Food
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Introduction
The preparation and enjoyment of
food has always had a great cultural significance in
Many people who have spent even
a short time in the city would never forget its food.
Even the war at first seemed to affect
the food situation much less than expected and many foodstuffs were available
which people in strictly rationed
In fact many new tastes came
along with new people, and as many of those had come without families and often
had some money to spend, a plethora of new restaurants consequently opened to
cater for a great variety of tastes and styles.
All the while though food prices
were rising and so on the opposite end of the social scale the famine deprived
millions of even the most basic sustenance.
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Food
_____Pictures
of 1940s Calcutta_________________________
Noon
snack, Calcutta Street
The noon snack is taken by many at a fruit vendor such as this
one. Verboten to troops by military
order, sanitation isn't even considered and peels litter the streets. Greatest menace of this dealer is the threat
of Cholera, carried by flies from open garbage bins to sliced fruit.
Clyde
Waddell, US military man, personal press photographer of Lord Louis
Mountbatten, and news photographer on Phoenix Calcutta
(source: webpage
http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/? Monday,
16-Jun-2003 /
Reproduced by courtesy of David N. Nelson, South Asia Bibliographer, Van Pelt
Library,
Food sellers near the Esplanade and tram terminus, Calcutta
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Food sellers, Mf009, "Food sellers near the Esplanade and tram terminus, Calcutta." seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Lt Beard by a foodstall
Richard Beard, US Army Lieutenant Psychologist with 142 US military hospital. Calcutta,
(Source: Elaine Pinkerton / Reproduced by courtesy of Elaine Pinkerton)
Parched corn seller
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Parched corn seller, Mf001, Parched corn seller in Maidan Park near Esplanade at trolley rendezvous point. seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Food sellers along Calcutta street
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Food sellers, B026, Food sellers along Calcutta street seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Fuel seller, Calcutta
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Fuel seller, I008, "Fuel seller, Calcutta" seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Bread sellers -- or deliverers – Calcutta street
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Bread sellers, I010, Bread sellers -- or deliverers – Calcutta street seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Open air meat stall somewhere near the intersection of Weston and Bentinck Streets
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Meat stall, C009, Open air meat stall somewhere near the intersection of today's Weston and Bentinck Streets. seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
Food sellers near the Esplanade and tram terminus, Calcutta
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Food sellers, Mf010, "Food sellers near the Esplanade and tram terminus, Calcutta." seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
_____Contemporary Records of or about
1940s Calcutta___
Hospitality
Hospitality.
Indians are hospitable people. If they invite you to their homes, accept
the invitation. They will be glad to have you and the experience will be
interesting. But don't be surprised if the women members of the household are
absent.
You should follow the example of your host. Often that may mean
sitting on the floor and eating with your fingers instead of with knife and
fork. Whatever the family custom is, you should follow it. The Indians will
overlook your social errors and give you full credit for trying to adapt
yourself.
Indians chew betel nut, much as we smoke cigarettes. The nut is
wrapped in a leaf buttered with lime and then chewed like tobacco, only you
will spit red instead of brown. When you are offered betel or any gift, you may
just touch it if you do not wish to take it. Touching the gift means that you
have accepted it in the spirit in which it was offered.
Don't accept any presents from an Indian other than some small token,
never anything of value. You would be expected to return in kind, often with
some favor.
(source:
“A Pocket Guide to
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
FOOD
Let's Eat.
Try.
Christie's on
Firpo's on Chowringhee Rd., block above Grand Hotel.
O. K. Restaurant,
Great Eastern Hotel on Old Court House St.
American Kitchen,
Golden Dragon,
E.M. Only.
American Red Cross Enlisted Men's Clubs.
Continental Services Club, Continental Hotel.
(source:
“The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information
and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945: at:
http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair
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_____Memories of 1940s
Calcutta_________________________
Bengali
Fish
The crew asked if there was any chance of some nice fresh
fish so I asked the ship’s chandler for some. It must have been fresh water
river fish; it had long tentacles like feelers and a head bigger than its body
and was the colour of mud. I let the crew see it and all agreed what we should
do with it, give it back to the ship’s chandler!
James
William Stanworth, Chief
Steward S.S. “Harberton”, Calcutta
(source:
A6021136 J
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
“…I came
to love Indian food…”
From an early age I came to love Indian food, especially 'kofta curry'
and very sweet 'jalaibees'.
Kenneth Miln, son of a ‘jute wallah’.
