WWII Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake

Thanks very much to Peggy Ravitch for posting this recipe to the WAGGGS-L Mailing List!

Ingredients:

Directions: Blend cocoa, sugar and mayonnaise to form a smooth paste. Add beaten eggs. Add the sifted flour, salt and baking soda alternately with the lukewarm milk and vanilla. Bake in a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch pan at 375 oven for about 30 to 35 minutes.

Note: Stress to the girls that there was a war going on, and imported goods were a luxury. The fear and reality of German U-boats prohibited much of the shipping industry, and when ships could get out on the seas, it was to transport steel, weapons, tanks, and war material.

Sugar was traded like gold in the United States, and the price on the black market soared.

To receive a pair of silk stockings from a fellow was like getting an engagement ring. Leg makeup was commonly used instead. (Draw a straight line down the back of your leg to simulate the hose's seam.)

Cocoa is grown in the tropics, and the same shipping problems occurred. Therefore people hoarded.

Gasoline came from the Middle East, but was often diverted to the war effort (gotta fuel those tanks, planes and jeeps, etc.). Gas rationing was commonplace, and driving cars was only for getting to work, and even then you had to carpool to save on the precious fuel. Remember the saying, "A pint of gas is worth a pint of blood."

Now you know why.


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