SWEETIE HEAVEN WHEN SUGAR RATIONS ENDED
SOOR plooms and cola cubes, Wham bars and penny toffees – these are just some of the sweeties you will know if you grew up in Glasgow.
During the war, sweets were rationed along with dairy products, bread and more.
Our recent wartime feature on rationing prompted reader Margaret Worrall to get in touch.
“I can remember sweets coming temporarily off ration in 1949 or thereabouts but can find no reference to this,” she says.
“My auntie bought two chocolate snowballs and a Mars bar for herself. My teacher Miss Gordon came past the shop and I gave her a snowball.
“I was extremely embarrassed the next day when she told my classmates about this – they all thought I was a wee sook.”
Margaret, who lived in Glasgow from 1950 until 1969 and now lives in Fife, was right about sweets being derationed for a while.
It was in 1949 but lasted only for four months as demand far outstripped supply. In 1953, when sugar rationing finally ended, people went daft, according to a report in the BBC archive.
“Toffee apples were the biggest sellers, with sticks of nougat and liquorice strips also disappearing fast,” it states. “One firm gave 800 children 150lbs of lollipops during their midday break from school.” However, the Evening Times reported “some queues - but no great rush!” One shopkeeper said ‘ boilings were preferred to chocolate’ and added: “Small shops in the suburbs were kept extremely busy with children on their way to and from school.” Who remembers Glasgow’s old sweetie shops? Get in touch to share your memories and photos.