Europe, but rationing continued for several years afterwards. Some aspects of rationing became stricter than they were during the war. Bread was rationed from 21 July 1946 to 24 July 1948. Average body weight fell and potato consumption increased. Certain foodstuffs that the average 1940s British citizen would find unusual, for example whale meat and canned snoek fish from South Africa, were not rationed. Despite this, they did not prove popular. In 1950 4000 tonnes of whale meat went unsold on Tyneside. When sweets were taken off ration in April 1949 (but sugar was still rationed); understandably there was a rush on sweetshops, and rationing had to be reintroduced in August, remaining until 1953. At the time, this was presented as needed to feed people in European areas under British control, whose economies had been devastated by the fighting. This was partly true, but with many British men still mobilised in the armed forces, an austere economic climate, a centrally-planned economy under the post-war Labour government and the curtailment of American assistance (in particular, the closure of the Combined Food Board in 1946), resources were not available to expand food production and food imports. Frequent strikes by some workers (most critically dock workers) made things worse. A common ration book fraud was the ration books of the dead being kept and used by the living. Political reaction In the late 1940s, the Conservative Party utilised and encouraged growing public anger at rationing, scarcity, controls, austerity and government bureaucracy to rally middle-class supporters and build a political comeback that won the 1951 general election. Their appeal was especially effective to housewives, who faced more difficult shopping conditions after the war than during it. Timeline 1945 27 May: Bacon ration cut from per week. Cooking fat ration cut from per week. Soap ration cut by an eighth, except for babies and young children. The referenced newspaper article predicted that households would be grossly hampered in making food items that included pastry. 1 June: The basic petrol ration for civilians was restored. 19 July: In order to preserve the egalitarian nature of rationing, gift food parcels from overseas weighing more than would be deducted from the recipient's ration. 1946 Summer: Continual rain ruined Britain's wheat crop. Bread and flour rationing started. 1947 January–March: Winter of 1946–1947 in the United Kingdom: long hard frost and deep snow. Frost destroyed a huge amount of stored