The Home Front in World War Two

by Susie Hodge

  The leaflet continued by telling readers never to overcook food, to keep saucepans, kettles and other cooking utensils scrupulously clean but not to polish the bottom of pans as “a clean dull surface absorbs heat more rapidly than a shiny one”. Further ideas for energy saving were passed around families, such as:

  “Everyone turned lights off that were not absolutely necessary.”

  “When my mum finished cooking, she opened the oven door and we used the heat to warm the room – everyone sat in the kitchen rather than the living room.”

  In the book 101 Things to Do in Wartime of 1940 it was suggested that low-wattage lamps should be fitted with reflector shades to increase the light. This could be achieved by painting the inside of a shade with white paint or making a white paper lining. In 1944 the Ministry of Fuel and Power advertised “Is YOUR home helping to build a destroyer? Save fuel for battle.” The copy declared: “5lbs of coal saved in one day by 1,500,000 homes will provide enough fuel to build a destroyer.” The small print explained: “5lbs of coal are used in two hours by a gas fire or electric oven.”

  If ever there was a reason to conserve fuel, that was it.

  6

  THE CLOTHES DOCTOR

  “If every single garment in the homes of Britain, every pot and

  pan, every sheet, every towel is used and kept usable until not

  even a magician could hold it together any longer, the war will be

  won more surely and quickly.” ~ Hugh Dalton, President of

  the Board of Trade, in 1942

  From early on in the war, clothes, household linens and soft furnishings became difficult to obtain as fabrics imports were discontinued and many factories that had produced civilian clothes began making uniforms and other war equipment. Consequently prices for clothes and other fabric products soared and, in June 1941, clothes rationing was introduced. Although the shortages and high costs were problems, the overriding reason for clothes rationing was to release some of the 450,000 people employed in the clothing industry for other, more vital war work. Oliver Lyttelton, who was President of the Board of Trade from 1940-41 and in 1945, announced the launch of clothes rationing on the radio, saying: “In war the term ‘battle-stained’ is an honourable one. We must learn as civilians to be seen in clothes that are not so smart… because we are bearing yet another share of the war. When you are tired of your old clothes, remember that by making them do you are contributing some part of an aeroplane, a gun or a tank.” Two years later, Hugh Dalton, the next President of the Board of Trade (from 1942-45) told the nation: “The people of this country can congratulate themselves…in the first twelve months, more than a quarter of a million tons of shipping were saved in textiles alone. Nearly four hundred thousand men and women have been released from making cloth and clothing for civilians and have gone into the Services or to war production.”

  “Make Do and Mend” was adopted at the same time as clothes rationing as a slogan by the government to encourage everyone to repair and reuse their old clothes. Second-hand clothes were not rationed and clothing was handed down through families, sold on or swapped. Adults were allowed a fixed number of clothing coupons per year, each item of clothing having a coupon value, plus the price fixed by the Central Price Regulation Committee. Clothing ration books were pink and initially every adult was given 66 coupons a year, dropping to 48 in 1942 and 36 in 1943. With a man’s coat costing 16 coupons, a woman’s 14 and a child’s 11 it is clear how difficult things became. An adult’s cardigan took eight coupons, or five for a child, while a man’s suit was 26 coupons. A complete outfit with underwear could use up a person’s entire clothing allocation for the year. An extra allowance of 50 coupons was given to expectant mothers but, even so, things were still extremely difficult and the regulations were quite complex. In August 1941, the Board of Trade issued the “Clothing Coupon Quiz”, to clarify issues surrounding clothes rationing. It began:

  “There is enough for all if we share and share alike. Rationing is the way to get fair shares. Fair shares – when workers are producing guns, aeroplanes and bombs instead of frocks, suits and shoes. Fair shares – when ships must run the gauntlet with munitions and food rather than with wool and cotton. Fair shares – when movements of population outrun local supplies. It is your scheme – to defend you as a consumer and as a citizen. All honest people realise that trying to beat the ration is the same as trying to cheat the nation.”

