CBC Digital Archives

Christmas on the home front

Tired of the holiday hustle and bustle? Pour yourself a cup of eggnog, pull a chair up to the warm glow of the computer monitor and embrace the month of December with CBC Digital Archives. In the spirit of the season of sharing, we've unearthed a trove of Radio and TV clips about Christmas, Hanukkah, the winter solstice and Kwanzaa.

In 1943, as Canadians face their fifth Christmas as a country at war, family cooks know that advance planning is key if they want to make all their traditional holiday dishes. In this CBC Radio clip, a home economist says flexibility is also important: wartime rationing means some ingredients may not be available. Assuming the Christmas pudding and mincemeat are already done, Dorothy Batchellor sets out a six-day schedule of list-making, shopping, baking and preparing for the big meal.
• "There is one thing the war has done for Canadian women," wrote Toronto Star food columnist Marie Holmes on Dec. 10, 1943. "It has relieved her of 'keeping up with the Joneses.' Display and extravagance in entertaining is no longer in style...The present trend, therefore, is toward serving suppers informally, usually buffet style."
  • By December 1943, foods on the ration list in Canada were butter, sugar, coffee, tea and meat. Imported foods were harder to find or simply unavailable. For example, Marie Holmes's food column for Dec. 14, 1943 included a recipe for oat bars filled with meatless mincemeat. The usual date filling was, Holmes wrote, "a war food casualty." 

Medium: Radio
Program: Food Facts and Food Fashions
Broadcast Date: Dec. 10, 1943
Host: Dorothy Batchellor
Duration: 5:08
Photo: The Gazette/Library and Archives Canada/PA-108300

Last updated: December 11, 2012

Page consulted on March 20, 2013

All Clips from this Topic

Related Content

1960: Aluminum Christmas trees come to Canada

Fireproof and tidy, aluminum Christmas trees are a flashy alternative for non-traditionalists.

1942: War effort spreads to butter

Government adds butter to the growing list of rationed food.

1985: Electric eels light up Christmas tree

The electric eels at the Vancouver Aquarium light up a tree for the holiday season.

Fireside Al

Alan Maitland auditioned for the CBC as a singer in 1947. But he was hired as an announcer, an...

1944: Christmas dinner at the war front

An army cook discusses plans for Christmas dinner at the front in Holland.

Much Ado About Christmas: Toys, Traditions & ...

Toys, leftover fruitcake, department store Santas, toy store mobs, last minute shoppers, enorm...