taraelizabethdensley9475 Před rokem

      Hahaha! I'd rather watch other people doing challenges like this

  • @mishb5108
    @mishb5108 Před 5 lety +169

    original content dayummm

  • @sarahstrong7174
    @sarahstrong7174 Před 5 lety +1

    This is a good, interesting, clear video. What was available on ration changed throughout the war. Rationing of some items continued into the 1950s I beleive.

  • @drunkvegangal8089
    @drunkvegangal8089 Před 3 lety +2

    When I was vegetarian (1989-2010) I started putting Marmite in my soups, stews, and some curries. I used it to replace Worcestershire sauce. Now that I'm vegan (2010-present) I put it in even more foods; gravies, tomato sauces, bean dishes, etc. It has a wonderful, round and rich umami flavour, extra B vitamins, and a delicious saltiness :D

  • @biaselias
    @biaselias Před 5 lety +91

    CZcams has decided to promote your channel I guess, Ive seen like 3 suggested videos from you

  • @helen1547
    @helen1547 Před 5 lety +15

    Love watching your food challenges!! Such a good video idea! 👌

  • @dadda5917
    @dadda5917 Před 4 lety +1

    Commenting a little too late maybe, but fun fact (??) about toast and sugar!
    I'm from Italy and my grandma was born in 1920, so she lived through WW2. When I was little she used to give me and my sister bread with sugar for pudding, but she made the bread wet with a little of water and then sprinkled the sugar on top (and i remember that we loved it!!) :) She always told us that that was she would usually have for pudding as a child, coming from a poor family, and that wasn't unusual! A variation of that, but for adults, was bread with wine (because we are from Tuscany, but I think that this might have been common in many other countryside places)

  • @SquirrelPotatoes
    @SquirrelPotatoes Před 4 lety +1

    My Grandmother lived during the depression and war and she said the just reused tea and tea bags. You'd squeeze the leaves/bag out lay them to dry and use it again until it didn't have any more flavor. That's probably something people didn't write about though. She gave me an old tea cup with a nook to save my tea bag when I was a kid.

  • @sarahstrong7174
    @sarahstrong7174 Před 5 lety +11

    Is the bread more wholemeal than you are used to maybe? Or maybe it has different grains in it? Rye & oats might be more sustaining for example.

  • @fumblingbumbler19
    @fumblingbumbler19 Před 5 lety +8

    Ur dedication to sick new content makes me weep

    • @NothingToNoOneInParticular
      @NothingToNoOneInParticular Před 5 lety

      Check out Tales from the green valley, wartime farm, Victorian farm, Edwardian farm, Tudor Monestery farm, the 1940’s house e1-e4, et all. All great content, almost 20 years old.

  • @virginiareed1629
    @virginiareed1629 Před 4 lety

    Just found your video and you are an amazing girl. There is no way on earth I would have been able to get any of my three children to try an experience like this and you did it with a big smile! Good job!

  • @TheSweetHearty
    @TheSweetHearty Před 5 lety +1

    You have such a great relationship with food! And super original, interesting content. Thanks!

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety

      TheSweetHearty thanks soooooo much xxx

  • @andreal2614
    @andreal2614 Před 5 lety +4

    this is so good! i've learnt so much x

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety

      Andrea Liu I’m glad I could impart some knowledge oxoxoxx

  • @steenystuff1075
    @steenystuff1075 Před 5 lety +6

    Lol. Bless your heart! Fun to watch.

  • @just_norma7
    @just_norma7 Před 4 lety

    I really enjoyed watching this. It's fascinating and I agree that we take far too much for granted nowadays. I think I could handle the toast too. I'm off to watch more of your videos 😀

  • @lynnie57
    @lynnie57 Před 5 lety

    That was fascinating! I learned so many things! I would like to see maybe, would be a recipe or watch you make the bread you had or something like that. This was great thanks so much!

  • @tenuousgrip6599
    @tenuousgrip6599 Před 5 lety +76

    5 days and no crisps!?! Tell Mum that OXO cubes were on the market since 1910 and used extensively in WW1. Also, I'm sure a comely lass like yourself would have the American G.I.s cued up to share their rations with you! Well done - thumbs up!

  • @JazzyJosie
    @JazzyJosie Před 5 lety +13

    Can you link the recipes? Or put them on a sheet or blog or something? especially for the bread?
    thanks!