  The “Clothing Coupon Quiz” included 100 questions and answers, explaining clothes rationing clearly and straightforwardly, but given the many occupations of people in Britain at the time and differing scenarios that could occur, it was rather complicated. For example, how to buy clothing for children who were evacuated, how to buy clothes for others and whether or not there would be any extra allowances for special occasions, such as weddings? (The answer to the last question was no.) Anyone could buy anyone else’s clothes for them using their coupons and as can be imagined, clothing coupons became a valuable commodity to barter with – for some. The “Clothing Coupon Quiz” explained how those who had been bombed out of their homes could obtain replacement coupons (if people’s clothes were destroyed by bombing, they could apply for up to two years’ worth of coupons); how essential items of clothing could be obtained for those who worked for services such as nursing or the police; or how items that were not on the government’s list would be valued in terms of coupons. It pointed out that school uniforms had to come out of clothing rations. In reality, this meant that many families had to pool their coupons in order to buy the necessary items, including blazers, shorts, blouses or shirts and so on.

  When clothes rationing began, 26 of the allocated 66 coupons were actually margarine coupons that were already in use, which caused some confusion. Later on, specific clothing coupons were printed (on recycled paper) and issued. Unlike food, clothing coupons could be redeemed at any shop or number of shops. They could be used at any rate and at any time. They could also be sent off for mail order clothing. Some uniforms were not rationed, while some, such as those for nurses or the police were, as were knitting yarns and dress fabrics, for instance. Inevitably, an illegal black market developed with unscrupulous traders selling the unobtainable, but at a price. Further illicit trading occurred with people selling counterfeit coupons, until the government issued new rules making any previously detached coupons invalid (except when used for mail order). Coupons had to be stamped in the book and detached by the shopkeeper at the point of sale. Another problem was that about 700,000 clothes ration books were lost or stolen in the early part of the scheme. When somebody died, the family was meant to return the deceased person’s unused clothing rations, but this rarely happened as so precious were the coupons. Apart from all this, many of the country’s families were simply too poor to buy any new clothes, even with coupons and at the regulated, government-fixed prices. So the make do and mend culture grew, and it became the norm to swap, sell or adapt old clothes; dyeing, unpicking, darning or sewing in efforts to look neat and to maintain self-confidence.

  Be a magician

  “No material must lie idle, so be a magician and turn old clothes into new” was a line in one of many Board of Trade leaflets dealing with the “Make Do and Mend” campaign. The leaflets encouraged creative enterprise as did the classes the government organised to show women how they could care for their clothes, make them last and renovate or remake them. Make Do and Mend leaflet No. 8 was entitled “Every Woman her own Clothes Doctor”. It began: “Here are a few treatments for a few common clothes complaints – all quite easy to carry out and all well worth doing.” There followed tips on lengthening a dress; giving an old coat a fresh start; repairing pleats; making a decorative elbow patch; renewing worn gloves; replacing pockets and “keeping pace with a growing girl”, among several other practical ideas. Other booklets discussed caring for woollens, how to patch a shirt, make buttonholes, darn or make clothes out of nylon, for instance. Scarves, bindings and ribbons we
re hoarded as they were useful for remodelling old clothes. If an item of clothing could not be mended or turned into something useful, it was unpicked or unravelled, added to other materials and turned into something completely new. Vivien Coulsdon recalled making necessary objects from papier-maché:

  “I made all sorts of things in the war, but some of my most successful ‘creations’ were papier-maché buckles. I tore up bits of newspaper and made a paste with flour and water. The paper pulp was quite malleable and I shaped it to make the buckle, adding a bit of bent wire to the central ‘line’. When it was completely dry, I painted the buckle, not the wire, and then decorated it, with small painted flowers. I seem to remember using clear nail varnish to protect the whole thing. It was so successful that all my friends wanted one! So I made several as gifts and we attached them to home-made cloth belts.”

