Utility Coat and Hat

Hat and Coat, 1942 and 1948. Museum no. Misc.18A-1985 (click image for larger version)

This is a little girl's smart russet woollen coat and hat, made under the Utility scheme between 1942 and 1948. Britain declared war on Germany in 1939 and both countries put as many resources as possible toward victory. The UK government went on to set limits on the use of resources for any other purpose, and there were shortages of paper, petrol, furniture, food and clothes. The 'Make do and Mend' campaign encouraged restraint, repair and re-use wherever possible.

The Utility scheme launched in 1941, with a distinctive logo 'CC41', designed by Reginald Shipp. This was for use by manufacturers whose products complied with the government's rules for manufacture. The scheme used standard designs to avoid waste of materials and the use of unnecessary details - this coat for example has only one row of buttons instead of the two that would be typical for this style.

Buying new garments at this time was quite difficult. Each new garment had a value in coupons and a value in money. Everyone received a small number of clothing coupons each year, and families sometimes had to use the adults' coupons to get new shoes or winter coats for their children who had outgrown their old ones. If you wanted to buy new clothing, you had to pay both parts of the price, the money and the coupons. The alternative was to buy second-hand garments. There was also a 'black market' for various rationed goods, including clothes. This way of trading avoided the regulations, but it was illegal.