We can see the words ‘Ministry of Food. National Ration Book’ written in red. We can also see a handwritten name in the centre.

Look closely, what can you see?

The name written on the book is Jacob Rudolph Muranski. Jacob was Jewish and lived in Leeds when his ration book was issued in 1918.

There are many pages in this ration book which contained vouchers and stamps to use to buy the food you were rationed. Instruction number 3 tells people to register their ration book with a butcher, baker, and grocer.  This meant that everyone was registered to collect their rations and it also meant that the government knew how much food to deliver to each baker, butcher and grocer so there was enough for the registered people to collect food from the shops.

We might wonder how much food Jacob was allowed to buy each week? We might also wonder how Jacob felt about having to take his ration book with him to buy food?

What do you wonder?

Object name: Ration book issued by the Ministry of Food during World War I.

Date: 24^th October 1918

Catalogue Number:

Materials: paper

Size: Height – 11cm  Width – 12cm

Created by: Ministry of Food

On display at the Jewish Museum? Yes

Rationing only started in 1918, the last year of the war.  In 1917 there was a shortage of food and many people were suffering from malnutrition.  The government decided to ration food to make sure it was fair to all.  The government could only create one set of rules so everyone received the same ration book even if you did not eat some of the items in the ration book.

A ration book had vouchers or stamps inside that could be exchanged for the food printed on the voucher itself.

The Jewish community felt the effect of rationing during the First World War as there are already many rules and restrictions when keeping Kosher.  More restrictions on types of food and where the food came from meant that it was difficult for Jewish people keeping Kosher.