Relaxation of Food Control for Christmas

Yirrell’s butcher’s shop, Old Road, Linslade c.1900 [Z50/74/15]

Friday 22nd November 1918: Although the War has now ended, the food shortages it caused will take some time to resolve. However, the Ministry of Food is trying to make it possible for people to celebrate Christmas on a much larger scale this year than last. It has announced that during the week before Christmas everyone will be able to obtain double the usual ration of butcher’s meat, and double rations will be served in all restaurants; between December 16th and January 4th any amount of poultry and game can be purchased without coupons, and it is hoped that there will be a good supply of turkeys.

Twenty thousand tons of apples are expected to arrive imminently from Canada, and the price of fruit is already considerably lower than it was last week thanks to the Ministry’s pricing Order. The Ministry anticipates that a large supply of oranges will be available before Christmas, and that there will also be a supply of nuts from Spain. There is still a shortage of dried fruit; a distribution of currants, raisins, and sultanas will be made over the next few weeks, averaging not more than half a pound per person. It is also expected that loaves of white bread will be available again by Christmas. 

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 22nd November 1918

Blackberry Picking and the War on Rats

Blackberries [Image source: Wikimedia]

Wednesday 18th September 1918: The Board of Education have agreed to allow school children three half-days every week to go and pick blackberries, which are needed to provide soldiers with jam. The Local Collecting Depot pays three pence per pound, or if they can be taken to an authorised jam manufacturer in five hundredweight lots four and a half pence can be paid – the extra payment is to ensure that fruit is made into jam and not consumed locally. This list of “Don’ts” has been provided to blackberry gatherers:

• Don’t eat more than you put in the basket; the unpatriotic pickers are known by the colour of their lips.
• Don’t pick wet berries; they won’t keep, and have lost their flavour.
• Don’t pick them when red; leave them another day to ripen and sweeten.
• Don’t break down hedges, or make gaps for the cattle to stray through.
• Don’t trespass; the farmer will give you permission if you explain that the fruit is to make jam for the soldiers.
• Don’t leave the gates open after you.
• Don’t delay in taking them to the Local Collecting Depot while they are fresh.
• Don’t make blackberry jelly; it is wasteful.

 Meanwhile war has been declared on the rats which are causing enormous destruction of food. The Joint Agricultural Advisory Committee has urged farmers to take the matter seriously – rats multiply so quickly that a single pair can have a thousand descendants in a year, and it is believed there are nearly as many rats as human beings in Great Britain. Apart from the risk to food supplies, rats are also a danger to public health. Every farmer must do all in his power to keep numbers down!

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 13th September 1918

Bakers Selling Bread to German Prisoners

Chalgrave Church [Z1130/26/2]

Friday 16th August 1918: Another case involving the passing of food to German prisoners of war was heard today at the Woburn Police Court. This time Hockliffe bakers Walter Harris, aged 28, and his brother John Harris, aged 17, were charged with selling bread on June 17th to a prisoner of war at Chalgrave. John Harris was also summoned for a second offence which took place the following day. Evidence was given by Police Sergeant Dennis of Toddington, that on June 18th, as a result of something he had heard, he hid near a field where the prisoners were working at Lord’s Hill, Chalgrave. He saw John Harris drive past. Some of the prisoners whistled; Harris then turned back and served the prisoners with four half-quartern loaves. He challenged Harris, who admitted he had done wrong, but said he had sold the prisoners only four loaves although they asked for six. He also admitted serving the prisoners with bread on the previous day, when his brother Walter had been with him.

When interviewed Walter denied selling any bread, saying “I have never served a prisoner with bread and I have repeatedly cautioned my brother not to do so”. He admitted being with his brother, but said he had only held the reins of the cart and did not know whether his brother had served the guard or the prisoners. The prosecuting solicitor pointed out that if Walter had been aware of the sale it was a ‘contemptible wriggle’ to blame his brother. Such actions showed a ‘gross want of patriotism’, with the men seeming to care nothing for their country provided they could get a bit of extra money in their pockets. William Garner, a postman from Dunstable said he saw the baker’s cart on June 17th standing opposite a field gate with several German prisoners round it. They had a bag with them which he assumed contained bread, although he did not actually see any bread change hands. As Harris drove on he called out “You ought to get six months for serving German prisoners!” 

