I checked with my Dad, who would have been 10 in 1942. He said, if you were lucky, your family might have a chicken. Probably served with roast potates and some other vegetables, bread sauce and gravy.(No cranberry sauce, this was unkown in England at the time.) He said his grandmother saved up sugar ration all year, managed to get hold of some currants or sultanas and made a Christmas cake. He doesn`t remember having Christmas pudding during the war. No candy of course. ( My Mum remembers getting chocolate from American soldiers who were camped on their front lawn the days before D-Day, but they lived in south England, whereas Dad was in the Midlands and so missed out.) Dad also commented that if you knew a farmer who made his own butter or cheese, you might be lucky and get a bit extra from him. He said they ate a lot of rabbit. Apparently most people in the country or in villages kept rabbits. This might not be impossible even in suburban areas like Finchley or Cambridge. There might very well be a rabbit hutch at the bottom of the garden. He mentioned that there was no beer in bottles. If you wanted to drink beer at home, you went to the pub with a jug, where they filled it up. And women, if they went to the pub, would sit in the snug. Also, I don`t know how extensive the Russell grounds are, but some more aristocratic types might have herds of deer on their estates. I`m sure all four Pevensies could stalk and shoot deer with a bow. I bet Peter, Edmund and Eustace could snare rabbits and grouse and tickle trout too. Ironically what little I know about grouse shooting and poaching comes from ``Danny, Champion of the World`` by Roald Dahl!
Re coffe vs. tea. I think a lot of this is a class thing. The Pevensies seem to be upper middle-class or even gentry. They would be used to drinking coffee. But it would be unheard of for the lower classes to have coffee. Certainly my parents` families didn`t at this time. It was always tea. There`s also the issue of what time you ate meals. Lower classes probably ate their main meal of the day, around 1:00 p.m. then had a tea round 5-6. Upper classes ate the main meal later in the evening.
This sort of social history is fascinating, especially when you think it wasn`t all that long ago.
Can`t help on the church question--my parents` families seem to be non-church goers. Oh except not everybody would have been C of E or Catholic. There would have been Methodists or chapel folk too. Again possibly a class thing.
Christams food during the war
Dad also commented that if you knew a farmer who made his own butter or cheese, you might be lucky and get a bit extra from him. He said they ate a lot of rabbit. Apparently most people in the country or in villages kept rabbits. This might not be impossible even in suburban areas like Finchley or Cambridge. There might very well be a rabbit hutch at the bottom of the garden.
He mentioned that there was no beer in bottles. If you wanted to drink beer at home, you went to the pub with a jug, where they filled it up. And women, if they went to the pub, would sit in the snug.
Also, I don`t know how extensive the Russell grounds are, but some more aristocratic types might have herds of deer on their estates. I`m sure all four Pevensies could stalk and shoot deer with a bow. I bet Peter, Edmund and Eustace could snare rabbits and grouse and tickle trout too. Ironically what little I know about grouse shooting and poaching comes from ``Danny, Champion of the World`` by Roald Dahl!
Re coffe vs. tea. I think a lot of this is a class thing. The Pevensies seem to be upper middle-class or even gentry. They would be used to drinking coffee. But it would be unheard of for the lower classes to have coffee. Certainly my parents` families didn`t at this time. It was always tea. There`s also the issue of what time you ate meals. Lower classes probably ate their main meal of the day, around 1:00 p.m. then had a tea round 5-6. Upper classes ate the main meal later in the evening.
This sort of social history is fascinating, especially when you think it wasn`t all that long ago.
Can`t help on the church question--my parents` families seem to be non-church goers. Oh except not everybody would have been C of E or Catholic. There would have been Methodists or chapel folk too. Again possibly a class thing.
Hope this helps a bit.
ClaireI