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Farewell 3D and 6D - hello shortages and rationing |
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During
the first year of World War II, the British economy saw rapid price
inflation. Factories switching to war production led to shortages,
which in turn led to price increases and (for the unscrupulous)
racketeering.
Woolworths bosses met in New Bond Street to make one of the toughest choices of their lives - to abandon the company's motto of more than 30 years "Nothing over 6D" or "Nix over six". They had stuck to the policy through thick and thin, but inflation meant they could no longer offer much of the range within the sixpenny limit. So they decided to abandon the limit at least for the duration of the war. |
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| The store at Hammersmith, West London, was one of the first to show no reference to "3D and 6D Stores" on its fascia or any window sign. In its place, to the left and right of the F. W. Woolworth & Co. Ltd., Frank Woolworth's diamond "W" motif - copying the approach adopted followed in the USA and Canada. | ||||
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"Good
things to know" magazine was given free to customers in 1940.
It explained that the war had forced the company to put up the price limit to carry on stocking the full range. |
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| At the time of publication only a handful of items had gone over sixpence - and then normally only to 6˝D (around 3p). But prices rose steadily during the war as demand outstripped supply, and as the Buyers broadened the range. | ||||
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Marvel Rubber Soles are the first item on record to break the sixpenny limit, and then only for the gentlemen's size. But before long the company had brought items back into the range that they had dropped some years earlier because they could no longer be produced within the price limit. | |||
| Once example of this is cotton vests and underwear in the larger adult sizes which had been dropped from the ranges supplied by Pasolds, the Ladybird company. By 1941 these were selling at a "special price" of 1/- (one shilling) each - twice the limit a year earlier. |  |
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| Removing the upper price limit also presented new challenges for Woolies colleagues. In the days before electronic cash registers that do the adding up for you, they had to add up customers' purchases in their heads, or using a ready reckoner card that showed all the different multiples of 3D and 6D. Now they had to add up prices from a penny to two shillings, with halfpennies and farthings (quarter pennies) included in the prices. With 24 halfpennies or 48 farthings in a shilling (5p), and a currency in base 12 this was quite difficult to do! |  |
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To
make matters worse, from 1940 onwards, many food and clothing lines were
rationed. Rationing was administered through books of coupons
issued to each person. Rationed goods could only be purchased with
cash and coupons. Stores had to confirm that the coupons were
valid and correctly matched to the item that customers wanted to buy,
This picture of a clothing sale was taken for Picture Post in a Woolworths store in June 1941. Both customer and colleague look quite happy with the bureaucracy involved in the picture - but often this was an intense source of frustration for everyone. |
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| Sometimes customers had coupons but the stores had no stock. Sometimes stores had the stock but no customers seemed to have any coupons. Some items were rationed, others quite similar were not. And officials from the Ministry were always on hand to give advice and guidance, whether it was wanted or not. | ||||
Some
examples of how many coupons were needed to make a clothing purchase
Coupons were cut out from the book by the sales assistant, who was not supposed to accept any loose coupons. |
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In
1942 plans were announced that sweets were to join basic foods, clothing
and fuel in being rationed. Mr. Bowen, the Manager of Woolworths
in Plymouth (which at the time was trading from temporary premises in
the market) reported a queue almost half a mile long at the sweet
counter the day before the ration came into effect.
Some weeks later he took this photograph of British soldiers in uniform buying Pic'n'Mix and notes "we were proud to serve them". |
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| Throughout
the war many Woolworths stores boasted that they never turned a child
away without any sweets. Many older customers would hand in the
sweet coupons "for the little ones" when they came in to
shop. This is a great example of the sense of community that
helped to sustain Britain through the darkest days of the war.
The big manufacturers like Cadbury's, Nestlé and Melba all maintained strong advertising campaigns throughout the war - each asking people to think of the children. All had to apologise about the limited availability. The sweet companies had to work with the Ministry of Food to release sweets into different areas of the country each time a batch became available. |
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| Sweets continued to be rationed long after the end of the war - but in most Woolworths only to stop the adults getting any! | ||||
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World War II Gallery Home Page Xmas
1939: UK and USA a world apart Fire
from the sky - Blitz hits major cities |
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