Jagatdal/Calcutta, 1945-49
(source:
Letter sent to us by Mr Kenneth Miln
himself, July 2006/ Reproduced by courtesy of Kenneth Miln)
“…fishing
at the mill 'tankie' for 'burra muchli's'”
As a
young chokra myself I spent most days fishing at the mill 'tankie' for 'burra muchli's' - Rhuee, Kalabause, Mirgil, Silond, Pangash and the great
Catla-fish. Although I never actually caught a great Catla-fish, I used to help our much loved
Doctor Baboo - old Cha Cha - catch a
few really 'burra' muchie's !
The old doctor, and my good mentor,
taught me how to make 'pukka' bait - with atta, punir and peepra ka deem - which seldom
failed to tempt a good 'muchli'.
[…]
With regular trips into our local bazzar at Jagatdal, I made a number
of good friends - young 'goondas', like myself, there was Gupta, Kumar and wild
Choudry ; we were all keen anglers and spent hours together fishing at various
mill 'tankies' and, when well away from parental supervision, on the Hooghly
river. There were, in fact, certain
occasions when we all swam in the
Kenneth Miln, son of a ‘jute wallah’.
Jagatdal/Calcutta, 1945-49
(source:
Letter sent to us by Mr Kenneth Miln
himself, July 2006/ Reproduced by courtesy of Kenneth Miln)
The fish
I remember an incident, dada was never interested in going to the
bazaar but ma one day gave him ten rupees and he was bound to go. Dada with his
disgust brought a big Katla mach. Ma asked "kire ekta mach anli du bela ki
khabo" Dada was very angry and said
"du bela mach khabe to khao na hole amake diye ar kono din bazaar
karabe na ".
Tarun Kumar, actor. Calcutta
(source:http://uttamkumar.com)
K Rations
As we were now feeling hungry, Daddy opened one of the four
big wooden boxes we also carried with us, and handed out the "K"
rations to the men. These rations are very neatly sealed up in waxed cardboard,
and there are forty-eight in each box, and sixteen are marked ‘breakfast’,
sixteen ‘dinner’ and the same number ‘supper’. Inside one of the cardboard
cartons is a little tin of meat or cheese, some biscuits, chocolate, a packet
of four cigarettes and some chewing gum. Sometimes also there are little
packets of powder to make soup, lemonade or cocoa, and a few lumps of sugar.
After we had eaten enough of these things we got some char in our mugs from the
steward in the dining saloon. Daddy always has difficulty with his char because
he does'nt like sugar in it, and this surprises the Indians very much.
Leonard
Charles Irvine, 4393843, Royal Air Force Flt Sgt Nav,
Calcutta
(source:
Leonard
Charles Irvine
"A LETTER TO MY SON" at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
Entally
I was born and lived the 20 years of my life before
leaving
Mike Devery, schoolboy. Calcutta
(source: Internet communications September 2004)
(COPYRIGHT
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educational research project. The
copyright remains with Mike Devery)
The Salt
Tax
We lay at anchor in the River Hoogly at
James
William Stanworth, Chief
Steward S.S. “Harberton”, Calcutta
(source:
A6021136 J
(COPYRIGHT
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dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
I gave him
my rice on exchange for his meat, which he would never touch
My room overlooked the lawn and had only one occupant, an
Indian RAF man, I never did find out what he did. He must have been one of us and
he was very nice and a devout Hindu. His father was a high ranking Hindi priest
(I never met him). My room mate was very friendly and took me to some Indian
army entertainment. We ate in the RAF canteen and I gave him my rice on
exchange for his meat, which he would never touch.
Philip
Miles, RAF photo reconnaissance
unit, Calcutta, mid 1940s
(source:
A4144664 What did you do in the RAF, Dad? (Part 2) at BBC WW2 People's War'
on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/
Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
Fresh
fruit from the natives
Sometimes during the day we were able to buy fresh fruit
from the natives, Pineapples, Bananas, Mangoes, and Oranges, these were very
cheap, but we had to be very careful to avoid catching a decease we had to wash
the fruit in Permanganate of Potash solution, this was a bit hard due to the
shortage of water.
Stan
Martin, soldier, train to Calcutta, early 1940s
(source:
A1982955 Stan Martin's WW2 story at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
Calcutta
dishes
Say ‘
Mike Devery, schoolboy. Calcutta
(source: Internet communications September 2004)
(COPYRIGHT
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educational research project. The
copyright remains with Mike Devery)
… my
mother was given a 10-pound tin of carrots by a friendly American
I recall that my mother was given a 10-pound tin of carrots by a
friendly American. We never opened it - in fact after about ten years it
suddenly opened itself with a horrid squelching explosive noise. Thus, the war
ended, not with a bang, but a splat.
