Introduction

As should be clear by now, the war years were not an easy time for housewives. Shortages primarily affected the work sphere traditionally dominated by women, namely clothing and feeding a family, and heating and cleaning the home. Housewives had no choice but to change their ways in the wake of ever more limitations. If they did, as Dutch and Danish authorities never tired of pointing out, it was possible even under these difficult circumstances to maintain cleanliness, to be sufficiently clothed and, crucially, to prepare a decent meal. It was reiterated time and again that as long as people were willing and able to adapt, and had the necessary knowledge to do so, nothing could really go wrong. The working-class housewives were not alone, however: in the Netherlands, groups of middle and upper-middle class women felt that they shared the responsibility to help, and they set out in the early 1940s to convey domestic knowledge to their less economically fortunate sisters. They began, first things first, to teach working-class women to cook wholesome food within the limits set by rationing, and organized cooking classes and exhibitions. The idea undoubtedly stemmed from good intentions, but it soon stranded on the harsh realities of working-class life. The meals that poor and supposedly ignorant women were expected to learn to prepare, cost roughly twice their normal daily expenditure on food. The well-to-do women behind the newly developed recipes had taken account of the limitations set by rations and fuel shortages but not, apparently, of budgetary constraints. Working-class women, rather than being thankful, were angry and at times even riotous. The help so graciously offered by their affluent sisters was felt to be degrading rather than enlightening.

It is not as obvious as it may seem that Dutch working-class people were concerned about the price of food. After all, the aim of many of the economic controls introduced at the time was to ensure that consumption would be independent of income. Price controls had been introduced in the Netherlands, as well as in Denmark, to ensure that essential consumer goods were at all times affordable to all.