I dashed about Ruby’s garden before going inside to indulge in cake, coffee and stories! (and got so engrossed I forgot to get a photo of Ruby today!)
I was trying to get a sense of what life was like during the depression and war, in terms of things people had to go without, with the rationing.
It was a little hard to stay on track this afternoon…lots of sideline stories and memories!
Ruby was born in 1916 – Right in the middle of the Great War. People were just getting on track again when the depression hit, then of course right on its heels came the second world war.
Living in country Tasmania back in those days, things were never plentiful. Being remote from the rest of Australia as well as transport being scarce, people had to make do or go without! Nothing like the choices we make now to voluntarily reduce our crazy consumerism… it was just a way of life!
Ruby seemed to think that those in the country actually had things a little better than those in the city. If you were in the country, you could more easily feed yourselves via the vegetable gardens, chickens and pretty much everyone had a cow, which totally took care of the milk, cream and butter issue.
When the ships came into Burnie, Ruby’s Dad would load up the horse and take a couple of tons of potatoes into town, and do the shopping at the same time. Supplies would come in on the ships, so flour & sugar etc were bought at that time, and bought in bulk. (we are talking 70lb bags here! (30+ kilos)
Ruby was reminiscing about one particular trip where the whole family went into town (She had a sister and two brothers). Her mother did the rare thing of buying a loaf of bread, as she probably hadn’t had time that day to make one. By the time they got home she found a completely hollowed out loaf!! Once the siblings started nibbling out the inside it seemed they couldn’t stop!! Just the crusts were left, which was what they had on the table that night!
Apparently (luckily) her mum saw the funny side!
Ration books were issued once a year. Coupons were cut out at the counter, and it was illegal to trade in ones that were already cut. However, people did – Ruby doesn’t remember anyone getting into trouble for it.
As the war started, Ruby began nursing. She said farewell to one of her brothers, who went to war and never came home. There is a beautiful photo of her and Syd in their respective uniforms that graces the wall in her lounge room.
The hospital wards were always short of supplies and it was a juggling act to provide patients with what they needed.
They were supplied with cots for the babies, but no mattresses or bedding! The nurses had to be creative. A spare bed was robbed of its pillows to make mattresses, blankets were folded to make soft borders around the hard edges of the cots, and napkins were used to fill in gaps to stop the draughts getting in to the babies!
The mothers understood the plights of the nurses and banded together to give them any spare coupons that they could lay their hands on.
Ruby and some of the other nurses got permission to use the coupons and given money by the hospital board to purchase materials. They then set about slowly (and in their time off) sewing up the things needed to make their patients lives more comfortable.
Ruby was so mortified that these new mothers were being served dinners off these terrible old tin trays instead of nice plates!! (even though she insists the food was good!)
Ruby remembers her other brother Col, when spending time with his friends, that they would go to the shop and see what they could buy for a treat. Usually it was cheese!!! Imagine that! Buying a lump of cheese to nibble on as a treat from a shop!
How our worlds have changed!
And really – the most important question in my mind was “What about chocolate??”
Gosh! Chocolate was a rare rare treat! If you were lucky (and it was available) you might get some on your birthday, or some at Christmas! Ruby’s eyes lit up – “It was a real ‘red letter’ day if you got chocolate!”
Boiled sweets were more common, but still a luxury. Sugar wasn’t so plentiful that you could go making sweets for the kids, and as Ruby pointed out – there wasn’t that much time for such frivolities!
I don’t think people know how fortunate we are to live in our worlds where so much is at our fingertips!
I asked Ruby if the people in the city found the rationing more difficult as they were maybe more used to having things available, but she thought not, simply because people just didn’t have money and so were used to going without.
I can only imagine the vast majority of us in first world countries would take things very hard if we suddenly got super restricted on our basic foodstuffs, never-mind all the luxuries!
Well – I have two pieces of chocolate left that I am about to indulge in. However, I won’t take it for granted. I will appreciate it that little bit more tonight!
Cheers
Thank you for some history!
🙂 No worries
Some of the best conversations come from meandering, and this was no exception! I have photos of my grandmother and father in that era, but as I have mentioned, very little in the way of stories. Thank you again for sharing these, to at least give me a baseline to ponder when thinking of my grandparents lives!
I was so lucky – growing up I had the full compliment of grandparents. Sadly all gone now. Very pleased to have Ruby!! Its a second chance at being a grand-daughter!
Ruby is certainly a treasure trove of stories. Thanks for sharing them. Life is so different these days and I often wonder how we would all go if we were suddenly forced to go back to the olden ways.
I wonder the same thing! Who would survive??
Oh, I wished I had gotten my grandparents to tell me more about the past before they died. I was too young and stupid at the time to realize what a blessing they were. So special to get a glimpse through Ruby. Soak all that up Lisa while you can, you are a lucky girl!
When we are young I think we enjoy our grandparents as kids should – My Nanna spoiled us of course, cooked us special cakes and told us we were beautiful! 😀 We hear some of their stories of course, but as you say, too young to really sit down and get more details!