World War II Rationing
There's a War on, You Know!
During the Second World War, you couldn't just
walk into a shop and buy as much sugar or butter or meat as you wanted,
nor could you fill up your car with gasoline whenever you liked. All these
things were rationed, which meant you were only allowed to buy a small amount
(even if you could afford more). The government introduced rationing because
certain things were in short supply during the war, and rationing was the
only way to make sure everyone got their fair share.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor dramatically
ended the debate over America's entrance into the war that raged around
the world. As eager volunteers flooded local draft board offices ordinary
citizens soon felt the impact of the war. Almost overnight the economy shifted
to war production. Consumer goods now took a back seat to military production
as nationwide rationing began almost immediately. In May of 1942,
the U.S. Office of Price Administration (OPA) froze prices on practically
all everyday goods, starting with sugar and coffee.
|
|
| War ration books and tokens were issued to each
American family, dictating how much gasoline, tires, sugar, meat, silk,
shoes, nylon and other items any one person could buy. Across the
country 8000 rationing boards were created to administer these restrictions.
The 1943 Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog contains a list of all rationed farm equipment and tells the reasons and benefits of rationing
as well as who is eligible. Even chicken
wire fencing was rationed. |
 |
|
|
The first nonfood item rationed was rubber.
The Japanese had seized plantations in the Dutch East Indies that produced
90% of America's raw rubber. President Roosevelt called on citizens
to help by contributing scrap rubber to be recycled, old tires, old rubber
raincoats, garden hose, rubber shoes, bathing caps.
The OPA established the Idle Tire Purchase
Plan, and could deny mileage rations to anyone owning passenger tires
not in use. Voluntary gas rationing proved ineffective and by
the spring of 1942 mandatory rationing was needed. To get your classification
and ration stamps, you had to certify to a local board that you needed gas
and owned no more than five tires.
|
|
|
 |
|
By the end of 1942, half of U.S automobiles were
issued an 'A' sticker which allowed 4 gallons of fuel per week. That
sticker was issued to owners whose use of their cars was nonessential.
Hand the pump jockey your Mileage Ration Book coupons and cash, and she
(yes, female service station attendants because the guys were over there)
could sell you three or four gallons a week, no more. For nearly a
year, A-stickered cars were not to be driven for pleasure at all. |
|
|
|
The green 'B' sticker was for driving deemed
essential to the war effort; industrial war workers, for example, could
purchase eight gallons a week. Red 'C' stickers indicated physicians,
ministers, mail carriers and railroad workers. 'T' was for truckers,
and the rare 'X' sticker went to members of Congress and other VIPs.
Truckers supplying the population with supplies had a T sticker for unlimited
amounts of fuel.
Ration Booklet for 'C' stamps
The national maximum Victory Speed was
35 miles an hour, and Driving clubs or carpools were encouraged.
The main idea was to conserve rubber, not gasoline. The interior side
of the sticker issued for the car's windshield instructed the driver on
this point. Every citizen, military or civilian, was to do their part.
Even in the popular Warner Brothers cartoons, Daffy Duck exhorts the audience
to Keep it under 40! Bugs Bunny's plunging airplane halts just
before impact, out of gas as a consequence of the `A' sticker on its windshield.
The 'R' sticker was for non-highway
vehicles, such as farm tractors.
(next
page - Rationing Books and Stamps)
Information was provided by Ames Historical Society and is used
here for information purposes only.