Sergeant-Major Richard Malone of the prisoner of war camp at Leighton Buzzard said there were forty prisoners in the camp at this time, who were being sent out in gangs of six with one soldier in charge. The prisoners had breakfast at 6 a.m. of biscuit, bread, jam, cheese and coffee. When they came back from work they had potatoes, meat or fish, and there was no need for them to buy bread except out of greed or for other purposes. He had received no complaints that they did not have enough food from the prisoners.

John Harris gave evidence that on June 17th the guard in charge of the prisoners had asked for the loaf of bread, had paid for it, and then went back into the field with the prisoners. The next day the prisoners had come out of the field with a bag and asked for six loaves, but he only sold them four as this was all he had in the cart. He had told the policeman he was very sorry if he had done wrong, but the guard had told him that he could supply the prisoners – Sergeant Dennis however denied that Harris had said this. Unfortunately the prisoners’ guard, Private Rumble, could not be called as he was in hospital with double pneumonia and was given little chance of recovery. The element of doubt over whether the guard had neglected his duty and told John Harris that he could sell bread to the prisoners made it impossible for the magistrates to decide on the case without his evidence. Due to Private Rumble’s illness the hearing was adjourned indefinitely.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 20th August 1918

Soldier Gaoled for Supplying Food to German Prisoners

Aspley Guise Woods 1921 [Z1130/3a/62h]

Friday 2nd August 1918: Private Frederick William Brock of the 383rd Motor Transport Company, Bedford has appeared at the Leighton Buzzard Police Court charged with supplying Quaker Oats to German prisoners of war from the camp at Woburn. Private Thomas Patrick Dasey of the Canadian Forestry Corps gave evidence that while he was working in the woods between Aspley Heath and Woburn on 16th July he saw Private Brock, who was driving one of the timber supply motor lorries, take a parcel from his van, carry it about 150 yards into the wood and place it behind some brushwood. Five minutes later he saw a German prisoner, who had been working nearby, fetch the parcel and take it away to where the prisoners were cutting pit props.

Private Walter Croft of the Royal Defence Corps said he was on sentry duty over the prisoners when Brock took the parcel into the wood. He saw the German prisoner drop the parcel behind a heap of pit props; he was 150 yards away, and thought the defendant could not see him. Private Croft reported the incident to Corporal Frederick Smith, who was in charge of the prisoner escort that day. Corporal Smith went to the prisoner and asked through an interpreter what he had received. He said it was bread. When asked to show it he produced a small linen bag with about one pound of Quaker Oats in it. Corporal Smith also found three full two pound packets of Quaker Oats under the prisoner’s cape. He claimed Private Brock had admitted to him having given these to the prisoner, but Private Brock said this was not true – he had said he put the parcel behind the brushwood, not that he gave it to the prisoner.  

Private Brock said he had bought the oats at Thirsk in Yorkshire in May due to a problem with rations. He had got tired of carrying them about with him so decided to pack them up and send them away, but found the postage too expensive. He had therefore simply walked out into the wood and dropped them where he expected they would be burnt with the brushwood. There were no German prisoners within 100 yards of the spot, and he did not know what had happened to the oats until the Corporal came and asked about them. When pressed Private Brock admitted that prisoners had asked him to procure things for them, but said he had refused. When asked why he did not give the oats away while he was billeted in Bedford he said it was because he knew no one there. When it was pointed out to him that throwing the food away was as serious an offence as to give it to the prisoners, he claimed he did not know what else to do with it.

