Make Do and Mend , Jill Norman

Make Do and Mend , Jill Norman

This book is a collection of wartime Make Do and Mend leaflets issued in Britain during the Second World War. While it is food rationing that attracts most attention now, this book reminds us that clothes were also strictly rationed while fuel was in short supply. The majority of these leaflets give advice on how to repair clothes, how to avoid damaging clothes or how to make the best use of fuel for heating, hot water and cooking. That last set of leaflets resonate well with modern environmental concerns, giving advice on most energy efficient way to use different types of cookers or on saving energy by turning your heating down.

The most chilling of these leaflets is a simple six page leaflet entitled "After the Raid", issued in London in December 1940. Here we come face to face with the reality of the Blitz. Instead of advice on darning or fuel economy, we find advice on what to do if you lose your home, can't find friends or relatives or are wounded in the bombing.

This is an interesting collection of wartime leaflets that give an interesting insight into life on the Home Front in Britain under the stresses and strains of rationing.

Author: Foreword by Jill Norman
Edition: Hardback
Pages: 160
Publisher: Michael O'Mara
Year: 2007


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