Rationing ended after world war 2,accept for sugar which ended in 1947.Why is this important you ask? Because we have very short memories.Lets go over a bit of history shall we.
Some sources.
http://www.nps.gov/nhl/themes/HomefrontStudy.pdf (198 page study with great information on the affects to society during and after ww2).
Rationing on the US Homefront during WW II
World War II Rationing
Home Sweet Home Front: Dayton During World War II
America on the Homefront This one is part of the official government records.Some pretty scary stuff in there.Penalties for using the black market for example up to and including death by starvation.Though it is no known how many where put to death by starvation,some speculate that this death penalty led to the anti death penalty movement after world war 2....on with the topic at hand.
When war was declared hoarding began almost immediately.
All of the rationing in world war two was created by the War Production Board and the stabilization act of 1942 which set prices and wages nation wide.The board was founded by executive order 9250 by then president Franklin D. Roosevelt. War Production Board - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stabilization Act of 1942 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The War Production board has transformed many times since.During the Korean war it was called The office of Price Administration. Most of the responsibilities it had are now handled by the department of commerce, Fema,and the DHS.
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. [SIZE=-1]The following is from An Emergency Statement to the People of the United States published by the U.S. War Production Board in the Des Moines Register on April 20, 1942.[/SIZE]
The steel industry has been rapidly stepping up its production..., but we need to get production up to the industry's full capacity of 90,000,000 tons - a total equal to the output of the rest of the world combined. This volume of production cannot be attained or increased unlesss an additional 6,000,000 tons of scrap iron and steel is obtained promptly. We are faced with the fact that some steel furnaces have been allowed to cool down and that many of them are operating from day to day and hand to mouth, due only to the lack of scrap.
The rubber situation is also critical. In spite of the recent rubber drive, there is a continuing need for large quantities of scrap rubber. We are collecting every possible pound from the factories, arsenals and shipyards; we are speeding up the flow of material from automobile graveyards; we are tearing up abondoned railroad tracks and bridges, but unless we dig out an additional 6,000,000 tons of steel and great quantities of rubber, copper, brass, zinc and tin, our boys may not get all the fighting weapons they need in time... Even one old shovel will help make 4 hand grenades.
In 1942 a rationing system was begun to guarantee minimum amounts of necessities to everyone (especially poor people) and prevent inflation. Tires were the first item to be rationed in January 1942 because supplies of natural rubber were interrupted. Gasoline rationing proved an even better way to allocate scarce rubber. By 1943 one needed government issued ration coupons to purchase typewriters, sugar, gasoline, bicycles, clothing, fuel oil, silk, nylon, coffee, stoves, shoes, meat, cheese, butter, lard, margarine, canned foods, dried fruits, jam, and many other items. Some items—like new automobiles and appliances were no longer made.Demand for repair work on cars is growing constantly as they get older and require more maintenance,” said Ralph Rodgers, president of the Automobile Dealers’ association. “(Trained mechanics) were not at first considered an essential industry, and many of our best workers went to essential industries, while others were drafted.”
By the beginning of 1943 garages were scheduling work months ahead and accepted work by appointment only.
The rationing system did not apply to used goods (like clothes or cars).
To get a classification and a book of rationing stamps, one had to appear before a local rationing board. Each person in a household received a ration book, including babies and children. When purchasing gasoline, a driver had to present a gas card along with a ration book and cash. Ration stamps were valid only for a set period to forestall hoarding.
Medicines such as penicillin were rationed by a triage committee at each hospital.
An A sticker on a car was the lowest priority of gasoline rationing and entitled the car owner to 3 to 4 gallons of gasoline per week. B stickers were issued to workers in the military industry, entitling their holder up to 8 gallons of gasoline per week. C stickers were granted to persons deemed very essential to the war effort, such as doctors. T rations were made available for truckers. Lastly, X stickers on cars entitled the holder to unlimited supplies and were the highest priority in the system. Ministers of Religion, police, firemen, and civil defense workers were in this category.A scandal erupted when 200 Congressmen received these X stickers
The War Production Board (WPB) ordered the temporary end of all civilian automobile sales on 1 January 1942, leaving dealers with one half million unsold cars. Ration boards grew in size as they began evaluating automobile sales in February (only certain professions, such as doctors and clergymen, qualified to purchase the remaining inventory of new automobiles)
By June 1942 companies also stopped manufacturing for civilians metal office furniture, radios, phonographs, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and sewing machines.
Coffee was rationed nationally on 29 November 1942 to one pound every five weeks, about half of normal consumption, in part because of German U-boat attacks on shipping from Brazil. By the end of 1942 ration coupons were used for nine other items. Typewriters, gasoline, bicycles, footwear, Silk, Nylon, fuel oil, stoves, meat, lard, shortening and oils, cheese, butter, margarine, processed foods (canned, bottled, and frozen), dried fruits, canned milk, firewood and coal, jams, jellies, and fruit butter were rationed by November 1943.
How would you do on official rations of the time?
3 cans of peas a month?
The government sometimes adopted policies that curtailed liberties and the flow of information.In the interests of morale and security the Office of War Information and Office of Censorship used domestic propaganda and censorship to promote positive images of the United States and to
restrict sensitive information.