  Barbara Matthews remembers making hats for a wartime wedding:

  “We plaited straw into thin plaits and then sewed them together in spiral hat shapes. Then we varnished them and made bows or flowers to sew on to them. It was a lot of difficult work!”

  Jackie Watson recalled women turning their husbands’ trousers into skirts for themselves. Trousers were easily converted into skirts or into boys’ shorts by cutting off the bottom of the legs and unpicking the inner seams. Two triangular-shaped pieces of fabric cut from the legs were stitched into the space at the front and back and the entire garment was hemmed. An advertisement from the Board of Trade declared: “Nowadays every remade garment becomes a uniform of honour and every darn a ‘decoration’.” It went on to suggest that enough material could be salvaged from a man’s shirt to make a school blouse for a small girl, or a pair of man’s flannel trousers could provide enough fabric for a “warm little frock”, using the top part for the bodice and a skirt from the leg portions.

  Women did a lot of knitting before the war, but once it started, the skill came into its own. Posters announced such things as: “Our Jungle Fighters want Socks – Please Knit Now”. So most evenings during the blackout, women and girls would listen to the radio and knit essential items such as jumpers, socks, mittens, scarves and balaclavas for the troops, for their families and for themselves. Girls were taught to knit from an early age, but in such a sexist era, boys were not. Maisie Walker remembers:

  “Young girls were taught to knit on four needles at school to make balaclavas and mittens for the Forces and when at home, they unravelled old jumpers to knit into different garments for everyday wear. They were also taught how to do French Knitting, otherwise known as Knitting Nancy, and boys too learnt how to do this.”

  Women’s magazines printed knitting patterns and hints and tips on how to care for garments or make an old outfit more fashionable.

  Ideas included making dresses and skirts from blackout fabric, unravelling jumpers and using the wool to create new outfits, darning or patching clothes or making a skirt out of an old pair of trousers. Fair Isle became fashionable because it was made of small amounts of coloured yarn, which worked well when using up odd bits and pieces. In 1943, in an article entitled “Warmed up for winter”, Good Housekeeping declared: “Here are some simple home recipes that add warmth and variety to a wilting wardrobe.” It suggested:

  “Take one or more tired frocks and spice them up with a cheerful sleeveless pullover made from the brightest scraps of woollen in your piece-box. Cut strips, join them by machine in the gayest colour combination you can manage, then cut out your pullover from this length of material. Line with oddments of strong cotton or woollen for firmness and extra warmth.”

  Sewing classes and advice centres where capable sewers and knitters taught others or advised on the best way to renovate clothes sprang up in church halls and local schools and women were encouraged to have “sewing parties”, pooling their resources and ideas and generally helping each other.

  Standard sizing

  At such a time of shortages, the best possible use had to be made of scarce materials and so, in May 1940, the Distributive Industry (Standards) Committee started operating. The new committee’s first task was the question of clothes sizing as a measure of economy, to reduce any wastage. The committee had to determine and create set sizes for a wide range of women’s and children’s clothing. Before the war and for years afterwards, women had complained about the diversity and confusion of clothes’ sizing systems. The committee established a certain form of standard sizes during the war (this had already been achieved in uniforms for servicemen and women) but it was not until several years after the war that an agreed system was formed.

  In 1943, the Board of Trade printed an article in Good Housekeeping on taking care of clothes. At the bottom of the article was a paragraph entitled “Count your Coupons”. It began:

  “When you are thinking of buying some garment or piece of material, count over your coupons and think of the warm things that you will need in the winter time. The cold weather is only a few weeks ahead. Better hold your coupons. Perhaps you can ‘make do’ for the present with the clothes you have.”

  The aim of the Board of Trade was to help rather than lay down the law. The intention was to maintain good humour, while helping everyone to feel independent and in control of their own lives as much as was possible. With that in mind, many “Make Do and Mend” booklets were issued, including one in 1943 with a foreword by Hugh Dalton, which began:

  “First, I would like to thank you all for the way in which you have accepted clothes rationing. You know how it has saved much-needed shipping space, manpower and materials, and so assisted our war effort. The Board of Trade Make Do and Mend campaign is intended to help you get the last possible ounce of wear out of all your clothes and household things.”

