The Pittsburgh Press (December 24, 1941)
In England –
Santa placed on war rations
Poultry rare as gold; gifts sky high
By William H. Stoneman
London, Dec. 24 –
England today is prepared to celebrate one of the strangest Christmases in its memory – a Christmas devoid of just about everything that could make it merry.
There will be family parties all over the country and on country estates there will be the usual gatherings, minus sons and brothers and fathers, who are fighting in the Near East, in Asia, or at sea. There will be presents of a sort, but they will be more modest than usual and there will be fewer of them, a tribute to the ration system.
Ducks, turkeys, chickens and geese are as rare as gold nuggets and they are twice as expensive as in peacetime. Ducks are the equivalent of 60¢ a pound, chickens the same, turkeys about 80¢, geese 40¢. Decent wine is hard for ordinary people to find nowadays and whisky is being sold only to special customers.
The price of presents is sky high. A nice handbag at a good shop may cost from $25 on up, a pair of gloves that used to sell for $1 now costs $3. The simplest toys for children are often prohibitively expensive. Lead soldiers which used to cost about 30¢ apiece are now 90¢. A doll’s perambulator which we saw yesterday, was priced at the equivalent of $14. A little wood and paper game such as you would put in a child’s stocking was $2.50.