Just a little history and a reminder of just how fragile our society,the just in time supply system,and peace really is.
Some sources.
http://www.nps.gov/nhl/themes/HomefrontStudy.pdf (198 page study with great information on the affects to society during and after ww2).
Rationing on the US Homefront during WW II
World War II Rationing
Home Sweet Home Front: Dayton During World War II
America on the Homefront This one is part of the official government records.Some pretty scary stuff in there.Penalties for using the black market for example up to and including death by starvation.Though it is no known how many where put to death by starvation,some speculate that this death penalty led to the anti death penalty movement after world war 2....on with the topic at hand.
When war was declared hoarding began almost immediately.
All of the rationing in world war two was created by the War Production Board and the stabilization act of 1942 which set prices and wages nation wide.The board was founded by executive order 9250 by then president Franklin D. Roosevelt. War Production Board - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stabilization Act of 1942 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The War Production board has transformed many times since.During the Korean war it was called The office of Price Administration. Most of the responsibilities it had are now handled by the department of commerce, Fema,and the DHS.
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. [SIZE=-1]The following is from An Emergency Statement to the People of the United States published by the U.S. War Production Board in the Des Moines Register on April 20, 1942.[/SIZE]
The steel industry has been rapidly stepping up its production..., but we need to get production up to the industry's full capacity of 90,000,000 tons - a total equal to the output of the rest of the world combined. This volume of production cannot be attained or increased unlesss an additional 6,000,000 tons of scrap iron and steel is obtained promptly. We are faced with the fact that some steel furnaces have been allowed to cool down and that many of them are operating from day to day and hand to mouth, due only to the lack of scrap.
The rubber situation is also critical. In spite of the recent rubber drive, there is a continuing need for large quantities of scrap rubber. We are collecting every possible pound from the factories, arsenals and shipyards; we are speeding up the flow of material from automobile graveyards; we are tearing up abondoned railroad tracks and bridges, but unless we dig out an additional 6,000,000 tons of steel and great quantities of rubber, copper, brass, zinc and tin, our boys may not get all the fighting weapons they need in time... Even one old shovel will help make 4 hand grenades.
In 1942 a rationing system was begun to guarantee minimum amounts of necessities to everyone (especially poor people) and prevent inflation. Tires were the first item to be rationed in January 1942 because supplies of natural rubber were interrupted. Gasoline rationing proved an even better way to allocate scarce rubber. By 1943 one needed government issued ration coupons to purchase typewriters, sugar, gasoline, bicycles, clothing, fuel oil, silk, nylon, coffee, stoves, shoes, meat, cheese, butter, lard, margarine, canned foods, dried fruits, jam, and many other items. Some items—like new automobiles and appliances were no longer made.Demand for repair work on cars is growing constantly as they get older and require more maintenance,” said Ralph Rodgers, president of the Automobile Dealers’ association. “(Trained mechanics) were not at first considered an essential industry, and many of our best workers went to essential industries, while others were drafted.”
By the beginning of 1943 garages were scheduling work months ahead and accepted work by appointment only.
The rationing system did not apply to used goods (like clothes or cars).
To get a classification and a book of rationing stamps, one had to appear before a local rationing board. Each person in a household received a ration book, including babies and children. When purchasing gasoline, a driver had to present a gas card along with a ration book and cash. Ration stamps were valid only for a set period to forestall hoarding.
Medicines such as penicillin were rationed by a triage committee at each hospital.
An A sticker on a car was the lowest priority of gasoline rationing and entitled the car owner to 3 to 4 gallons of gasoline per week. B stickers were issued to workers in the military industry, entitling their holder up to 8 gallons of gasoline per week. C stickers were granted to persons deemed very essential to the war effort, such as doctors. T rations were made available for truckers. Lastly, X stickers on cars entitled the holder to unlimited supplies and were the highest priority in the system. Ministers of Religion, police, firemen, and civil defense workers were in this category.A scandal erupted when 200 Congressmen received these X stickers
The War Production Board (WPB) ordered the temporary end of all civilian automobile sales on 1 January 1942, leaving dealers with one half million unsold cars. Ration boards grew in size as they began evaluating automobile sales in February (only certain professions, such as doctors and clergymen, qualified to purchase the remaining inventory of new automobiles)
By June 1942 companies also stopped manufacturing for civilians metal office furniture, radios, phonographs, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and sewing machines.
Coffee was rationed nationally on 29 November 1942 to one pound every five weeks, about half of normal consumption, in part because of German U-boat attacks on shipping from Brazil. By the end of 1942 ration coupons were used for nine other items. Typewriters, gasoline, bicycles, footwear, Silk, Nylon, fuel oil, stoves, meat, lard, shortening and oils, cheese, butter, margarine, processed foods (canned, bottled, and frozen), dried fruits, canned milk, firewood and coal, jams, jellies, and fruit butter were rationed by November 1943.
How would you do on official rations of the time?
3 cans of peas a month?
The government sometimes adopted policies that curtailed liberties and the flow of information.In the interests of morale and security the Office of War Information and Office of Censorship used domestic propaganda and censorship to promote positive images of the United States and to
restrict sensitive information.
Just a little history and a reminder of just how fragile our society,the just in time supply system,and peace really is.
cause such a riot that the nation would fall down a hole?
