14 - Queueing for Cakes

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14. QUEUEING FOR CAKES

At the time the potato inquiry was carried out, the Ministry of Food also wanted to know the number of people who queued for cakes, how often they queued during a fortnight, and what kind of cakes they queued for.

It seemed fairly easy from a technical point of view to combine the two inquiries. The same sample could be used for both, and as the potato questionnaire was not very long, it was decided to add five straightforward questions, which were as follows:-

(1) How often a week do you buy cakes, buns, pastry, etc.?
(2) Do you ever queue for cakes, buns, pastry, etc.?
(3)How often did you queue during the last fortnight?
(4) For what kind of cakes, buns, pastry, etc. do you queue?
(5) What kind of cakes do you get without queueing?

Question 1 - How often a week do you buy cakes, buns, pastry, etc.?

Table 1

	%
There or more times a week	13
Twice a week	14
Once a week	36
Occasionally	11
N.A.	2
Never buys	24
SAMPLE	2269

76% buy cakes - a figure which another inquiry in November, 1942.

Of those who buy cakes, not quite occasionally and the rest twice a Week or more often.

Question 2 - Do you ever queue for cakes, buns, pastry etc.?

Table 2

	% of those who buy cakes	%of sample
Yes	28	21
No	71	53
Never buys	-	24
N.A.	1	2
SAMPLE	1718	2269

Slightly more than a quarter of those who buy cakes queue for them.

Question 3 - How often did you queue during the last fortnight?

Table 3

	% of those who queue	% of sample
Three times or more	30	7
Twice	35	7
Once	15	3
Did not queue during the last fortnight	8	2
N.A.	12	2
Never queues	-	54
Never buys cakes and N.A	-	26
SAMPLE	480	2269

Of those who queue, two-thirds queued twice or more often during the last fortnight.

Questions 4 and 5 - For what kind of cakes, buns, pastry, etc, do you queue? What kind of cakes do you get without queueing?

*Table 4

	For what kind of cakes do you queue?	What kind of cakes do you get Without queueing?
Tarts, fancy cakes of all kinds.	51	32
Plain cakes, sponges, etc.	40	36
Fruit cakes	22	18
Buns, scones, lard cakes.	31	41
All cakes.	4
None	-	10
SAMPLE	480 (people who queue)	1718 (people who buy cakes)

* Informants could mention more than one kind.

There is much more queueing for fancy cakes, fruit buns, scones, etc. than for plain buns, scones, etc., though 30% of those who queued (or 7% of the sample)queued for buns, lard cakes, etc.

In conclusion, it can be said that about-one-fifth of the sample queue for cakes, the majority queued more than once in a fortnight, and queueing is not only for fancy cakes, but also for plain buns and scones. No significant group differences were found.

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