An officer from the prisoners of war camp said there was reason to fear that this kind of thing was happening more often than it should, and that it tended to make the prisoners get out of hand. The Chairman of the Bench took into account Private Brock’s previous good character and sentenced him to three weeks imprisonment.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 6th August 1918

Farmer Fined for Wasting Food

Swedes (from Wikimedia)

Tuesday 28th May 1918: Farmer John Dancer of Leighton Buzzard has appeared today at the Petty Sessions charged with permitting foodstuffs to be wasted. Proceedings were taken at the direction of the Ministry of Food. The Beds War Agricultural Executive Committee arranged a routine inspection of Mr Dancer’s farm at Heath and Reach on March 12th, and found a very large quantity of swede turnips lying about in fifteen small heaps, each containing about 1½ cwt of the vegetables. Mr. Dancer stated that he had pulled the turnips last November and covered them with leaves, but had not put any earth on them. Many were found to be frost bitten, and at least half were useless as food for either man or beast. Two other witnesses confirmed the poor state of the turnips, with one in no doubt that it was “simply the result of sheer carelessness”.

Mr. Dancer said he took the farm ten years ago and it was managed by his son William. He had heard that turnips kept better in small quantities and were not affected by cold or wet. Both he and his son thought the best way to preserve them was to cover them with leaves. However, another farmer, John Hopkins, stated that the best way to keep swedes was to cover them with dirt. Two other witnesses spoke on Mr. Dancer’s behalf. Walter Mills said he had bought some of Dancer’s turnips to feed to his pigs and none were bad. Another farmer, Arthur Syres, had also bought some of the swedes and their condition was “very fair for the time of the year”. After some consideration the Bench found Mr. Dancer guilty and imposed a £5 fine.  

Source: Luton News, 30th May 1918

Bedford Pig Clubs

Two prize pigs in Brown & Merry Bedford sale yard c.1910 [BMB13/2]

Thursday 23rd May 1918: A pig raising scheme in operation in the Queen’s Park area of Bedford is looking extremely promising. The Queen’s Park Pig Club began with a meeting held on March 19th to discuss setting up a society for the purpose of buying, breeding, housing, feeding and fattening pigs, with each member to receive a share of the bacon produced. Twenty members contributed some capital, and during the Easter holiday they built two large pigsties with brick floors in Quenby’s field, off Bromham Road. Alongside the sties they also put up a building for storing foodstuffs, with a copper for boiling the feed. The idea rapidly became very popular, and within four weeks of the initial meeting the Club had acquired seventeen pigs and had around sixty members, many of whom are employed at the Queen’s Engineering Works.

On joining the club each member pays £3 to cover the cost of buildings and the purchase of pigs. There are already plans to build four more sties, each with a sleeping apartment and a forecourt. Members pay a weekly subscription towards the cost of feeding and looking after the pigs, including the services of an experienced pig-keeper. A collecting tank has been bought and swill is to be collected from the Club members’ houses and from the Allen Institute. The Club has also reserved a plot of ground on which to grow food for the pigs. Manure produced by the pigs is to be sold to the members at a nominal fee, which will no doubt benefit their allotments. Liquid manure is being collected in a sump, so that nothing is wasted. A member of the Club is a well-known local butcher, who will provide advice and experience when necessary, and it is proposed to insure the pigs. Each member is expected to receive half a pig in the autumn. Any profits from surplus meat will be used to replenish or increase the stock of pigs.

Proposals have also been made for a  Pig Club for the east side of town. This club proposes to set a minimum membership of sixty. The cost of building sties is thought to be prohibitive, but premises suitable for fifty pigs are available to rent. At the current time another forty names are required to make the scheme viable.

