††During the Second World War, it became difficult for Britain to obtain goods from abroad and many factories were diverted from manufacturing consumer goods to making the equipment necessary to fight the war. Items such as food, clothing and furniture became scarce and rationing was introduced to ensure that the goods were shared fairly amongst the population. Food rationing began in 1940 and clothing was rationed the following year. Ration books were used to keep a record of the goods each person had received. They contained a certain number of coupons which had to be surrendered before any of the rationed goods could be bought. Although it was illegal to do so, many people with coupons they did not need sold them to others. Shops had a certain number of customers registered with them and only had enough goods for these people.