Nandita Sen, Schoolgirl, Calcutta
(Source:
Nandita's story at: http://timewitnesses.org/english/%7Enandita.html,
Nandita Sen Hyderabad - January 2005, seen 18th November 2005)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational
research project. The copyright remains
with Nandita Sen)
We landed on the
Hooghli River
We eventually reached
When we arrived at the hotel there was a cablegram from Dad
which read, “Up brave hearts, it’s the last lap” which amused and cheered us
up. Also he had been in touch with a business acquaintance in Calcutta, a Mr. Cowan who came round to see us
and insisted on us dining with him and his wife at the Saturday Club (little
did I know then that in three to four years time the Club would become a very
familiar haunt until we left for the U.K. in May 1945).
We had a pleasant evening with the Cowans and in the course
of conversation Mr. C. mentioned that he knew that Dad was very fond of celery
(a delicacy not available in Burma but grown in the hills at Darjeeling, not
too distant from Calcutta)
He had arranged for a few sticks to be delivered to the hotel for us to take
with us next day. “Fine “ we said until we got to our room to discover that far
from being a few sticks there were two enormous bundles of twelve sticks each
complete with full foliage! Mum said we could not take these on the plane
without incurring a huge excess baggage charge, so what were we to do? We had
seen Capt. Harrington in the dining room so we decided to seek his advice. He
thought about it and then said, “If you will agree to let me take one bundle on
to our staff in
FEBRUARY 20th 1940
This morning we had another bus ride through the crowded
streets to the River and then away on the last lap of the journey. We landed at
Akyab (now called Sittwa) on the N.W. coast of
The steamy heat did not strike me at first but did a little
later on!
Jose
Johnson ,schoolboy, England
to Rangoon
(source:
A3335816 My Journey to
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
… filling yourself up wi' beer and buyin' a
steak
All you thought about when you come out o'
Eddie Mathieson, Marines’
commando soldier on the Burma Calcutta
(source: page 240 of
MacDougall, Ian: Voices from War and some Labour Struggles; Personal
Recollections of War in our Century by Scottish Men and Women. Edinburgh
(COPYRIGHT
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educational research project. The
copyright remains with Ian MacDougall)
Buns at
teatime on Sundays
[I remember] Buns at teatime on Sundays, the dreaded
smell of brinjal "jackies" at least once a week, "pish
pash", a personal favourite. Saving chillies from lunchtime (they were
hidden in the flower vase on the table) to make Aloo sandwiches to eat after
evening prayers in the Assembly Hall..
Foraging
for food
The forest near the school included small clearings
where the locals grew their own foodstuffs, the time of the year decided if the
crop was maize or mooli (a large horseradish). Walks over weekends often took us past these patches, and I
confess that we used to help ourselves, and smuggle the maize back to the
school, not particularly well hidden under our sweaters. On one day we were carrying our booty back
and blundered into a man carrying a kukri in one hand, a heavy branch on his
other shoulder. He gave a roar that showed his displeasure, dropped his
firewood and charged, kukri held aloft. We were not sure if this was a string
of abuse or a Nepalese war cry. But this was not the time to enquire; we fled
into the forest, crashing through the undergrowth, leaving a trail of maize
underfoot. We heard a strange noise
behind us and the one of the braver thieves looked over his shoulder. The man
was rolling on the ground, crippled with laughter at the look of terror on our
faces. The maize fields were safe for weeks.
John Gardiner, boarding school pupil at Victoria
School
(source: John Gardiner: Memories of VSK (1939 –
1946) on website of Victoria & Dow hill Schools Kurseong at
http://www.orbonline.net/~auballan/J_Gardners_VSK.htm)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The
copyright remains with John Gardiner)
King
Solomon and hungry boarders
At least once a week, dinner was meat and veg. under
a pastry lid, and although the topping was sliced to an accuracy of a
millimetre, that didn't prevent the criminals undermining with their spoon, so
that the last to get the dish found very little under his pastry. Finally a
system developed where the server divided the pie on to the ten plates, and he
was the last to choose. King Solomon and hungry boarders were equally wise.
John Gardiner, boarding school pupil at Victoria
School
(source: John Gardiner: Memories of VSK (1939 –
1946) on website of Victoria & Dow hill Schools Kurseong at
http://www.orbonline.net/~auballan/J_Gardners_VSK.htm)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The
copyright remains with John Gardiner)
"Egg
OK!"
At Easter, we had boiled eggs, dyed a pale purple. I
think we had an egg for breakfast most days, and the freshness was occasionally
suspect. If you were not happy, it was in order to take your egg to the kitchen
where you would hold up the plate for inspection by the head bearer. Silas
would reel back, steady him against a table, then declare "Egg OK!"
