70s

[Eastender]

Hi can anyone direct me to a site where I can get information of the 3 day working week, the electric power cuts, when the TV used to go off at 10pm and the Sugar Shortege. I lived through it and remember it but cannot think of why it was. I not sure if it was caused by the Dockers Strike? back in the 70s. And remember cueing up and searching the land for that Gold Dust bag of Sugar lol. Thanks

[kempie]

1974

The three-day week was a result of action by coalminers in response to an overtime ban and pay capping.

The sugar shortage was a result of rocketing world sugar prices but did have the side-effect of prompting the rapid development of competitive artificial sweeteners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Day_Week

[Crewedaddy]

Try the National Archives site. There's some stuff on the lead up to it here

[Upforit]

"The three-day week was a result of action by coalminers in response to an overtime ban and pay capping. "

Or was it the result of action by employers refusing to negotiate reasonable demands made by men who spent their working life (and risk of losing it) in the bowels of the earth supplying the power we use and take for granted every day?

[4GS]

Thats what I love about History
It's all matter of how events are interpreted.

[Eastender]

Thanks for your answers and Crew what a good site you have given me.

[colin6789]

There was also a bread shortage and a couple of petrol shortages, my dad even got issued with a ration book?. There were rumours of a salt shortage, so a spokeman for the Cheshire salt mines had to explain on TV about the 1000 year reserves that they had in the largest salt mines in europe. It may have been local to Oxford but there was a rumour of a toilet paper shortage. everybody stocked up the supermarkets sold out and then nobody bought any and one shop by me had toilet rolls floor to ceiling for weeks.

[reinganum]

The petrol shortage (Colin's answer) happened at the same time but was mainly the result of the oil crisis of autumn 1973 (the second arab-Israeli war, sometimes known as the 'Yom Kippur' war because it started on that Jewish holy day).

An interesting facet I remember is that areas were split into 'A' and 'B' districts: 'A' districts were only allowed electricity on Mondays Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 'B' districts only on Thursdays Fridays and Saturdays. Naturally offices all wanted to be in A districts and shops all wanted to be in B districts but of course this couldn't be arranged.

Fortunately the winter of 1973-74 was very mild, so few people now remember the disruption. Also, computers were not so heavily used then as now; most offices ran on typewriters, pen, and paper!