Source: Bedfordshire Times, 26th April 1918 and 31st May 1918

Sugar for Jam Making

Advertisement for Chivers’ jam and jellies c.1907 [X704/198]

Monday 25th March 1918: The Local Food Office in Linslade, which also covers the Eaton Bray and Wing areas, has received details of a scheme under which sugar for jam will be distributed to fruit growers. Applications for sugar must be made by the growers themselves, and two separate permits will be issued: one for soft fruit available between the 8th June and 31st July, and the other for hard fruit available between 1st August and 30th September. Rhubarb will be included among soft fruits, and vegetable marrows with the hard fruits. The total amount of sugar for making jam for home consumption will not exceed ten pounds for each member of the household. Anyone expecting to have quantities of fruit which would enable them to use more sugar than this will be expected to place jam at the disposal of the Local Food Committee at wholesale prices.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 26th March 1918

Bacon Hoarding

Two prize pigs in Brown & Merry Bedford sale yard c.1910 [BMB13/2]

 

Wednesday 6th March 1918: A case of bacon hoarding has been reported at the Bedford Food Control Committee. A man had called at the office and stated that he had purchased 140lbs of bacon in November and another 40lbs in January. He had been in the habit of purchasing a pig-and-a-half at a time for the past seventeen years. He also had about one hundredweight of potatoes, and at first said he had a sack of flour but then changed his mind. He had been instructed to send in a full return of what food he possessed but had not done so. There were three people in his household. The Committee decided to seize al the bacon except 20lbs, and send it to the two Voluntary Aid Detachment hospitals.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 8th March 1918

Restrictions on Canteens at Bedford

Soldiers at Bunyan Canteen, Bedford, 1914-18 [Z1306/12/11/4]

Wednesday 13th February 1918: Following a meeting called by the Mayor of Bedford, canteens serving soldiers in the town have been asked to restrict the amount of meat and margarine that they use. Canteen managers have now submitted returns showing that in one week soldiers consumed 160 lbs of margarine, 3500 lbs of bread, 183 gallons 3 quarts of milk, and 225 tins of condensed milk – all in addition to their normal rations. A proposition that a letter should be sent to the Army authorities by the Bedford Food Control Committee expressing alarm at the amount of bread and milk being consumed by soldiers was carried. There was also concern that soldiers were using restaurants in the town. This was considered unfair when they were already receiving more rations than civilians and it was suggested that restaurants should be put out of bounds. Instructions had been received by the Food Control Committee that sugar certificates were to be withdrawn from caterers and canteen, with stock to be held by the committee. Tea was also of concern, but supplies were coming in very gradually.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 8th and 15th February 1918

Meat Shortage at Leighton Buzzard

Leighton Buzzard High Street on market day c.1920 [Z1130/72/29]

Wednesday 6th February 1918: The shortage of animals available for sale at Leighton Buzzard market continues to be acute. Yesterday only seven fat cattle and five sheep were sent for sale, although the auctioneers Messrs. Cumberland and Hopkins were able to increase the supply to fourteen cattle and twenty eight sheep. All the local butchers were therefore able to receive a reasonable quantity of meat, although still some way short of the amount to which they are entitled. Most have closed their shops again today and are intending to open only for half the day tomorrow and Saturday. A hundred poultry were also sold at the market, realising prices ranging from six shillings for an ancient rooster to sixteen shillings and sixpence, with an average price of ten shillings.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 12th February 1918

More Food Supply Difficulties

The London Central Meat Company, North Street, Leighton Buzzard c.1910 [Z1306/72/12/11]

Tuesday 29th January 1918: Obtaining supplies of basic foods continues to be an issue in Leighton Buzzard and Linslade. Only about a dozen cattle and eight sheep were sent to Leighton Market last Tuesday, which were nowhere near enough to meet demand from local butchers. Most had sold out by Friday evening, and those customers who usually buy joints on Saturday night were left without meat for Sunday’s dinner. Butchers have been forced to accept sheep allocated to them even when the animals were in such poor condition that the meat was sold at a loss – one complained he had been allotted a sheep which was “giddy, heavy in lamb and had a bad liver”, which had caused him to suffer a net loss of nearly six shillings after butchering and delivery. It seems meatless days are now becoming compulsory, not voluntary. A Hockliffe butcher was told by one of his customers: “Meatless days! We have five every week; don’t talk about them.”

