Blighty's Bread

[Jayenn]

Can anyone tell me what types of bread were allowed to be baked in WW1? The size, weight, any other particulars, please? And, if possible some idea of price, please.

[m0rris]

Some bread recipes here:

Final instalment in wartime recipes series | Great Food Magazine

http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~worldwarone/WWI/HomeFront/BestWarTimeRecipes/BestWarTimeRecipes.html

Will

[Jayenn]

Thanks

Just to put you in the picture – and anyone else who reads this, I’m researching the bread situation as it developed in WW1.

 

What I know is that before the war over 60 different varieties of bread were being baked and, with the inevitable wheat shortages yet to come, the Government restricted these to only 1 or 2 varieties. Or is that true - that’s my first question – was it just one variety or was it two? I can’t find the answer anywhere. Different websites tell you different things.

 

In local newspapers, at that time, the talk was of the rise in bread prices, of the “Quartern”, a loaf weighing about 3.3 lb. (1.5 Kg.), yet the Government had passed a law making the baking of any loaf above 1 ¾ lb. (in real weight measurements or 0.8 Kg in the other stuff!) illegal.

 

I need to find the truth – were there two loaves or just one?

[Great War Posters]

The interesting thing about war time bread is that it was probably healthier than the bread many people were eating before the way. Being able to buy white bread made of highly-processed flour had become a status symbol in the decades before the war, but coarser-grinds became the rule during the war. Given that bread was a far greater portion of the daily diet then than it is today, a few years a whole-grain bread presumably had a bit if a health benefit.

[Drover]

While unable to answer your question, I thought you might be interested in this appeal to save bread issued by the National War Savings Committee. Each "side" is 4.5 x 3.5 inches and its meant to be folded to form a small "sandwich board" (apologies!!) presumably to sit on restaurant tables.

[Army cook]

Standard.military.loaf was a quantern loaf 4lb issued one loaf to 8 men