LIVING MEMORY
I enjoyed your article (The Big Story: The War at Home, February 2016. However, I am 82-years-old and have a clear memory from the age of seven, so I would take issue with some of the statements.
Firstly, the ‘Spiv’. This term didn’t come into use until after World War II (about mid-1946 or later), when the shortages became more severe. The Spiv’s product was rubbish. He sold damaged or discontinued stock, obtained in large quantities from an ordinary supplier at a ‘knockdown’ price.