02 June 2006

Diary of Gratitude - II

Anyone who grew up during or just after the Second World War had miseries enough to contend with. Yet there was one very curious advantage - rationing. Because everything was in such short supply and because there was no such thing as junk food, we had better diets. It's rumoured that Winston Churchill was shown the basic rations of bread, butter, egg (singular) and bacon, and remarked "I could make a decent breakfast out of that". But the ration was for one person for a week. The fact is that these iron rations, with sweets completely off the list of desirables, gave us a healthier life (faux de mieux) than later generations. Consequently I have better teeth than my own children, though I am not as tall as them - so there's still no reason to be smug.

2 comments:

skipper said...

Roy
It wasn't just a rumour re Winson's confontation with a week's rations, it was real, confirmed in a book by historian Paul Addison.

Anonymous said...

"faux de mieux"?

faute de mieux father dear. Now how about those porcelain veneers for my birthday?