The margarine and butter “famine” is still acute, and last week many households were unable to obtain any supplies. The Leighton Buzzard Food Control Committee rationing scheme comes into force this week, but it cannot guarantee supplies to those with coupons, although it should make the distribution of what is available fairer. The Food Control Committee for Linslade and the Eaton Bray and Wing rural districts was fortunate last week in obtaining a two ounce butter ration for every resident, which was delivered through local grocers on Friday and Saturday. It hopes that this distribution will be repeated in future.

The collapse of the milk delivery strike which began nearly two months ago has given some relief to the people of Leighton. The novelty of fetching the morning milk soon wore off, and “mistresses who had to make daily journeys to the milk shop because their servants refused to go have been heard to threaten never to have the same milkman again”. One of the “strikers” said they had agreed to resume deliveries because the position had become impossible, though they complained of the injustice of the Leighton Food Committee who had bowed to the demands of butchers but would not meet with the milk dealers. Although the strike has ended problems remain. Milk supplies are still inadequate to meet demand, and in Linslade there are complaints from customers paying 7d a quart for their milk deliveries who are aggrieved that they are having to pay more than customers of the same retailers who happen to live in Leighton.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 29th January 1918

Butter and Margarine to be Rationed

North Street, Leighton Buzzard c.1900, Leighton Institute on the right [Z1432/2/1/28/43]

Tuesday 22nd January 1918: The following notice has been published today by the Leighton Buzzard Food Control Committee:

BUTTER AND MARGARINE COUPON SCHEME 

In order to avoid QUEUES and the undue and unequal purchase of BUTTER AND MARGARINE the Leighton Buzzard Food Committee have prepared a COUPON SCHEME, which will come into force on 28th January 1918, and under which no person will be able to obtain more than one supply (based on the number in the household) in any week. A RETAILER WILL NOT SUPPLY ANY PERSON WHO DOES NOT PRODUCE AN OFFICIAL COUPON. 

Coupons will be issued at the INSTITUTE, NORTH STREET, between 9.30 and 12.30, 1.30 and 4.30 and 5 to 8 p.m. from MONDAY 21st JANUARY, until STAURDAY 26th JANUARY 1918. 

The SUGAR TICKETS (not Cards) FOR THE HOUSEHOLD MUST BE PRODUCED AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION. 

The Coupon must be presented to any Retailer, who will supply the applicant if he has the material in stock. There is, however, no guarantee that the holder of a Coupon will obtain a supply, but the available stocks will be distributed as equally as possible.

 Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 22nd January 1918

Communal Kitchen at Bedford

Dudeney and Johnston Ltd, 34 High Street, Bedford 1911 [Z1306/10/33/67]

Saturday 19th January 1918: Communal kitchens have been set up in many parts of the country to help to alleviate the food problems caused by the war. This innovation has now reached Bedford, where a communal kitchen has been set up by Messrs. Dudeney and Johnston. The success of this initiative has far exceeded expectations, and large numbers of both middle and working class people are taking advantage to this opportunity to obtain a well-cooked meal at minimum cost. A large variety of foodstuffs is used in the kitchen where the meals are prepared, and with the use of advanced cooking methods cereals and the more easily available foods are converted into appetising and nutritious meals. There is currently no room for the kitchen’s customers to eat on the premises, but it is hoped that next month the company will be able to provide a large room where indoor meals can be eaten. For economy and to save time customers would be their own waiters, with a nominal charge made for the use of utensils. Once the success of this scheme is more widely known it seems certain that it will be copied by other firms.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 25th January 1918

Leighton Buzzard's Milk Delivery Dispute Continues

Horse-drawn milk cart from Eli Boarder’s dairy, Leighton Buzzard, c.1900 [Z1432/2/8/3/5]

Monday 14th January 1918: The delivery strike by milk retailers in Leighton Buzzard which began on December 1st is still continuing and appears to be no closer to a resolution. On January 8th the Executive Officer of the Leighton Buzzard Local Food Control Committee wrote the following letter to the milk dealers of the town:

“It having come to the notice of the local Committee that certain people (old persons and invalids) are suffering considerable hardship through the non-delivery of milk, it was decided to prepare a list of such people and approach the milk dealers of Leighton Buzzard to see if some arrangement cannot be come to by them to alleviate the distress of the persons named and for delivery of milk to the same. If such an arrangement can be made the local Committee will make full enquiries and submit the names to the Association of Local Milk Dealers.”

