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from the archives — coffee and tea rationing: 'a lot of coffee gets drunk because the drinker hasn't anything more exciting to do'
it’s hard to imagine the government telling you how muc...
aug 6 2024
2 minute read
a tea and coffee rationing program went into effect in canada 82 years ago this week, in support of second world war efforts. pictured are calgary herald headlines about the rationing news, rationing coupons and a rationing poster created by the american government.
it’s hard to imagine the government telling you how much coffee and tea you can drink each week, but that’s exactly what happened to canadians 82 years ago this week.
on aug. 3, 1942, the government put coffee and tea rations into effect as part of an ever-tightening set of restrictions that saw products and materials diverted to the second world war effort.
each canadian was only allowed one ounce of tea or four ounces of coffee each week — but not both! sugar had already been rationed to half a pound per person per week and gasoline had been rationed in the country for months.
the calgary herald reported that hundreds of citizens were quickly trying to buy up coffee and tea before the coupon rationing began. “people i have never seen before drove up in cars and asked for coffee or tea,” the owner of the mewata grocery story told the herald. “they went away empty handed,” said the man, who estimated he could have sold 300 to 400 pounds of the products if he fulfilled each request.
restaurants were still being allowed to serve coffee and tea to customers, but limits were placed at just one cup per person.
the herald published a story on how to stretch those scarce pounds of coffee and tea: make your teapot water very hot, use less tea and let it steep longer. try using less-than-a-level-spoonful of coffee when making a cup. other useful tips? “add a pinch of salt to the coffee. it heightens the flavour. and stop sitting over your coffee at the end of the meal. a lot of coffee gets drunk because the drinker hasn’t anything more exciting to do.”
calgary herald; aug. 3, 1942.
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one herald story explained the reason for the tea rationing this way: “the limited supplies of tea on hand and restricted prospects of new shipments result from the fact that pre-pearl harbor sources of supply in the netherlands east indies and malay are cut off by enemy occupation, while ceylon and india, the major sources of supply, are in a theatre of war more than 8,000 hazardous miles from canada.” shipping concerns were also negatively impacting coffee imports.
almost two years later, on sept. 18, 1944, the coffee and tea rationing came to an end.
calgary herald; sept. 19, 1944.
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