Some of you know that I have taken up a new hobby. In researching this hobby – I was surprised to find out that it had mostly died away- but during WWII – this became a popular hobby for women. The reemergence started in New Zealand then spread throughout the world. It is the hobby of Spinning.
Like many woman during the war – I have learned how to wash raw wool (again in my bathtub J), Dry it, pick out the weeds and seeds, card it straight, and finally spin it into lovely yarn (to make warm scarves, mittens, and hats for our fighting soldiers). I have to say I never knew how much work it is!
I bought two pounds of unwashed wool. I will tell you it is nasty! I started by washing a half pound. It is washed in very hot water with dish soap. You put the water and soap in, then lay the wool into it (no agitation or you get felt). Once it is washed three times and rinsed twice … it is laid out to dry. Once dry… the fibers are pulled open to get rid of any twigs and seeds that are stuck in. Then it is carded between two huge cards (they look like dog brushes for Clifford the big red dog). Once carded, it can be spun. I use an Ashford spinning wheel (that I received from my aunt – nicely decorated by goats chewing on it).
Even though it is a lot of work – I see the value of it. If there was not a lot of wool production – due to the war… it provided processed wool for knitting. The other thing it provides is a way to release stress. There is a meditative quality of hearing the rhythm of the wheel spin… then the feel of the wool in your hands. It is my favorite thing to do when I come back from a really hard day at the hospital. When spinning – all your cares drain away and you are left with the joy of having made something.
What a wonderful thing it would have been for these women that had the whole world’s cares on their shoulders.
I have not been to a new clothing store since this experiment started. Practically this is because I started a new job and I had purchased a new wardrobe before I started (two suits, two pants, and a skirt). The knowledge that I cannot get many new clothes and especially that I only can buy one pair of new shoes…. Has me looking at how I treat my clothes and shoes.
By the end of the first week – I realized that my shoes would not last long if I wore them to walk back and forth to work. I wear my pedometer and I walk 5-7 miles every day (depending if I am on call or not) at the hospital. A mile and half of that is my walk to and from work. Practically to save my feet, and also to save my shoes… I now wear my tennis shoes to work, and carry my shoes in my bag. Shoes are not made as they use to be – and I need my work shoes to last. I don’t know how I would fix them if they broke…
Clothing is interesting… I have had to re-sew the hem in my dress pants already. That is something I have always done. But now I am aware that these clothes need to last a long time. I have also started to look at consignment and second hand stores. Buying clothes from these places would not use up rationing coupons, and it save money. It helps that I live in a very corporate town – I found the cutest suit and a suit coat to match my own skirt. I was also very tempted to buy a suit that was much too big – but was made from beautiful wool … I wanted to cut it down and remake it.
The challenge that I discovered is that Nylons do not last very long… does anyone know how to mend (darn) stockings? Even though I am not following the nylon rationing… I would like to make mine last longer – and clear nail polish does not cut it sometimes.
Knowing that these are the only clothes I get… I have started washing things by hand that I need to keep longer. If you ever visit me on laundry day… you will notice that my bathtub is filled with my suits and (dry clean) items. I am willing to do anything to make these clothes last … but it does take up time!
It has been so long since I have written… and I am learning that keeping a house, working and all that goes into life – especially when rationing – keeps a person’s life very busy. I cannot imagine what life would have been like for a 1940’s woman – especially if she had children. She probably had a job, and then also had to keep house and the clothing of everyone… and she would have to creatively cook 3 meals a day for her family. A never ending job….
That is where the joy of coffee comes in –
There is nothing better than the wonderful smell of coffee brewing in the morning. That lovely smell of freshly ground beans – and the beautiful gurgle of the coffee maker (would have been a vacuumed coffee maker then – or an old enamel pot that boiled it).
The trick is- each person, age 15 and older, was allowed one pound of coffee every 5 weeks. One pound of coffee for five weeks? This I was not sure I could survive.
I started making 8 cups of coffee each week day morning – just enough for a small cup of coffee with breakfast and the rest went in my thermos for work. (I also allowed myself one cup of hospital coffee each day – you can tell me if that was cheating or not – I mean… its Hospital coffee!)
After the first week- I realized that I needed to keep track of how many scoops of beans I ground each day. Soon I switched from a table spoon to a teaspoon measurement. Then I carefully counted out eight scoops. A few times there would be left over coffee that I could not drink in the morning… There was no way that I was going to throw it out – it is valuable… so I found myself pouring it into a jar in the refrigerator – and using it to make cold coffee when I came home (add a little milk, sugar (very little), and some vanilla).
Each day – that bag got lighter and lighter… I still have a few weeks to go – so I cut the beans down to 5 scoops – and I made less coffee (which meant that I bought more hospital coffee – not sure how to handle this because restaurants still had coffee… but often it was mixed with chicory.) I knew that I had fully embraced this endeavor to live out WWII rationing when I realized that I was on my hands and knees in the kitchen with a broom- trying to retrieve every coffee bean that had fallen under the fridge and stove… I got them all, brushed them off, and put them in the grinder for coffee!!!
I will state that I made it! It was a celebration when I went and bought another pound of coffee… the second week of October.
The history behind coffee rations – Coffee was the second thing to be rationed. It actually was rationed before the US was fully in the war – all because of the supply routes were cut off from South America, Indonesia, and Arabia. It was the same reason for the rationing of sugar – the raw ingredients could not be gotten as much – and it was patriotic to let the troops to have what they needed first.
Over the last two weeks – my only meat source was a whole chicken that I cooked (and recooked) in every way possible. So I have been furious to find new recipes that have a source of protein.
What did I find?
Soy – in the form of Soy flour.
In every stretching recipe that I have found- especially around meat – the extra stretching ingredient is soy! I am happy to say that you can still find soy flour in the health food area of a grocery store and I love it!
The first recipe that I tried was “soy Rocks” which are a wonderful spice cookie with soy flour in them. They make great afternoon or coffee break snacks (if you haven’t used up your coffee rations!) And the wonderful thing about the cookies (besides only being 1 weight watcher point a piece) is that they hold you. There is protein in them and they really are filling! For the recipe look in the book “Grandma’s Wartime Kitchen.”
The next recipe was trying to find new ways to fix chicken – so I made homemade chicken pot pie with biscuits on top. Using a recipe from “the Good Housekeeping Cookbook (1942)” I made biscuits with soy for the top. Ohhhh … they were sooooo yummy and super filling!
Tonight – I had to have a break from chicken! And I used most of my rations to buy a pound of ground beef. I froze half of it – but made Soy Meat Patties from the Good housekeeping cook book. So far they smell delicious. They are a glorified meat loaf patty – but instead of using bread crumbs- there is 1/4th cup of soy flour, 1/4th cup milk, pepper, salt, onions, and chili powder. They are then fried in a Tablespoon of shortening. They smell wonderful.
The moral of this post is… do not discount the power of mixing extra proteins together. It helps stretch the amount of meat, and helps keep your tummy full and happy when there is not much to eat in the home!
By the way… the total of my groceries this week (due to keeping under my ration total) was $12.63. I was shocked! Rationing also helps you save money.
(That didn’t count the cabbage and vegetables I had at home – and I made my own bread this week – so next week ration pts. will be used to restock my flour)
