Food rationing & bananas

Has our relationship to food changed during the coronavirus crisis? Stockpiling, shortages, local sourcing, and self-sufficiency are now on everyone’s lips. William Mackenzie shares his memories of the time when almost all common foods had been placed under rationing.

By W.A.M. MacKenzie

Some eighty years ago ( but still within my lifetime) Britain faced the prospect of rationing. Then it was a result of German u-boats sinking our vital supply ships and at that time  we did not have fleets of jumbo aircraft to bring in supplies. In March of this year rationing was again a possibility, this time as a result of the enemy within, the selfish stockpiling terrorists. Happily this time rationing has been avoided but not without a degree of suffering and worry to the old and less able bodied.


When I became aware of the world about me, rationing was firmly in place so I had no memory of the previous times of plenty which my elders must have felt deeply. It is sure that city children suffered much greater privation than the likes of me who grew up on a farm. We had no shortage of tatties and swedes and gardens bulged with fruit and vegetables. Everyone kept hens and when we had tired of eggs one of the hens would be sacrificed. The surrounding fields were full of rabbits and hares, pigeons and, in the Winter, geese. It was illegal to slaughter animals on the farm but occasionally a sheep or a pig would magically disappear and because everyone shared in the resultant meaty bounty no one let on.


Rationing lasted well after the end of the war and I do recall two occasions when I was made aware of it.


We had visitors from Edinburgh and during the chat our visitor was bemoaning the shortage and price of eggs. When she looked to my mother for confirmation my mother had to, rather shamefacedly, admit that she had never bought an egg in her life.



The great banana robbery


Then there was the great banana robbery.
At the end of the war Invercharron House was bought by Admiral and Lady MacNamara. For a short time my mother did some kitchen work for them.


Bananas had been unknown during the duration of the war and when they reappeared in Britain their arrival was worthy of a mention on the BBC news with the added rider that they would first be made available to families with children.


The first stock to reach Ardgay appeared in Bob Fraser’s shop and a few days later a bunch appeared in the kitchen of Invercarron House. My mother was outraged. To such an extent that she felt she was justified in taking a banana home to us.


Carefully she divided it into four pieces and passed them to us excited children. She was mortified when we all pulled disgusted faces and went “Ugghh”.


“I’ve stolen for the first time in my life and that’s all the thanks I get,” she bemoaned.
As children we gradually became aware of new treats, sweets (other than pan drops) and chocolate biscuits, and they were all joyfully welcomed and became immediate favourites with, of course, the exception of bananas - they took much longer to find favour.

W.A.M Mackenzie’s memoirs Where’s Home? Glimpses of a boy I used to know are available from Amazon as a paperback or kindle e-book.