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A WW2 Christmas 

I wanted a new dress for Christmas but clothing and textiles have been rationed over the summer. More resources and man power are needed to help the war effort. The adults have been given coupons but there's not enough to go around for all of the children.

Make do & Mend Trend 

Tonight, everyone is gathering in the village to exchange their old clothes. I've a few things that don't fit me but they remind me of home and it'll be hard to give them away. I'm certainly not giving my party dress away - that fits just fine and I'll be wearing it on Christmas Day.

Christmas traditions during Wartime

I wanted a new dress for Christmas but clothing and textiles have been rationed over the summer. More resources and man power are needed to help war effort. The adults have been given coupons but there's not enough to go around for all of the children. 

Make do and Mend 

Tonight, everyone is gathering in the village to exchange and mend their old clothes. I've a few things that don't fit me but they remind me of home and it'll be hard to give them away. I'm certainly not giving my party dress away - that fits just fine and I'll be wearing it on Christmas Day. 

"Before the war broke out in Britain, Halloween was taken a little too far! Harmless tricks became vandalism.  Back home in the city, I remember hearing police sirens into the dead of night.  When war broke out, there was a ban on Halloween. It wasn't an official one but everyone was encouraged to make Halloween more friendly.  Although, mischief still happens. Especially from my brother and his friends who are trying to spook the older girls!   In our village,  we throw barn dances and hope that the GI's bring us some of their 'Tootsie Rolls.

If I get one, I'm saving mine!"

You can take home Your 1940's Doll, Clementine with you today.

Remember, we've got some Halloween treats for you too! Simple go to our home page and play Spin to Win. 

"The village is having their annual spring meeting to talk about the future of their food. Everyone grows something to contribute so that the local farms can supply the soldiers who are out risking their lives for the country. We call them 'Victory' gardens. I've started my seedlings in plant pots indoors as it's been too frosty for them outside. I try not to get soil under my nails, it feels dirty!

I wish I could grow chocolate in my plant pots..."

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Kara Leels

There's talk of a dance tonight for the GI's and the older girls who spend lots of their time swooning after them.  I suspect it's to celebrate 4th of July,  It's a good day for our American friends because it's Independence Day.  In 1776, the 13 American Colonials regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and no longer part of the British Empire.  It's a good job we're all still friends though.

Maybe I'll sneak in and watch them all have a great time at the party: they certainly know how to swing - dance!

Geisele keeps going on about Valentine's Day, apparently it's a really important time of year, nearly as important as Christmas! I don't believe that. The girls from the village keep admiring the new dresses in the local village shop windows, swooning over the red material which matches their red lipstick.

I don't know why they bother to put out these fancy clothes, no one can afford them, unless they're given as a gift. Geisele told me that one of the older girls her sister knows got a gift of Coca- Cola and nylon stockings from her American GI friend. The GI's keep handing out powdered coffee and spam which makes the villagers happy. I'd be happy with chocolate, lots of it, enough to last me through the war!

What I wouldn’t give for even just a small piece of chocolate this Christmas! But it won’t all be bad I suppose. They still have get-togethers and sing-a-longs round the piano here like we used to have in London. I will put up my stocking at the end of my bed and pretend that I might get an orange in it – but I don’t think even Father Christmas can get those this year!

We have had some fun making paper chains to hang up in our room with strips of paper we’ve been saving up all year, stuck together with some flour and water paste. There was an awful lot of giggling and excitement going on whilst we stuck them together. I managed to get the flour paste on more than just the paper strips as well, which was very funny at the time but not so funny when I had to wash it all off the floor later on. I nearly missed Uncle Mac on the radio because of it!