 Mr. H. Rivers of the Leighton Dairy then responded on behalf of the retailers:

 “In reply to your letter of the 8th, we quite agree with your Committee as to the inconvenience and hardship. It is not only to the infirm but also to the general public. But we think your Committee has lost sight of the greatest hardship of all, that in fixing the price of milk at 6d per quart they were taking the living away from the retailers, mostly working men and women. We know quite well that it costs the townspeople quite 7d. a quart by the time they have paid for the fetching, and they cannot always get it done then. The best arrangement we can suggest and the fairest to all, would be for your Committee to alter their price to 7d. per quart, for they know, and the public, too, that for the retailers to pay 1s. 9d. a gallon and sell at two shillings – it cannot be done.”

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 15th January 1918

Meat Shortage at Bedford

Cauldwell Street, Bedford, Benson & Co. butcher’s in centre, 1918 [Z1306/10/11/3]

Wednesday 2nd January 1918: Bedford is facing an acute shortage of meat, with very little available in the butchers’ shops of the town. Where butchers have been able to make meat available, it has come from beasts purchased before Christmas which were slaughtered without going through the market. What supplies remain are expected to run out by the weekend. At Bedford market last Saturday only one beast was for sale, and although more are expected to be available this week it will not be enough to meet demand. The situation is even worse in the country districts, where residents depend on the visits of Bedford butchers who have now been forced to suspend their journeys to the villages.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 4th January 1918

Food Shortages

Willard’s grocer’s shop, 47 High Street, Leighton Buzzard c.1920 [Z1432/2/1/19/134]

Thursday 13th December 1917: The Divisional Food Commissioner has asked the editor of the Leighton Buzzard Observer to publish the following letter:

Sir – I wish to appeal very urgently to all to whom butter, margarine and tea are not necessities to refrain from using them during the present scarcity, which it is hoped will be overcome shortly. I particularly address this appeal to the larger households and to the servants in those houses especially in the country. I do not think it is realised how the shortage affects the women and workers in the towns who, after a hard day’s work, often have to spend their spare time in obtaining very insufficient quantities of those commodities, and sometimes have to wait in queues for hours at a time only to be disappointed in the end.

It is hoped that some scheme of better distribution and a fair equalisation of supply to each consumer will be evolved shortly, and in the meantime I appeal to everyone in the country to use as little milk and butter as possible, and so release more of these two commodities for the towns. Every pint of milk and every pound of butter released from the country districts is of invaluable help in the towns.

 Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer 18th December 1917

Theft of Provisions at Biscot Camp

Soldiers at Biscot Camp c.1917 [Z1306/75/16/14]

Friday 7th December 1917: At a hearing lasting four and a half hours at Luton Court House four men charged with theft and conspiracy to steal provisions from Biscot Camp have been sent for trial. Bombadier Frederick Thomas Cocksidge was charged only with theft; Bombadier John James McGrath, Walter John Baxter (assistant storekeeper at the Canteen) and Thomas Charles Mortimer (storekeeper) were charged with theft and conspiracy; and Mortimer was also charged with receiving stolen goods. The prosecution took place following management changes at the Regimental Institute at Biscot and the appointment of a new President, Lieutenant Clyde Wilson, who discovered the alleged offences.

The main witness, Percy Walter Beale, had been reduced  from the rank of mess sergeant to gunner after four charges against him were heard by the Messing Committee. He admitted giving away items that did not belong to him, and said he later acted as decoy to catch the prisoners. He had also made accusations against Captain Lane (the former President of the Institute) and Lieutenant Baker, but did not know what had happened to them. He admitted giving presents to Baxter and receiving from him pickles, cigarettes and chocolate; and said he had also received money from Mortimer.

