A card with coupons for the purchase of fish, Leningrad, 1947

A rare sheet with partially preserved coupons in good collector's condition. The size is 170*110 mm. Guarantee of authenticity.

Bread cards are a type of food cards introduced in conditions of bread shortage. Normalizes the guaranteed daily consumption of bread minimum. The introduction of bread cards, as the cheapest and most vital product, is a sign of extreme food shortages.

The most famous is the introduction of bread cards in Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. The cards were introduced even before the beginning of the siege of Leningrad, on July 18, 1941, the norm was 800 grams of bread. On September 2, 1941, the standards were lowered: workers and engineers - 600 grams each, employees — 400 grams each, children and dependents — 300 grams each. In total, there were five reductions in standards. The minimum norm was in effect from November 20 to December 25, 1941. According to it, 250 grams of bread were supposed to be given to workers, and 125 grams to everyone else. Bread was made with the addition of cake, there was flour in it. It turned out to be bitter, but there was no choice. The caloric content of such bread could not compensate for the costs of the human body even for a simple existence, which led to a sharp jump in mortality from hunger — in December 1941, about 50 thousand people died of hunger in Leningrad. With the beginning of the ice Road of Life, the supply of food to Leningrad increased and the bread distribution rates were increased to 350 grams for workers and up to 200 grams for the rest of the city's residents. However, even such norms did not meet the needs of people, as a result, in the first winter of the blockade, the death rate from hunger was the highest. In the following months of the blockade, the norms for issuing bread by cards periodically increased, which led to a reduction in the number of starvation deaths.