You can't half tell that Canada wasn't invaded during the 2nd World War!
"First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they
carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can,
and
didn't get tested for diabetes."
Mothers in the forties and first half of the fifties couldn't afford to
smoke or drink. They might have taken aspirin, but blue cheese and tinned
tuna weren't even heard of let alone available, even in limited quantities
on ration. Diabetes was rare because of the diet of manly home-grown
vegetables we lived on.
"As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding
in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat."
Only the wealthy had cars, and there weren't many of them. The headmaster
(principal) of my 7-11 years school rode on a bicycle. By the time of was 11
in 1954, some people had cars. We didn't have out first until I was 23. My
mother and father never had one. Wouldn't have known what a pickup was.
"We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar
in it"
No cup cakes, but a slice, maybe two of white bread with margarine sprinkled
with sugar for tea (evening meal). Growing children needed energy. Butter
was rationed to half an ounce per person a week when available. Eggs, one
per person per week.
"Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team."
Little League is peculiar to the other side of the pond. Children played in
the street, split into two teams and played soccer or cricket depending on
the season.
Mothers only started working to take the place of men who were away at war.
Before that a man would be looked down on if his wife worked - meant he
couldn't support his family properly.
Food rationing began on 8 January 1940. Some items were taken off rationing
in 1950, but it didn't finally end completely until 1st July 1954. Among the
items rationed were sweets, eggs, bacon, butter, sugar, clothes (women made
underwear from parachute silk if they could get hold of one, coats were made
out of old blankets and adult dresses were recut to make clothes for little
girls), household linen, canned and dried fruit, chocolate, biscuits,
treacle, syrup, jellies (jello), mincemeat (the fruit in mince pies),
petrol, meat.
Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK
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