If you were insistent, you returned to your place and minutes later, he would
deliver a scrambled egg. The same one, of course. To this day, I will never
order scrambled eggs in restaurants and hotels.
John Gardiner, boarding school pupil at Victoria
School
(source: John Gardiner: Memories of VSK (1939 –
1946) on website of Victoria & Dow hill Schools Kurseong at http://www.orbonline.net/~auballan/J_Gardners_VSK.htm)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The
copyright remains with John Gardiner)
Food
in School
I found myself sitting on my bed in my dormitory -
listening to all the chatter around. My form was IIIA and the only other girl
in the school with hair as long as mine was Nancy Breeze who was in form IVA.
The funny thing was that we had the biggest appetites in the school. My
appetite had not even been normal until I went to
Aunty Dolly made special arrangements for me to have an egg
every morning as well as extra milk. I, never having been too fond of those,
used to swap my egg for bread with the other girls and somehow used to end up
with a pile of bread and butter on my plate. Since we only had fifteen minutes
for breakfast this had the effect of making me the fastest eater in the school
since I was determined not to leave any. The girls did not like the school
butter because it was unsalted but since I was used to home-made butter which
was unsalted I have always liked unsalted butter and so this did not bother me.
Elizabeth James (nee Shah),
AngloIndian schoolgirl. Darjeeling
(source: page 32-33 Elizabeth James: An Anglo Indian Tale: The
Betrayal of Innocence. Delhi
'Aag’ et
al. at the bioscope
After an excellent lunch of, usually, grilled Betki and mashed aloo, we would go to the
'bioscope' -the flicks at the Lighthouse cinema : l have, of course
seen a number of Indian films including- 'Aag’
starring Raj Kapoor with plenty
of noise and action ' After the
'flicks' we would return
to Megna, passing through numerous bazzars from which floated many exotic
smells and loud music - ' Duniya
mai kon ke humera ?' - and such like
songs ; all of which lent an air of mystery and excitement to those long
past journeys.
Kenneth Miln, son of a ‘jute wallah’.
Jagatdal/Calcutta, 1945-49
(source:
Letter sent to us by Mr Kenneth Miln
himself, July 2006/ Reproduced by courtesy of Kenneth Miln)
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Cooking
_____Pictures
of 1940s Calcutta_________________________
_____Contemporary Records of or about
1940s Calcutta___
A
Ballad of the Bawarchikhana
The bandobast has turned to dust, departed are the staff
who ruled our lives and spoilt our wives, but often made us laugh—
a fitting epitaph!
Their presence felt where'er we dwelt: the discreet coughs and sighs,
the "low salaams, the itching palms, the shrewd observant eyes,
the loyalty and lies
were all a part, close to the heart, of
which we regret, while we forget the heat, the dust and bite
of insects in the night.
Old servants true pass in review as we relive those years,
but, best of all, I still recall a prince of profiteers,
a rogue who had no peers;
a man of guile with ready smile, an artist and a crook-
the kind you'd find all over Hind, described in many a book—
a not uncommon cook.
Abdullah Khan, our Khansaman, obeyed the Prophet's charge
to kneel and pray an hour a day, which left him ample marge
to prey upon the Raj.
Who could forget who once had met that mirror of his race—
the grave repose, the spotless clothes, the slow unhurried pace,
the strongly bearded face-
the look of grief if called a thief, the air of pained surprise
if someone noted he'd promoted all the humble pies
to paise in disguise?
A naukar full of dhoka and exceedingly chalak,
whose measured seer was nowhere near but well below the mark
by more than a chittack.
The kitchen scales could tell some tales, but let us not forget
how Abdul, roused from deepest drowse, so nonchalantly met
the unexpected threat—
'Dinner for ten instead of four in half an hour? Ji-Huzoor.'
Whate'er the means behind the scenes, we knew the end was sure—
dinner for ten or more.
Or how in camp, by feeble lamplight in a smoky tent,
he'd improvise some rare surprise and recipes invent
astonishingly blent.
On days of sport, if guns were short, he followed in the truck-
a man inspired, he never tired of hoping for the luck
to shoot a sitting duck.
His chits explained he had been trained by famous burra-mem,
and though acquired, so it transpired, by devious stratagem,
he dearly treasured them.
So, well equipped with spurious script, he rose from humble 'Sub'
to dizzy heights where lesser lights prepared the actual grub-
as happened at our Club.
He rose at dawn and on the lawn performed his morning prayers;
and combed his beard and sometimes smeared fresh henna on the
hairs
to falsify the years.
At six precise a lowly syce wheeled out an ancient 'bike',
which A. bestrode in cautious mode, his chin projecting like
a partriarchal pike.