  The booklet was filled with even more information and ideas for washing, regenerating, mending and making new clothes out of old. Making clothes last longer took up one chapter; washing and ironing hints took up another, while yet another was called “Turn Out and Renovate”. Advice included:

  “If you decide that the garment is quite unwearable, unpick it completely and with patience in order to salvage every inch of material; then wash it or send it to the cleaners. If the material is faded or patchy have it dyed a darker colour.”

  In the chapter “Unpick and Knit Again, New Life for Old Woollies” were included ideas on altering and revamping all sorts of knitwear, such as:

  “Jumpers: Re-knit the sleeves in stripes, using up oddments of brightly-coloured wool, and make the new shaping at the top, thus giving it an extended shoulder-line. Add a striped pocket to match. A discarded jumper will make a child’s jersey or frock. A 2-ply jumper in a pale colour would re-knit into a vest.”

  Making do and mending was nearly always a female job. Further ideas that emerged from the wealth of information and ideas that were printed included: how to prevent a skirt from “seating”; how to make slippers from an old felt hat; making taffeta rosettes or crocheting a frill to revive hats; fashioning new collars and cuffs on old blouses or dresses with fabric scraps, old lace or crocheted pieces; or even crocheting buttons for cardigans or painting the buttons on a coat, blouse or jacket in a different colour with nail polish. Maisie Walker recollects: “Fabric cut from the tail of a man’s shirt could be used to recover a collar.” Fiona Macdonald recalls: “My mother married in 1946 and – because of rationing (no coupons) – had to make slippers for her three bridesmaids out of scraps of left-over fabric stitched to cardboard insoles (early versions of the shoe insoles we can buy today). Mother said that parachute silk – often a very unseductive khaki – was tightly woven and extremely hot to wear. Like sitting a plastic bag, she said; it did not ‘breathe’. She said that they also used to make new hats out of old hats or sometimes home-made artificial flowers plus scraps of net or tulle, held in place by hairpins.” Everything was restricted to using the few materials that were available and various manufacturers and haberdashery suppliers capitalised on the problems through their advertising, such as:
/>
  “New Undies without Coupons the new ‘dyeconomy’ way. Practise economy the ‘dyeconomy’ way. It’s the inexpensive simple way to bring new colourful life to dainty garments and fabrics. Auroral Cold Water Dyes eliminate boiling and give you new garments in two minutes.”

  Women did not just rely on the ideas they read about. Many also applied their own ingenuity in making new or smartening up old clothes. Bandages were cut and dyed to make hair bands and turbans (which were considered extremely chic); curtain fabric was used to make skirts, dresses or even coats; new jewellery was made from such things as beer bottle tops, buttons and corks; old blankets were turned into coats and jackets and old towels were made into children’s dressing gowns. During the war parachute nylon (silk was difficult to obtain as it came from Asia) and parachute cord became available in certain areas for civilians as military surplus and later as a retail product. However it was acquired parachute silk and the harsher, newer nylon was used gleefully; cut down and made into underwear, nightwear, summer blouses or even wedding dresses. The Board of Trade issued a leaflet: “How to look after Parachute Nylon”, which explained that the nylon appearing in the shops was parachute nylon and so not the better quality material they were expecting to have available within a relatively short time. Nylon was a new material, so the leaflet contained plenty of advice about washing, handling and sewing with it.

  Utility clothing

  Although clothes rationing began in June 1941, by the end of 1942, “Utility clothing” had also been introduced. With a strict set of guidelines laid down for their manufacture, the principle behind Utility clothing that it was standardised, so the government could ensure that all clothes were made with an absolute economy of raw materials and labour. Every garment was practical and simple, following certain regulations, such as narrow lapels, but especially: