Photo: Imperial War Museum
Wow, Christmas is well and truly on our doorsteps and I’m sure you’ve already started planning your Christmas dinners, got your Christmas puddings and who hasn’t already cracked open the mince pies and devoured all the good ones from the tin of chocolates?
Well, not everybody in HughesLand (the theoretical world that the Hughes team inhabits) as this year will be a little different for Paul at our Colchester store. Throughout December, our Paul will be living on World War II rations for all meals for the entire month. He is doing this to raise money for two charities very close to his heart; Alzheimers Research and the Colchester Neonatal Unit.
During the next few days, as you elbow your way down the aisles at your local supermarket only to find that they’ve sold out of the Heston-this or Delia-that, or the fully organic hand-reared hand-plucked turkey that you need, spare a thought for your predecessors in the 1940s and early 1950s, who had to celebrate Christmas under rationing and didn’t know what their Christmas dinner would consist of until the Government told them what was available.
Food rationing started in Britain in 1940, not long after the war started and “Christmas Bonuses” were an annual feature throughout. Bonuses were set annually at meetings of the whole Cabinet, generally in November. These continued right up until Christmas 1953, just a few months before rationing ended. Ministers agreed, right down to the very last ounce ounce, how much of particular foodstuffs (sugar, fat, tea and bacon) people were allowed to buy and then imposed these stipulations on shopkeepers up and down the country.
As Paul has said no to the extravagant Christmas dinner, we’ll be raising money in store to help these two fantastic causes, so when you come to buy your presents for your loved ones or some nice new appliances for your kitchen, feel free to sponsor Paul for his amazing work.
Keep going Paul, we’re all very proud of you!
