Brown bread was originally either wholemeal or at any rate made from less refined flour than white bread.
Quote:
The lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn
All round the town.
Some gave them white bread,
And some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum cake
and drummed them out of town
|
In the two years after WW2, particularly the horrible winter of 1946-7, Britain was very broke as a result of the war and was very short of food. The rationing was fierce. I remember bread and dripping as being a godsend because it gave one valuable calories when they were in short supply.