Pyjamas stowed in socks he rode to shop in the bazaar,
a boy at heel beside his wheel, or propped on handlebar—
(for chokra annas char).
When he got back at eight, alack!—our day had just begun,
while Abdul smoked his hookah, joked and sheltered from the sun,
his daily labours done.
Reclining on his bed at ease, instead of counting sheep,
he totalled chits and perquisites with concentration deep
until he fell asleep.
And while he snored, his minions pawed and cooked the food
he'd bought
by rule of thumb, cooked to a crumb, without a second thought
to lessons he had taught.
The masalchee who reeked of ghee, the bhisti with
his stoop,
the sweeper's wife who all her life had suffered from the croup,
all helped to stir the soup.
The hairs that stole into the bowl were not from Abdul's head—
they were too long, the colour wrong for Abdul to have shed—
for Abdul's hair was red.
The egg, long nursed, which came in first, the fowl which also ran,
the tea-leaves stewed instead of brewed, to give a deeper tan,
the porridge made of bran,
the half-washed dish, the muddy fish, the goat as tough as leather,
the basket pudding which collapsed, if cloudy was the weather
for several hours together:
All these and more, perforce we bore; we queried every bill,
and swore amain, but all in vain—the net result was nil—
Abdullah knew his drill.
Quite unconcerned, he neatly turned the sharp edge of our wit,
and parried point with counter-point and documented chit,
until he was acquit.
We could have fired Abdullah, hired another in his place—
who might be worse—that was the curse we always had to face;
and so to meet the case,
He got the sack, but soon came back to end as he began;
'some
day we'd change the kitchen range—the system—not the man)
mad so the legend ran:
A first class cook and, as a crook, a bigger crook than most;
to any friend we recommend Abdullah for the post.
farewell familiar ghost!
The Raj has handed over charge and Abdul's gone as well:
I wonder who warms up the stew and burns the toast in Hell?
Abdullah would excel!
It may be A... I cannot say, but I prefer to guess
he's found some creep in which to sleep, a man of his address,
behind the Devil's Mess.
R.V. Vernède, ICS, 1950
(source: page 115-118 R.V.
Vernède (ed.): “British life in India Delhi ;
Oxford : Oxford
University
(COPYRIGHT
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educational research project. The
copyright remains with
_____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_________________________
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drinks
_____Pictures
of 1940s Calcutta_________________________
Breakfast
tea, Calcutta St.
Early morning in many
Clyde
Waddell, US military man, personal press photographer of Lord Louis
Mountbatten, and news photographer on Phoenix Calcutta
(source: webpage http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/? Monday,
16-Jun-2003 /
Reproduced by courtesy of David N. Nelson, South Asia Bibliographer, Van Pelt
Library,
Coconut
market
This coconut market on
Clyde
Waddell, US military man, personal press photographer of Lord Louis Mountbatten,
and news photographer on Phoenix Calcutta
(source: webpage
http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/? Monday,
16-Jun-2003 /
Reproduced by courtesy of David N. Nelson, South Asia Bibliographer, Van Pelt
Library,
_____Contemporary Records of or about
1940s Calcutta___
Two
bottles of jungle ration this month
We received two bottles of jungle ration this month - Old Crow rye
whiskey and Dixie
Everyone got two cases of beer this month, too.
Richard Beard , US
Army Lieutenant Psychologist with 142 US Calcutta
(Source:
page 208 of Elaine Pinkerton (ed.): “From Calcutta With Love: The World War II
Letters of Richard and Reva Beard” Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2002 /
Reproduced by courtesy of Texas Tech University Press)
Drinking
Bad news. You won't be too happy about the liquor situation in
E.M. can get their mixed drinks at the Casanova Room, the Princes Room
and bar, and the Winter Garden - all at the Grand Hotel. Also, Firpo's on
Officers can drink at any private club in which they have temporary
membership; also Firpo's, the Great Eastern Hotel, the Winter Garden, and the
cocktail lounge at the Grand.
