Motbok, Ration book

Max fyra liter sprit i månaden
Åh, Knut Hedén, vad komplicerat det var med spriten! Varje månad tog du motboken med dig till spritbutiken på Karl Gustavsgatan och köpte tre liter sprit. Först kontrollerades din motbok. Sedan lämnade du in en blankett där det stod vad du ville ha. Därefter fick du några stämplar i boken innan du kunde betala, gå till utlämningsdisken och få allt kontrollerat. Till slut fick du ta din sprit och gå hem.
Du var ju änkling. Hur mådde du egentligen? Drack du verkligen tre liter sprit i månaden? Eller bjöd du mest på fest? Vem vet – kanske var du nykterist och använde bara sprit som betalmedel?
Motboken infördes i Stockholm, Göteborg och Malmö år 1916, för att sedan spridas till resten av Sverige. Syftet var att reglera mängden alkohol var och en fick köpa. 1922 röstade hälften av Sveriges medborgare för ett totalt spritförbud, och hälften emot. Motboken behölls, som kompromiss.
Knut Hedéns bok användes 1953–1955, precis innan systemet med motbok försvann. Motboken reglerade hur mycket alkohol var och en fick köpa. Gifta kvinnor: ingen alkohol alls. Ogifta kvinnor: någon flaska per halvår. Män: upp till fyra liter i månaden, lite mer om man skulle ha kalas.

RATION BOOK - This ration book listed how much wine and spirits you could buy and recorded how much you had bought. The system existed from 1919 to 1955 and was a way to get people to drink less.
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Maximum four litres of spirits a month
Oh, Knut Hedén, what a hassle it was to get spirits! Every month you took the ration book with you to the spirits shop on Karl Gustavsgatan and bought three litres of spirits. First they checked your ration book. Then you handed over a form listing what you wanted to buy. Then you got some stamps in the book before you were able to pay, go to the collection counter, and have everything doublechecked. Finally you could take your spirits and go home.
You were a widower. What was your life really like? Did you really drink three litres of spirits a month? Or did you offer it to friends too? Who knows – perhaps you were a teetotaller and only used the spirits to pay people with?
These ration books were introduced in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö in 1916, and then spread to the rest of Sweden. The aim was to control the amount of alcohol each person could buy. In 1922 half of Sweden’s citizens voted for total ban on alcohol and half voted against. The ration books were retained as a compromise.
Knut Hedén’s book was used from 1953 to 1955, just before the rationing system disappeared. The ration books controlled how much alcohol each person could buy. Married women: no alcohol at all. Unmarried women: a bottle or so every six months. Men: up to four litres a month and a bit more if they were going to have a party.