Thread: Bits and pieces from WWII

While familiar household goods became hard to find, a wealth of new wartime items changed the texture of daily life. For the six years of World War II the lives of British people were encumbered by a wholly unfamiliar range of everyday objects: ration books and identity cards; the many symbols of officialdom, such as the air-raid warden's helmet; and foods such as Spa m and dried milk. As many of the staples of the British diet were rationed, some people began to feel a curious affection for the substitutes. Shops sold luminous discs for people to wear during the blackout, and luminous paint to dab on the doorbell. The colour of pillar-boxes changed; they were coated with a special yellow paint that turned red when there was poisonous blister gas in the air.

Model spitfire: Schoolboys made models to help in identifying British and foreign aircraft. They were given recognition tests, with silhouettes flashed onto screens from magic lanterns.

Powdered food: Britons became accustomed to dried milk and dried eggs. From 1942, one packet per person of dried egg (equivalent to a dozen eggs) was distributed every two months. It made rubbery omelettes and puddings which "looked like linoleum tiles". Condensed milk was made available on a points rationing system.

Protecting the Home: Government leaflets gave advice on home defence against air raids, methods were illustrated on cigarette cards and elsewhere. Windows were taped or papered against bomb blast, doors made gas proof with rugs and tape. Newspapers advertised ready filled sandbags at one shilling each.

Dimming device: From early in 1940, car headlamps were supposed to be fitted with regulation ARP masks which allowed only narrow, horizontal slits of light. Some towns permitted a glimmer of lighting by which pinpricks of illumination were aimed downwards from street lamps at road junctions.

Stirrup Pump: The hand-operated pump was regarded as essential for putting out fires; buckets of water were kept in readiness. Attics were cleared out as precautions against incendiary bombs.

The Tin Hat: The helmet painted with a white "W" helped to distinguish air-raid wardens among crowds of civilians. Wardens carried whistles to warn of raids and ensure that everyone was off the streets.

Insignia: The badge of the ARP service, which was mobilised as early as September 1938, during the Munich crisis.

Personal Documents: To buy restricted foods, people handed over their ration books to the shop keepers, who removed the coupons (as well as taking the appropriate sum of money) The identity card containing a personal number, had to be carried at all times and be produced on demand.

Gas masks: Remember, chin in, right in first, before you start to pull the straps over your head, ran the official instructions. The respirators looked alarming, and to calm the fears of small children the Government issued some brightly coloured examples, known as Mickey Mouse's.