>>>>>>http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/events/rationing.htm
>>>>>
>>>>>That was a different world, all right.
>>>>>
>>>>>Both my parents were born in the UK in 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression. Rationing started in the UK in early 1940, both my parents were bombed out of their homes as young children during the war. They married and emigrated to Canada in 1955. Since rationing didn't fully end in the UK until 1954 (vs. 1947 in the US), until they emigrated they had spent basically their entire lives either in the Depression, WWII or under rationing.
>>>>>
>>>>>Boomers and later generations don't have a clue - they think they're hard done by when they can only buy a 37" big-screen TV instead of a 50".
>>>>
>>>>Strangely my father in law told me he and his father travelled in Europe a few years after the war ended when there was still strict rationing in the UK and found food was much better than at home and not rationed.
>>>
>>>I think in some countries there were different rules (i.e. relaxed or no rationing) for hotels, restaurants etc. Also, I believe food in military messes/canteens was a lot better than what the general populace could get. Maybe they were eating in those places?
>>>
>>>My understanding is that agricultural conditions in occupied Europe were quite bad immediately post-war - the UK may even have been amongst the nations shipping food aid there (?) However, they seem to have improved rapidly - Marshall Plan aid may have helped ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan ) - some interesting background info in the Wikipedia article.
>>>
>>>It looks like the UK was actually the largest recipient of Marshall Plan aid - don't know if that would have affected rationing one way or the other. Maybe it was national indebtedness, or a balance of payments situation post-war that caused the long duration of rationing.
>>
>>Of all the participants in the War, GB came out the worst: bombed the hell out of, rationed, near bankrupt, not helped to rebuild by gracious victors, the Empire all but lost (and the revenue therefrom), etc, etc.
>
>Not disagreeing with that, but things didn't exactly turn out well for Germany or Japan, either.. Then again, they were more deserving of that than GB.

The cold war really pulled the fat out of the fire for Japan and Germany. A very quick transition from enemy to loyal ally against the red menace.