Second World War: registration for rationing

At the beginning of November 1939 families were instructed by the Ministry of Food to register with a retailer as a preliminary to the introduction of rationing.

As registration committed a customer to using a particular shop, Sainsbury's was anxious to obtain as many registrations as possible. However, staff were instructed not to 'tout' for registrations. Instead they were told to rely on Sainsbury's reputation for quality and hygiene.

The paperwork involved in each registration was complex. Separate counterfoils had to be detached from the customer's ration book for every member of each family. These had to be checked, sorted into alphabetical order, collated and despatched to the local food office.

For most of the duration of the war customers were required to re-register twice a year. Sainsbury's was particularly vulnerable if customers transferred their registrations to other retailers as the majority of its business came from the sale of rationed goods such as bacon and dairy produce.

William Guest, manager of the branch at 66 Watney Street, was inundated with customers who were unable to fill in their ration books. This caused the staff at the small branch so much additional work that he applied to the district supervisor for help. William recalled:

‘The very next day a taxi drew up outside and out stepped Miss Potter and a group of her clerical staff. They loaded the ration books into the taxi and took them to Blackfriars, returning 24 hours later with a perfectly ordered filing system and several thousand ration books immaculately filled in.’