Posted by Peter Hyland on August 08, 2020 at 13:34:04 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Chocolate - 'very' Middle Class? posted by Magnus Smith on August 08, 2020 at 03:27:09:
Magnus - I'd like to take up another of your points, if I may - the one about the children being able to afford chocolate "on a frequent basis". I too thought vaguely that the children were for ever eating chocolate in the stories but I wondered if this was really true.
So I checked in Pigeon Post (because I know that book well). There are only 3 occasions on which chocolate is actually provided for eating. The first is right at the very beginning when Roger is on the train and swallows a bit of chocolate. Next, when they begin prospecting Peggy serves out "a ration of chocolate from a secret store of her own". Finally, Mrs Blackett asks Peggy and Titty to include in the shopping at Rio a special kind of chocolate that Roger likes.
There is no mention of chocolate being included in the stores for any of the camps. It seems that it is a treat provided occasionally by Mrs Walker (for the train journey) and by Mrs Blackett via Peggy. The idea that the children were constantly eating expensive chocolate is a myth (in Pigeon Post anyway).
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