(source:
“The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information
and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945: at:
http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)
(COPYRIGHT
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dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
_____Memories of 1940s
Calcutta_________________________
one of the
safest drink to buy in India
The area that we went through was very dirty, the smell of open
sewerage drains, and the streets littered with all sorts of rubbish. Green
coconut shells by the thousands. These were sold in the streets - at a cost of
one Anna each. After buying one the vendor would chop the end off with a jungle
knife, and cut a hole through which you could drink the juice through, this was
regarded as one of the safest drink to buy in
Stan
Martin, soldier, Calcutta, early 1940s
(source:
A1982955 Stan Martin's WW2 story at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT
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Running on
Rum
There were five personnel in the tank crew. The tank
commander, driver, co-driver, gunner, and wireless operator. Each member of
crew had to be qualified in two disciplines. Most of that training was done at
Allan
Grieve, Army,
on
the west side of the Irrawaddy River, 1944
(source:
A4304323 Royal Armoured Corps tank workforce in
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
to
Calcutta on a 'grog run'
Apart from our 'Goose Loss' the move went well. Moreover,
the Squadron's Harvard aircraft was now fully employed carrying the Boys (one
or two at a time) to Calcutta on a 'grog run', each run bringing back crates of
Indian Gin and Rum and whatever Mixers ( Lime Juice etc ) that could be
carried.
Within days, the Sgt's Mess basha was transformed into the
'Old Nogg Inn' and kept well stocked up by the Harvard. We also acquired a
white Hen named Oscar as a Mascot who stood at the Bar drinking our Gin until
he 'fell asleep' and was put down to bed on the floor. My Norton was going well
on 100 octane.
John
Vickers, Royal Air Force,
Tulihal & Calcutta, 1944
(source:
A2168354 Hirohito My part in his Downfall at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT
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Return
from a ‘grog run’
On Feb 12th I did a Grog Run to
I climbed out of the aircraft to be told that, during the
night of Feb 13th a lone Jap aircraft had bombed the campsite, killing 11 of our
Lads and wounded another 30. I was devastated. So was the rest of the Squadron.
Obviously, it would take some time to get things back to normal.
John
Vickers, Royal Air Force,
Tulihal & Calcutta, 1945
(source:
A2168354 Hirohito My part in his Downfall at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
Vimto
& dysentery
My next war time memory is coming back from Southern India
on our way to
Before I had left for India my Father had given me a
Brownie camera, telling me to make sure I photographed all the places I would
see on my journey, which thankfully I did - I have some wonderful pictures
which I took at that time. Any of the village shops in
“I’ve got to have a drink” I said.
“No no, you know you can’t” said Anne.
“But it’s Vimto, it’s in a bottle it’s been treated, it’ll
be ok.”
“Well, you can do it if you like but I’m not!”
So I bought a bottle of Vimto and drank it, but Anne
didn’t. On the way back to
When we got back to
Off I was packed to hospital for a couple of weeks.
Meantime, our company had dwindled to about four members as people perhaps
became ill or, as in the case of Beryl our Soprano, were sacked. The remaining
members were split up and put into different Companies and I remained in the
hospital alone.
Anne came to say goodbye to me there, and we were both in
tears because we had been through much together over quite a long period of
time. I have to say I did not have the worst case of dysentery, not amoebic,
and I was young and strong and I got through it. I thought, this is the only
time in my life I have seen food and I don’t want it, and I did lose a lot of
weight. When I came out I was two stones lighter and quite delighted, I thought
a slim new me was great.
Cecilia
Austin Caryl (nee Nicholson/ theatrical name: Celia Nicholls),
ENSA, Calcutta
(source:
A2905184 War time in
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
She took
to drinking rather heavily
Around this time she took to drinking rather heavily in the evenings
when she was alone. Although I did not understand this at the time in later
years it dawned on me that it was probably unhappiness because the man she idolised
so seldom visited her and although she would never admit it he was obviously
having a good lime enjoying night life etc., in Calcutta.
Elizabeth James (nee Shah),
AngloIndian schoolgirl. Ranchi
(source: page 15 Elizabeth James: An Anglo Indian Tale: The
Betrayal of Innocence. Delhi
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweets
_____Pictures
of 1940s Calcutta_________________________
Noel Hepp, U. S. serviceman from Troy, New York, negotiates a price on
an ice cream freezer from a young vendor in a stall along a Calcutta street
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army
Airforce, Summer 1944
(source: Glenn S. Hensley: Ice cream freezer,
B024, "Noel Hepp, U. S. serviceman from Troy, New York, negotiates a price
on an ice cream freezer from a young vendor in a stall along a Calcutta
street" seen at University of
Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley
as well as a series of E-Mail
interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th
August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission
of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)
_____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s
Calcutta___
_____Memories of 1940s
Calcutta_________________________
Ranganak
There were also the
Khaleelis ensconced in their comfortable mansion, Khaleeli Manzil. We got to
know them well and the large family had tea and dinner with us a number of
times. Mrs Khaleeli was covered from head to foot in the traditional chaadar.
