Kate Smith

Seventy years ago, rationing was in effect for most meats, dairy products, sugar, and even some canned vegetables. Therefore, meals required careful planning. CBS radio personality and singer Kate Smith took the time in the April 1945 issue of Radio Mirror to explain the rationale behind the rationing rules. For example, she notes that 2 billion less pounds of meat would be produced in 1945 than had been produced in 1944. But the needs of servicemen and commitments to the Allies hadn’t changed. Therefore, those two billion pounds would have to come from the civilian supply.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, she reminds the readers that there was no excuse for preparing a meal that didn’t measure up to pre-war standards. “The trick lies in your own ingenuity–in how well you can learn to plan menus around the foods that, although restricted in variety, are still available to us in sufficient quantity.”

With that in mind, she presents the following menus. As you can see, they lean heavily on eggs. Since she assumes that most of the lunches will be eaten from a lunchbox, most consist of sandwiches, and the dessert is generally left over from the prior evening’s meal.

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