Rationing During WWII

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7,1941 the United States entered World War II. Citizens eagerly volunteered at local draft board offices and the people of America soon felt the affects of war on the home front. The economy soon shifted towards a war production economy and in May of 1942 the Office of Price Administration froze prices on almost all everyday goods, starting with sugar and coffee. American families were issued ration books and tokens which told them how much gasoline, tires, sugar, milk, meat, shoes, nylon and many other items they could buy. Woman even came out with a "wartime edition" with revised recipes and other advice on how to deal with the food rationings. The first non food item to be rationed was rubber because the Japanese had seized plantations in the Dutch East Indies that produced 90% of America's raw rubber. President Roosevelt called on all citizens to help by contributing rubber scraps to be recycled, like old tires, old rubber raincoats, garden hoses, rubber shoes, and bathing caps. Voluntary gas rationing proved ineffective and by the spring of 1942 it was made mandatory. To get classification and ration stamps, people had to certify to a local board that they needed gas and owned no more than five tires. By the end of 1942, half of the United States' automobiles were issued an "A" sticker which allowed four gallons of fuel per week. That sticker was issued to car owners whose use of their cars were nonessential. People handed the pump jockey their Mileage Ration Book coupons and cash, and the female attendants who helped run the service stations because the men were at war, could sell customers no more than three or four gallons of fuel per week. For almost a year "A" stickered cars were not allowed to be driven for please at all. A green "B" sticker was for driving that was essential to the war effort. For example; industrial workers could purchase eight gallons of fuel per week. A red "C" sticker was for physicians, ministers, mail carriers and railroad workers. A "T" sticker was for truckers who supplied members of the population with goods and they had an unlimited amount of fuel, and a rare "X" sticker was for members of Congress and other important government workers. By 1944, whiskey had disappeared from liquor stores because distilleries converted to the production of industrial alcohol. New car production was banned in January of 1942 because auto plants switched to the production of military vehicles. Thirty percent of all cigarettes produced were allocated to service men, making cigarettes a scarce commodity on the home front by 1944. By the end of the war, rationing limited consumption of almost every product with the exception of eggs and dairy foods. Most rationing restrictions ended in August of 1945 except for sugar rationing, which lasted until 1947 in parts of the country. For many people who served on the home front, rationing may be the most remembered part of the second World War.