Mrs. Arthur Webb (1874-1957) was a writer who wrote for '' Farmer's Weekly'' and also appeared on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in connection with the network's broadcasts for housewives. Of concern in those days was the conservation of kitchen fuel. As a writer for ''Farmer's Weekly'' Mrs Arthur Webb recommended cooking full meals in a steamer including

pudding Pudding is a type of food which can either be a dessert served after the main meal or a Savoury (dish), savoury (salty or sweet, and spicy) dish, served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based des ...

s and

cakes Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabora ...

. When Mrs. Arthur Webb's ''Economical Cookery'' was published in 1934 it didn't appeal much to the working class British public. One of her projects with the BBC was to collect recipes from British farmhouses in all parts of the country. The recipe she recorded for "Norfolk dumplings" was a simple yeast-leavened bread dough, "not a sweet", cooked by boiling and often served as a substantial part of the meal, or on their own if there wasn't any meat. "Making the Most of a Wartime Larder" was broadcast with Mrs. Arthur Webb at 9:45 AM in September 1939. Beginning in 1940, The

Ministry of Food Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

prepared recipes and information to be broadcast to British housewives daily by the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

everyday between 8:15 and 8:20, timed in the morning before housewives did their daily shopping. Part of the purpose of these broadcasts was to give women information on what types of foods were available at markets and what they needed to conserve as part of the war effort. She was married to Arthur Webb, the building society administrator.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Arthur, Mrs BBC Home Service United Kingdom home front during World War II Home economists British cookbook writers 20th-century British women writers 1874 births 1957 deaths BBC people