My partner recently came across her mother’s World War II ration book and shared it with me. Wow, it listed her full name, height, weight, eye color, hair color, address…and there were a few coupons/stamps left in it. I had heard my mother talk of sugar and meat rations and not being able to get nylon stockings, but I hadn’t ever read up on the massive government effort that lasted four full years. Rationing impacted folks’ lives enormously, but there was near complete compliance. There must have been something that made rationing work, and I wanted to know what it was given our current situation of significant resistance to Covid-19 restrictions.
After the U.S. joined the war, it took the U.S. government just a month to establish the Office of Price Administration (OPA) to set price limits and to implement a nationwide effort to ration food, gasoline, rubber, nylon, sugar, coffee, and eventually meat, cheese, fats, canned fish, automobiles, coal, firewood, tires and many other items. The goal was to insure that the troops and our allies were adequately supplied while discouraging hoarding and providing equitable distribution of scarce resources at home. Sacrificing for the common good became the patriotic thing to do on the homefront. The first ration books, allotted one to each citizen including infants, were issued in May 1942.
Within weeks of that first book’s issue, 91 percent of the population registered to receive the books. Thousands of local “ration boards” staffed by volunteers, recruited by local officials, set up shop. Amazing, right? Well, war is quite a motivator. But there was something else going on. The U.S. government and American media took this on full force. Hollywood and the broadcasting industry, radio at the time, played an enormous role as did print advertising. The federal Office of War Information was created in 1942 and produced posters, pamphlets, newsreels, and radio pieces to support the war and encourage rationing at home. You’ve probably seen some of the poster images.
“Rationing Means a Fair Share for All,” “Food—Don’t Waste It!,” “Grow Your Own—Can Your Own,” “Do with Less so They’ll Have Enough,” “Plant a Victory Garden—Our Food is Fighting,” and “Save Waste Fats for Explosives!” were common food rationing slogans. And there’s the ever-popular Rosie the Riveter “We Can Do It!” poster. But the most hard-hitting poster I came across while browsing was about conserving gasoline and tires by car sharing. The poster shows a male driver with an outline of Hitler in the passenger seat and says “When you ride ALONE, you ride with Hitler!!! Join a Car-Sharing Club.” And the Victory Speed Limit was 35mph nationwide!
The U.S. War Advertising Council brought together advertising and government to spread a carefully crafted and unified message. The Office of War Information’s Radio Division provided every national radio advertiser and broadcaster with propaganda themes to incorporate on a predetermined schedule. Radio was a powerful tool. Ninety percent of Americans owned at least one radio and families listened for an average of three to four hours a day. President Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” drew half of the population to the radio! And his leadership and encouragement were critical to public support. Celebrities like Bob Hope, Jack Benny and the fictional Fibber McGee and Molly spread the conserve/ration messages using entertainment and humor.
We did our share here on the Range. We had Victory Gardens in Virginia on the west side of Silver Lake, and probably in every small town. Folks with space planted them at home and folks on farms were in a good position to grow much of what they ate. Victory Gardens provided an astonishing 60 percent of all produce consumed in the U.S. during the war. Canned, frozen and dehydrated vegetables and fruits were rationed—from applesauce and asparagus to tomatoes and spinach, everything was assigned ration points. One purchased rationed goods, if they were available at all, for cash and points. A can of peaches, for example, required 24 points (coupons) in addition to the price. In 1944, ration coins were introduced so that merchants could give change back for items bought with ration coupons/stamps. Potlucks originated during the 1940’s food rationing too, with neighbors pooling their rationing points to contribute a dish.
Elder Iron Rangers have told me about putting their names on a list with the local dry-goods store for a pair of shoes. Individuals were allotted two pairs of shoes. When shoes, in short supply, became available, the store would let them know and they bought them with cash and points. My mother told me of collecting old paper and pieces of metal and scraps of coal in a wagon---everything was reused, recycled, and conserved. When women couldn’t buy nylon stockings for years, they drew lines up the backs of their legs to look like the seams. (Remember seamed stockings??) Even the size of hems and belts on garments were restricted to save yardage. And people made do with less for the benefit of the war.
Besides demanding an enormous portion of available food and other resources, the war cost money—more than $300 Billion ($4 Trillion in today’s dollars). Patriotic citizens bought $25 War Bonds for $18.75, and waited ten years to redeem them at $25. Children could buy war stamps at 25 cents, and paste them into War Bond booklets. The War Finance Committee supervised all sales. Advertisers donated an enormous effort, and, after only one month, 90 percent of respondents surveyed were aware of War Bonds. Bond Rallies were held around the country with famous movie stars like Bette Davis and Rita Hayworth promoting bond sales. Norman Rockwell’s 1941 illustrations aided the war bonds effort, and Irving Berlin’s song “Any Bonds Today” became the theme song of the campaign. More than 85 million Americans (out of a population of 130 million) purchased $185.7 billion worth of bonds. Now that’s fundraising!
Yes, there was a black market where things like $12 tires went for $60. And there was other crime where trucks of high-demand goods were hijacked. And there was illegal manufacturing of rationed goods. But there was also widespread compliance and support for a massive effort at limiting America’s consumption for the war cause. Rationing of nearly everything except sugar ended in August of 1945, and the post-war era of relative abundance was ushered in. Government campaigns for compliance ended---until we faced Covid-19. We know what works.