To brighten our teas she used to send us a Persian sweet called ranganak, with
dates and walnuts, which was simply scrumptious. It had an exotic smoky flavour
that I always imagined came from oriental markets in
Samir Mukerjee. Schoolboy. Calcutta
(source: Samir Mukerjee: Keep
the faith & the friends. The Telegraph: 31Oct2003)
(COPYRIGHT
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educational research project. The
copyright remains with Samir Mukerjee)
Where I
first tasted a Hershey Bar
I think it was in 1943 that American soldiers were sent to Asansol
for medical treatment and they also had a base there which was where I first
tasted a Hershey Bar.
M Brown
,schoolboy, Asansol, 1943
(source:
A7468716 Wartime in
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
Firpo's
ice-cream with hot chocolate
Firpo's ice-cream with hot chocolate sauce! It seemed like paradise
after months of wartime jungli living.
Joyce Taylor, nurse with Air Force Nursing Service
Reserve. Calcutta
(source Pat Barr: The Dust in the Balance. British
Women n India London
(COPYRIGHT
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educational research project. The
copyright remains with Pat Barr)
Amra’s
on the side
Yesterday [a friend] was raving on about buying a box of Amras. She hadn't
tasted one since the days when we used to buy "trash" from the
tingting man who used to sit outside the school. He used to have the most
wonderful little brown plumbs and amras which he sold to us in a dried leaf
purrier sprinkled with chilli powder and black salt. I was forbidden from
buying anything outside BUT.....what my mother didn't know didn't hurt her
until I had the backdoor trots, then it would all come out as to why my tummy
was so upset and I would be hauled to the Doctor (Dr Gunni) who knew all about
it even before he was told.
Molly Hamilton, Calcutta
(Source:
Several E-mail interviews with Molly Hamilton in 2003. / Reproduced by courtesy
of Molly Hamilton)
Queuing at
the Tuck Shop
[I remember] queuing at the Tuck Shop, clutching 4
annas, deciding whether you wanted a curry puff, sticky cake or coconut ice.
Buying illegal jalebes in the school servant’s lines.
John Gardiner, boarding school pupil at Victoria
School
(source: John Gardiner: Memories of VSK (1939 –
1946) on website of Victoria & Dow hill Schools Kurseong at
http://www.orbonline.net/~auballan/J_Gardners_VSK.htm)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational
research project. The copyright remains
with John Gardiner)
Cream
cakes!
I suppose that all people at boarding schools are
perpetually hungry. It certainly applied at
John Gardiner, boarding school pupil at Victoria
School
(source: John Gardiner: Memories of VSK (1939 –
1946) on website of Victoria & Dow hill Schools Kurseong at http://www.orbonline.net/~auballan/J_Gardners_VSK.htm)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The
copyright remains with John Gardiner)
The
Kulfi Wallah
One of my fondest memories is of the Old Kulfi Wallah.
Kulfi is ,a type of icecream which must have originated in the far North of
India because the Kulfi Wallahs were always Pathans who were of the hill tribes
which peopled the North West Frontier and Afghanistan - indeed they were
Afghans. I absolutely adored Kulfi and to this day, pat it whenever I can get
it although there are many places which offer kulfi but it is not the real
thing. This Old Man was a big man and to me - aged around three - he seemed
like a giant out of the picture books complete with flowing robes and turban
and he had a deep, booming, voice which bellowed out: "Kulfi Malai".
However, he usually came around about nine p.m. when I was supposed to have
been asleep for a good two hours but I used to lie awake listening for him and
jump out of bed screaming " Mummy, Mummy - the Kulfi Man is here” as if
she could not have heard him herself! He always stood under our balcony for
quite a while because he knew that I would come running out to see him. He had
a large bundle on his head which contained (as I now know) the metal Cones in
which the Kulfi was made and what must have been a box with ice in it to keep
it cold. The bundle was always swathed in cloth and he would plunge his hand in
and rattle the ice and then draw out a cone which he then rolled between his
palms and then squeezed - or so it seemed - on to a plate, the delicious kulfi.