  • @highstandards6226
    @highstandards6226 Před 4 lety +1

    Not "coming for you" but I'm *impressed* with what you've found already! And I HAD a grandmother who DID live through the era, who lived with us and taught me to cook! She simply taught us(all) to throw NOTHING away. Ever. There's *always* another use for *everything!*

    • @highstandards6226
      @highstandards6226 Před 4 lety

      When you have a brothy soup, add your bread...😁💖💖

  • @sophiekalden2646
    @sophiekalden2646 Před 5 lety

    Yayyy i LOVE to see ur chanel grow!!! Been there since 5k 🤗

  • @KS-ck8ht
    @KS-ck8ht Před 5 lety +63

    This was such a good video idea I love that you mentioned that Brits were the healthiest during this time cause they had to fill up on a lot of vegetables/potatoes/grains from their gardens. Which busts the myth that carbs give you diabetes 😂 it's so interesting. I hope you do sth like this again.
    And maybe could you make a video for the bread recipe? 😀

    • @sarahstrong7174
      @sarahstrong7174 Před 5 lety +13

      Its being overweight from too many calorie dense foods & the effects of too much sugar that can cause diabetes. As fats & sugar were rationed people ate less calorie dense foods and had less ill effects from sugar. Also most people would have walked a lot more then and more people would have done fairly or very hard physical work. House cleaning & cooking would have involved a lot more labour than now too. So the calories people ate would be more easily burnt up.

    • @itsalwayshalloweenexceptwh5118
      @itsalwayshalloweenexceptwh5118 Před 5 lety +5

      Many women complained about weight gain on the rationing system. They even advertised diet methods to decrease the amount of weight gain during rationing, and they were specific in mentioning that weight gain on the ration was because it was an unbalanced way of eating high in "farinaceous food" (in modern terms that means starchy). At the end all high fat animal products were rationed severely, so much so that children growing up during those times were so used to powdered egg replacer that they did not like real eggs when they were off the ration years later.
      I find the claim that they were healthiest during the ration something that should be taken with a grain of salt.
      As for diabetes, the general consensus is that there is no one food that gives people diabetes. It's usually a combination of factors such as being overweight/obese, genetic predisposition, unbalanced/unhealthy diets and generally just overburdening the pancreas.
      Well, there is only one food that is even linked to weight gain and diabetes, and that's soda. On all other things the jury is still out. There's too many contradicting study results, the soda thing came through because that's the only one they didn't have contradictory studies on.
      Nutrition is a fickle field of study so the progress is really slow.

    • @itsalwayshalloweenexceptwh5118
      @itsalwayshalloweenexceptwh5118 Před 5 lety +6

      @@sarahstrong7174 Before cars and central heating people used a lot more calories to stay warm and get from A to B. It wasn't uncommon for a slender rich woman in the victorian times for example, who would have been relatively sedentary compared to others in that same time, to burn 3500 kcal or more in a day.
      As for WW2 and rationing, you're right most of them had to make do with a calorie decrease in their diet, on the other hand some people found themselves gaining weight because many starchy foods were not on the ration (and thus were unlimited if you had the means), and again on the other hand people in positions that allowed them to be sedentary pre WW2 were encouraged to contribute to the war effort and that generally meant they became more active.
      For example higher class women were encouraged to join help groups (voluntary services, such as providing food and tea to the needy, knitting items for soldiers and providing help to those who were homeless because of the bombings).
      Lower class women would be encouraged to join groups like the women's land army (basically means they helped farmers produce more food), or encouraged to do factory work to produce weapons and plane parts, or even join one of the military women's divisions.
      I think it's safe to assume that previously sedentary men were encouraged to take up extra or different work leading to more physical activity.

    • @sarahstrong7174
      @sarahstrong7174 Před 5 lety +2

      @@itsalwayshalloweenexceptwh5118 Of course & Im sure a lot of people who might have felt relatively isolated socially before felt better for being more involved in the local community. Shame it takes a war to bring people together.

    • @sarahstrong7174
      @sarahstrong7174 Před 5 lety

      @@itsalwayshalloweenexceptwh5118 What do you mean by Soda please? Do you mean Bicarbonate of Soda or are you talking about fizzy drinks or something?

  • @theo-oh_no6494
    @theo-oh_no6494 Před 5 lety +20

    "I wasn't around during the war"
    Is it bad my first thought was "BETRAYAL I FEEL BETRAYED I THOUGHT YOU WERE 99 YEARS OLD"

  • @lillyashby902
    @lillyashby902 Před 5 lety

    This was very interesting! Great video Grace! 😊 x

    • @Grackle
      @Grackle  Před 5 lety

      Lilly Ashby thanks so much!!!

  • @shirleydrake1602
    @shirleydrake1602 Před 5 lety +2

    Honey, they had feeding stations in UK during the war. It was the start of common restaurants. So your eating out would have been normal. Most people ate out at least once a week, sometimes more. It was off ration, but. Could have been anything because food was in short supply. You have done a great job trying this out. I enjoyed the 1950s diet one too. I think the great generation was so healthy because they physically worked so hard. I am American, but I love the UK. I would love to visit some day.