Sugar Substitutes in WWII

Do you have a sweet tooth? Most of us do and according to the United States Department of Agriculture, the average American consumes between 150 to 170 pounds of refined sugar in one year! During WWII your sweet tooth would have taken a serious hit as sugar was the first rationed commodity and this continued until June 1947.

Each sugar ration stamp was good for two pounds of sugar over a four-week period, providing twenty-four pounds of sugar per person, per year if it was available. In 1945 the ration amount was cut to fifteen pounds per household with an additional fifteen pounds for canning. So the family cooks were encouraged to find substitutes for the rationed items and Jell-O became one of the popular ‘sweet tooth’ options especially after the lime flavor was introduced.

Now I understand why a congealed salad was a typical side dish at our family meals and why my mother had so many lime Jell-O recipes. The next time you have Jell-O, savor its sweetness and what it meant to our WWII families.