Eating
Introductory Essay
Christmas dinner in Champlain Barracks
To celebrate the holiday season in 1943, Number 26 Canadian Army (Basic) Training Centre in Orillia, Ontario, held a special dinner. This menu was saved by Trooper A.E. Stone.
Farewell to Edmonton
It was not unusual for units to have banquets before they left for service overseas - although the illustration chosen by the sergeants of the 51st Battalion might seem a little odd.
Coupons for food
During the Second World War, Canadians became accustomed to rationing, which forced them to submit coupons in order to purchase commodities that the government had designated as scarce.
A special dinner for signallers
The Toronto-raised 134th Battalion sailed to England in the early spring of 1916, and was eventually broken up to provide reinforcements for other units in the field.
Christmas dinner at the front
To mark Christmas 1916, the officers of a unit of the Canadian Army Service Corps held a formal dinner near the front. The menu card, which all in attendance signed, imagines the commanding officer rising through the ranks to become a field marshal in 1940, and then returning to civilian life in 1960.
Recipe ideas from BC Electric
Wartime rationing made it difficult to prepare tasty and varied meals, but in these pamphlets British Columbia Electric had some suggestions for Christmas dinners, entertaining on special occasions, and quick meals for "the business woman and war workers, for housewives who give much of their time to patriotic work."
"The first line of defense lies in the kitchen"
Originally intended to commemorate the Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Canada in 1939, the book was not published until after the Second World War began. Among the contributors were Lady Tweedsmuir and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Turning ration stamps into healthy meals
Dedicated to "the Canadian Homemaker Whose Time is so Generously Devoted to the War Effort," this book offered hints on keeping the family fit, how to stretch the meat ration, wartime ingredient substitutions, "colourful salads in wartime menus," and desserts under rationing.
Stretching your rations with oats
This small recipe book provided suggestions for reducing the consumption of meat, butter, and sugar by using rolled oats in food preparation.
School lunches in wartime
This leaflet contains menu and cooking tips that were aimed at improving the nutrition of schoolchildren.
Temporary Ration Card
Temporary ration cards were issued to members of the armed forces on leave or visitors to Canada, such as tourists. The coupons had the same value as those in standard ration books but had no expiry date.
Food is Everybody's Business
This handbook describes Canada's Food Conservation Program and details the factors contributing to the increasing demand for domestic food production.
The Wartime Garden
This detailed bulletin offers advice for small- and large-scale vegetable gardens and outlines methods for soil preparation, planting, and cultivation.
Growing food in wartime
This pamphlet urges civilians with small backyards to produce their own healthy vegetables and offers advice on how to do so under wartime conditions.
Make the most of your meat ration
This pamphlet emphasizes preparation and preservation methods to extend one's meat ration.
"The Lunch Box is on the march"
This pamphlet offers ideas for healthy lunches based on Canada's official food rules and food groups.
Temporary ration card
During the Second World War, Canadians became accustomed to carrying coupons for most commodities, such as this temporary ration card.
Eat like the RCAF
Inspired by a Royal Canadian Air Force film entitled "Training Tables," this booklet was aimed at improving nutritional standards by encouraging Canadian civilians to eat as well as the men and women in uniform.
Using less sugar
Civilians were encouraged to be conservative with rationed food items. This document offers recipes for desserts, taking into account the strict rationing of sugar.
Foods for the post-war family
This guide provides rules for post-war healthy eating, approved by the Canadian Council on Nutrition.