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In summer 1917 food shortages caused by the total blockade on imports by German U-boats were starting to have an effect in Bolton. Queues for basic staples such as bread and potatoes were commonplace. There had been calls though from the Bolton and District Co-operative Society as ealy as 1915 to bring in some sort of rationing It was the major food supplier in the town providing nearly three quarters of all goods sold. It organised protests in later 1916 in an attempt to force the government to introduce rationing but by August 1917 it started to issue its own tickets to its members and shoppers to limit scarce food supplies. It was six months ahead of the national government that finally introduced rationing by the beginning of 1918. Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester Image: A Co-operative shop in 1917, courtesy of the National Co-operative Archive