I stood by with my eyes wide with wonder watching this performance and it is a
memory which stayed with me for ever. Many years later, after we had been away
and then moved back to
Elizabeth James (nee Shah),
AngloIndian schoolgirl. Calcutta
(source: page 13-14 Elizabeth James: An Anglo Indian Tale: The
Betrayal of Innocence. Delhi
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paan& Cigarettes
_____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta_________________________
Betel nut vendor
One of the commonest street
vendors is the Paan wallah, or betel nut vendor. One tenth of the world chews the mixture of leaf, spices, nut and
other variable ingredients. Chief
by-product of the habit is a reddish splatter of stain, indiscriminately spat
upon walls and sidewalks in
Clyde Waddell, US military
man, personal press photographer of Lord Louis Mountbatten, and news
photographer on Phoenix Calcutta
(source: webpage
http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/? Monday,
16-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of
David N. Nelson, South Asia Bibliographer, Van Pelt Library,
_____Contemporary
Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___
_____Memories
of 1940s Calcutta_________________________
Not-to-clean interior stairwell
Did I tell you that in one of those "aerial" shots I found
the building and the window from which I made one of my best views of the
Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army
Airforce, Summer 1944
(source:
a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June
2001 and 28th August 2001)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)
… there
was an Indian cigarette called Vs—Vs for Victory
[…] They were called K-rations. They were just cardboard cartons with
concentrated meat cubes and a big thing like a porridge oat cube that you
ground—smashed up wi' a scone or something—and made a gruel of. A couple o'
sweets. And three cigarettes and three matches! I smoked a pipe so I always—even
from my tramin' days—1 carried maybe about half a pound o' tobacco in an oil
silk bag to keep it dry, because we were always gettin' wet. And I carried a
really strong heavy pipe and I used that all the time I was out there. Bein' in
the Marines I got issued with tobacco. We used to get an issue of either tinned
tobacco or you could buy the leaf and roll it into what they called pricks o'
tobacco when you had time. You used it when you had time to do that. But
eventually I was smokin' Indian tobacco and scuff like that. "There was a
good Indian tobacco called Coolie Plug. It was a very strong tobacco. And I
smoked that. There was a few smoked pipes but most o' them smoked cigarettes
there. And then there was an Indian cigarette called Vs—Vs for Victory—and they
were pure rubbish. You used to get issued wi' them free and hardly anybody
could smoke mem, they were that bad. They were terrible.
Eddie Mathieson, Marines’
commando soldier on the Burma Calcutta
(source: page 239 of MacDougall, Ian: Voices from War and some
Labour Struggles; Personal Recollections of War in our Century by Scottish Men
and Women. Edinburgh
(COPYRIGHT
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educational research project. The
copyright remains with Ian MacDougall)
The Rochdale Observer Cigarette Fund
Twice I received a parcel from the
Harry
Tweedale, RAF Signals Section,
Barrackpore, 1943
(source:
A6665457 TWEEDALE's WAR Part 11 Pages 85-92 at BBC WW2 People's War'
on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/
Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT
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dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original
submitter/author)
I was told
to buy as many cigarettes as I could
I was ordered to report to HQ. I was told to pack my kit,
and just take my small pack. I was given large amount of money, and two men. I
was to travel to
This was a hell of a responsibility for three rookies,
Calcutta is a very big place with a very large population of about seven
million, and because of the advancing Japanese Forces towards Eastern Bengal
there was a kind of exodus from the eastern Towns.
[…]
We found The Imperial Tobacco Company the next day, ordered
the Fags and had them packed in a large wooden box about at least a cubic metre
in size. Because we were on an unofficial errand we couldn’t get the box
transported officially, we had to make our own way to the meeting place, {I
can’t remember the name of it}. We used all sorts of transport; horse drawn
carriage, rickshaws, even carts drawn by two water buffaloes.
[…]
Eventually we got to the place where we were supposed to
meet the Troop train, only to find out that it wasn’t coming through until the
following day, so we were stuck there for the night with our huge box of
cigarettes. Not daring to leave it out of our sight for a second, because the
Natives were reputed to be able steal something from right under one’s nose, I
had to find somewhere for us to be able to sleep in turns for the night. So I
commandeered a railway goods van for the night.
I had to use a lot of unauthorized authority to get it. The
train arrived the following morning and we proudly carried our big box of fags
over to the part of the train were we could see the boys from our unit waving
to us, only to be redirected by our troop officer to take them to the officers
carriage, and that was the last we saw of the box of Fags.
We had to content ourselves with the army supply, they were
called V’s, and I can swear to you that if there ever were any cigarettes made
with Camel or Horse shit it was V’ s.
Stan
Martin, soldier, Calcutta, early 1942-3
(source:
A1982955 Stan Martin's WW2 story at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)
(COPYRIGHT
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submitter/author)
Smoking
was forbidden throughout the school
The only
use of that pavilion [at the south end of the Bottom flat] seemed to be to
provide a place to store the long coir matting for the cricket pitch, and the
building reeked of the damp mat. And mysteriously, as smoking was forbidden
throughout the school, the faint suggestion of tobacco smoke.
John Gardiner, boarding school pupil at Victoria
School
(source: John Gardiner: Memories of VSK (1939 –
1946) on website of Victoria & Dow hill Schools Kurseong at
http://www.orbonline.net/~auballan/J_Gardners_VSK.htm)
(COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial
educational research project. The
copyright remains with John Gardiner)
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