Budget Shopping 1937-style
I was sipping my coffee and reading the Daily Mail online when I came across this little gem. A woman found her mother's shopping list from 1937. She fed a family of nine children for £2. The Mail estimated the equivilant today would be about £40. It's a lovely little article. This part really made me smile:Mrs Read said: 'We always had a full table. We never ever wanted. She never stopped working. She was the first one up at 5.30am and the last one to go to sleep.
So ladies, keep in mind that every little bit DOES help and makes a difference. You should definitely go read the whole article but I wanted to share the shopping lists here.
Emily Bonwick's shopping list from August 15, 1937 - Total cost £2
1 lb tea - 2s (shillings)
1 lb butter - 1s
1 lb back bacon - 1s 5d
1 lb cheese - 8d
1/2lb lard - 4d
3 oranges and 1 jelly - 1s 3d
1 packet of dried peas - 4B=d
Flour 4B=d
12oz preserving sugar - 2s 9d
Small Rinso - 3B=d
4 lbs sugar - 9d
2 lbs tomatoes - 1s 4d
Jar of salmon and shrimp paste - 3d
Custard powder - 5d B=lb
Biscuits - 5d
Tin of health salts - 3d
Bottle of sauce - 5B=d
Tin of corned beef - 6d
2 lbs of collar bacon for boiling - 1s 9d
12 eggs - 1s 9d
Quarter of ham - 7d
Apples - 4d
Dolly Blue - 1d
Small can of Libby's milk - 3B=d
1 lemon - 1B=d
Candles - 2B=d
Rice - 2d
Equivalent figures based on average supermarket price 2008 - Total cost £41.88
PG Tips - £3.45
Anchor butter - £2.42
Unsmoked bacon - £4.76
Medium Cheddar cheese - £2.99
Value lard - 28p
Hartley's orange jelly and 3 loose oranges - £1.14
Frozen peas - £1.67
Plain flour - 43p
Silver Spoon caster sugar - 59p
Fairy household soap - £1.53
Silver Spoon granulated sugar - £1.68
Loose tomatoes - £3.41
Jar of salmon and shrimp paste - 53p
Custard powder - 86p
Plain digestives - 59p
Andrews liver salts - £1.93
HP sauce - 89p
Tin of corned beef - £1.38
Bacon - £1.27
12 free range eggs £2.72
Prince's ham - £1.40
Six Gala apples - £1.57
Thick bleach 70p
One pint semi-skimmed milk - 45p
1 lemon - 30p
Dinner candles - £1.25
Basmati rice - £1.69
posted by Retro Audrey at
9:23 AM
3 Comments:
They were certainly diligent and thrifty back then! That list was quite a find for her!
Finally found one of your comments on my blog. Thank you for commenting -- sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I left a comment on a couple of posts back about making your own clothes. I made a kilt. Are you in England? We used to live there and I had my second son over there.
I just posted the Wellington recipe on my blog so head on over. It is good with or without the sauce. I made it without for mother-in-laws bday, but for xmas will make the sauce.
What a neat find! When you look at the photo of a page from the woman's notebook, it's clear that she had to do some marketing nearly every day (particularly for butter). I can't imagine having to plan three nutritious meals every day for that many children, coordinating the right ingredients and the timing. No wonder she needed a notebook! I think I'd have thrown my hands up in surrender when wartime rationing came on... in addition to everything she'd been doing earlier.
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