Rationing in World War II -- Spam, baloney and homemade fudge: Cleveland Remembers

From Cleveland.com: Rationing in World War II -- Spam, baloney and homemade fudge: Cleveland Remembers
Almost everything was rationed in World War II: shoes, canned goods, meat, sugar, liquor and gasoline. We save grease and tin cans for the war effort.

Because meat was rationed we learned to "love" Spam, which was not rationed. We also ate fried baloney.

It was a big treat when my mother could save up enough sugar to make homemade chocolate fudge with nuts. I can remember her testing to see if the fudge had come to a soft ball stage by dropping a small amount into cold water. If it formed a soft ball it was ready to take off the stove. It was really hard for me to wait for it be cool enough to beat to the correct consistency. The final step was pouring the fudge out onto a butter plate.

In order to go on a summer vacation to a cottage at Mitiwanga, my father would have to save up his gas stamps for the trip.

Liquor rationing was not a problem until one evening when my father and uncle went to the store to get some whiskey. My three cousins and I were left in the car. I don't remember who was carrying the paper bag with the month's liquor ration in it, I just remember that the bag broke just as they got to the car. The bottles smashed to the pavement and broke. The men watched with almost tears in their eyes as the alcohol flowed into the gutter.

My cousins and I tried to become invisible. We didn't look at our fathers or laugh, because we knew that they would be looking for someone to blame. It was an extremely quiet drive home.

To save money and ration points, my mother canned tomatoes and peaches. She never bothered with green beans, because of the real danger of botulism. Canning was an all day job. The glass jars had to be washed and scalded and put out to dry. The the tomatoes had to skinned before they were cooked. The boiling hot tomatoes were poured into the waiting jars and a metal lid placed on the jar top. When the tomatoes cooled, a metal outer ring was screwed on if the first lid had dent in it, which indicated it was a good seal. Finished jars were stored in basement on shelves in the fruit cellar.