Ministry of Food
Sunday, April 11th, 2010
Lately I have been reading a lot about Utility design and rationing, a very fascinating topic.
Utility Furniture and Fashion 1941-1951 is a great little book explaining all the stages of the rationing era: how the utility furniture was designed, what pieces of clothing were allowed, there are examples of fabric design and the best posters ever. Simplicity is a must, but simplicity makes those things aesthetically appealing to me.
The Dig for Victory campaign is probably one of the best pieces of advertising ever made, clear message and striking imagery.
Fabric patterns:
Posters:
When I visited Imperial War Museum back in January I almost screamed for joy when I saw the poster for the upcoming Ministry of Food exhibition. So yesterday I paid a visit.
To start with I wanted to buy everything from the exhibition shop, there were recipe books, candles, aprons to name a few, all very attractive looking.
The exhibition shows all aspects of food making process.
We start in a gardening section with a shed and accessories that wouldn’t feel out of place at Labour and Wait.
We had rationing books and examples of food rations – it was not a lot! There was also a shop with the most amazing packaging display, a lot of the brands are still available now.
There was a kitchen with very little on the table.
I will take this as a house inspiration.
I saw few examples of the most popular dishes and I can only imagine how dull it must have been with a Woolton pie being the most exciting thing on a plate. But I admire people for creativity, I remember potato stamps which used to amuse me as a child and got chucked afterward, back in the 40s after having a creative afternoon the stamps were cleaned and cooked for dinner.
The exhibition ended on a high note in a sweet shop.
The fashion was pretty amazing too, corduroy jodhpurs, shirt and a preppy v-neck worn with socks and lace up boots. Chic Land Girls are my new style inspiration.
This is one of the most informative, interesting and inspiring exhibitions I have ever seen.