McGrath had signed a confession, and the other three prisoners had admitted the offences. Baxter and Mortimer were also prosecuted by the Navy and Army Canteen board for receiving stolen hams, and Mortimer was also charged with attempting to steal five cases of salmon. The defending solicitor described some of the evidence for the prosecution as “a combination of Jonathan Wild and Judas Iscariot”, but agreed the prisoners should be sent for trial. All were allowed bail except Mortimer.

Source: Luton News 13th December 1917

Leighton Buzzard Milkmen on Strike

Horse-drawn milk cart from Eli Boarder’s dairy, Leighton Buzzard, c.1900 [Z1432/2/8/3/5]

Saturday 1st December 1917: The hot topic of the moment in Leighton Buzzard and Linslade is the price of milk. The price which farmers can charge to milk vendors has been fixed from today, however local Food Control Committees are allowed to decide the price retailers may charge the public in their area. In Leighton Buzzard the retail price has been set at six pence a quart, but in Linslade milkmen are allowed to charge seven pence. As a result Linslade consumers are feeling aggrieved, whereas in Leighton milkmen are complaining that a price of six pence is not enough for them to sell profitably. The great irony of the situation is that in many cases the same milkmen serve both towns.

This morning milk has been delivered as usual in Linslade at the price of seven pence a quart; in Leighton Buzzard, however, most of the milkmen went “on strike” and refused to make deliveries. They gave advance notice to the customers that they could not deliver or give credit, and have informed them that milk will be available but only if the customers bring a container and fetch it themselves. As can be imagined there are a large number of irate housewives in the town.

The Linslade Food Control Committee have stated that they fixed their price after very careful consideration, and were convinced that six pence a quart would be “grossly unfair” to the retailers. The Leighton Buzzard Committee have not made a public statement, but there was some suggestion at a Council meeting on Thursday evening that if there was a problem with supplies they would consider establishing a municipal supply. There is growing support for the idea that a price of six and a half pence should be set for both towns as an interim measure and the issue referred to the District Commissioner.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 4th December 1917

A Call for Food Rationing

Potato queue at Kingsbury Farm, Church Street, Dunstable in April 1917 [Z50/36/142]

Tuesday 27th November 1917: Mr. T. A. Foster of 12 Cromwell Road, Luton has written to the Luton News arguing forcefully that the time has come to introduce food rationing in the face of the current “miserable scramble for food”. Continuing to appeal to the better nature of “food hogs” is pointless; meanwhile the responsible members of society are short of almost all necessary foods. He says:

“The greedy part of the community care nothing for talk or warnings. Nothing but drastic action will ever move them. Let us share and share alike, and thus avoid this most humiliating hunt for food. In the name of common sense, why – if the food question is a matter of life and death to the nation – is it still being tampered with? How ludicrous is the position. On the one hand we are being warned and threatened by the Food Controller that we shall have to have compulsory rationing all round, if we are not more moderate in the use of foods. On the other hand we have the great mass of the people everywhere looking forward to compulsory rationing as a relief. Indecision is, and has been throughout the war, our greatest enemy. We see it in every conceivable direction … When, oh when, will our “wobblers cease from wobbling”?

Source: Luton News, 28th November 1917

Blackberry Collection by Bedfordshire Schools

Blackberries [Image source: Wikimedia]

Tuesday 9th October 1917: About 120 Bedfordshire schools are taking part in  a scheme to collect blackberries which will be used to make jam for soldiers and sailors. Both children and teachers have been gathering blackberries enthusiastically, regardless of the weather. By the end of last week the county had collected nearly 25 tons of the fruit. The most successful schools last week were Eaton Socon and Cranfield, which each sent in over 7 hundredweight, Wootton with nearly 6 hundredweight, Toddington Voluntary and Council Schools with over 7 hundredweight between them, and Sharnbrook and Marston Moretaine with 5½  and 5 hundredweight respectively. Three small schools, at Pulloxhill, Pertenhall and Lidlington, deserve particular mention for sending over 2 hundredweight each.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 12th October 1917