Some pins.....
- Thread starter Canso
- Start date
The little round fibre thing is a Canadian Meat Ration Token. Everybody was registered with the Government and had a RATION BOOK. I still have mine; it says I am 7 weeks old.... but all my Coffee, Tea, Sugar and several other important coupons are missing. Government kept them because I didn't need them (yet) but my Mom got extras.
Anhway, you got these coupons in a book and when you bought your meat, you had to present your book and let the BUTCHER remove the litle coupons for whatever amount of meat you had bought. And, of course, a lot of the time it wouldn't work out perfectly evenly, so he would take coupons for, say 2 pounds of meat when you're buying only a pound and a half. That would leave you SHORT on your ration, so you would get 4 of these critters along with your change..... and you could spend these for more meat later on: just add money. You needed BOTH money AND ration coupons (or tokens) to buy things. Gasoline was REALLY tight.
My father was one of two Air Force Chief Inspectors at Aircraft Repair in Edmonton and he couldn't even get enough gasoline to drive from 88th Steet and 124th Avenue, to the Airport..... and there were no streetcars or buses.
Citrus fruits were pretty well OUT for the duration, as the fuel which would have gone to transpoting them all went overseas. My Father was able to get one of the Americans to get him 2 big cans of Pineapple Juice from the American PX and that was IT for the duation of the war. Oranges? What the hell are oranges?
Rationing in Canada was MUCH tighter, and went on for much longer, than it did in the USA. So did the black-marketting although it was an anomaly here but the accepted practice in France..... and they didn't care that the fuel they were wasting was coming directly out of the tanks and trucks that were liberating them. 2 million gallons a month for the CIVIL ADMINISTRATION of Paris. THAT's why the Ardennes Offensive in '44: our Army was out of gas and had to sit where they were.
There also was counterfeiting of ration books, double registrations and every scam you could think of. All were 'strengstens verboten', of course, and often found out. This is why the butcher took your coupon out of your bok: so he could be sure you ween't running a scam of some kind and shopping with stolen or other ill-gotten coupons, or counterfeit coupons (which needed a fairly elaborate shop to duplicate: offset lithographic printing was very new and film was hard to get: all going for the War.
Still, we had it easy in some ways: I can remember when BREAD rationing ended in England: I was in SCHOOL (in Canada, thankfully!!!!)!
Your ration token is a part of those hard years. 8 to the coupon, coupon generally was a pound of meat, so this was 'worth' 2 ounces of meat.... if you paid for it, too.
Anhway, you got these coupons in a book and when you bought your meat, you had to present your book and let the BUTCHER remove the litle coupons for whatever amount of meat you had bought. And, of course, a lot of the time it wouldn't work out perfectly evenly, so he would take coupons for, say 2 pounds of meat when you're buying only a pound and a half. That would leave you SHORT on your ration, so you would get 4 of these critters along with your change..... and you could spend these for more meat later on: just add money. You needed BOTH money AND ration coupons (or tokens) to buy things. Gasoline was REALLY tight.
My father was one of two Air Force Chief Inspectors at Aircraft Repair in Edmonton and he couldn't even get enough gasoline to drive from 88th Steet and 124th Avenue, to the Airport..... and there were no streetcars or buses.
Citrus fruits were pretty well OUT for the duration, as the fuel which would have gone to transpoting them all went overseas. My Father was able to get one of the Americans to get him 2 big cans of Pineapple Juice from the American PX and that was IT for the duation of the war. Oranges? What the hell are oranges?
Rationing in Canada was MUCH tighter, and went on for much longer, than it did in the USA. So did the black-marketting although it was an anomaly here but the accepted practice in France..... and they didn't care that the fuel they were wasting was coming directly out of the tanks and trucks that were liberating them. 2 million gallons a month for the CIVIL ADMINISTRATION of Paris. THAT's why the Ardennes Offensive in '44: our Army was out of gas and had to sit where they were.
There also was counterfeiting of ration books, double registrations and every scam you could think of. All were 'strengstens verboten', of course, and often found out. This is why the butcher took your coupon out of your bok: so he could be sure you ween't running a scam of some kind and shopping with stolen or other ill-gotten coupons, or counterfeit coupons (which needed a fairly elaborate shop to duplicate: offset lithographic printing was very new and film was hard to get: all going for the War.
Still, we had it easy in some ways: I can remember when BREAD rationing ended in England: I was in SCHOOL (in Canada, thankfully!!!!)!
Your ration token is a part of those hard years. 8 to the coupon, coupon generally was a pound of meat, so this was 'worth' 2 ounces of meat.... if you paid for it, too.
NOTTS AND DERBY, yes: Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire regiment.
I don`t recall seeing a lot of Moose on the roads in England, though. Likely from this side of the Puddle, but I don`t know the Regiment. Sure a pretty badge, though!
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I don`t recall seeing a lot of Moose on the roads in England, though. Likely from this side of the Puddle, but I don`t know the Regiment. Sure a pretty badge, though!
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