Speaker 1: Wartime America faces the greatest demand for food in our history. Food for our Army and Navy. Food for the invasion front. Food for ourselves on the home front. Food to help our fighting allies and the people of the allied countries. It takes pounds of food a day to keep a soldier on the fighting front. Millions of pounds of food each day. The best way to supply our men overseas and are fighting allies with most of the foods they need is in dried form and in cans. In addition to the military, other factors affect our canned food supply. Take tin, for example. Our major peacetime sources have been cut off by the enemy. Our railroads and other transportation facilities are being taxed to their utmost carrying munitions, armaments, war supplies and troops. That leaves less shipping space for civilian food stuffs. And then there's the farm labor shortage. All this means that we at home will have less canned fruits, vegetables, soups, and other processed foods for our use. Without rationing of these foods, some people would get more than their fair share. Others would not even get what they need. But rationing assures every one of his fair share. That is why your government is rationing canned fruits and vegetables and other processed foods. Until now, we have been rationing one item at a time like sugar and coffee. But processed fruits and vegetables are not one product. They are hundreds of products in hundreds of different brands, grade, sizes, varieties. In cans, bottles, packages, in dried and frozen form. One cannot say, as in the case of sugar, each citizen will be allowed two cans of peaches a week or four cans of spinach. It may be true that some people don't like spinach. Some of you may want to buy canned corn. Others of you may want to buy canned peas or spinach. So, the question arises, what method of rationing can be used so that each citizen may get his fair share of canned fruits and vegetables and other commercially packed foods, and that will still allow freedom of choice? The system which has been adopted and has worked successfully in England for over a year is called point rationing. In the point rationing system, all these foods are grouped together and your ration book is used to buy those you like. Those items which are not so scarce will take fewer points. Items which are more scarce will take more points. Point stamps to buy these ration goods are in War Ration Book Two. This book contains blue and red stamps. Blue stamps are to be used for canned fruits, vegetables, soups, juices, and other processed foods. Red stamps will be used for meat. This is a typical page of blue stamps in War Ration Book Two. Notice that the stamps are given point numbers: eight, five, two, one. Everyone will get 48 points each period. That means you'll use blue stamps A, B, C for the first period, D, E, F for the second and so forth. Point values will be the same in all stores. Every store in which you shop must post the official table of point values of all point rationed items in all sizes. From time to time, point values may change and stores will post the new point values. Here's an example of how point rationing works. This lady all decked out with her family's brand new ration books starts out to do some shopping. First of all, she wants to buy a can of peas [writes 8 on her list]. She wants to buy a can of chicken soup [writes 5 on her list]. And she wants some dried prunes [writes 1 on her list]. Well, there's our list complete, and all that remains to be done is to tear out 14 points in stamps and pay the grocer. But wait just a minute, just for fun, let's take another look at that point ration table. Hey, slow down there. What about those string beans? Why, they're only three points in the size we want. If we buy those instead of peas, we can save five points. And what's this? Fresh apples don't require any points. Well, why not buy those instead of dried prunes and save another point. So there we are, our shopping list complete, with the same amount of goods and with six points saved for future use. Smart girl. She's smart in more ways than one too, because she used her large stamps first, wisely saving her small ones for low point purchases later on, because she shops early in the day and so helps her grocer. Because wherever possible, she substitutes unrationed fresh fruits and vegetables for canned or processed ones. This is point rationing. This is the way to assure everyone here at home an equal opportunity to get the same fair share. This is the way to assure food for our fighting men and for are fighting allies. Share and share alike is the American way to victory.
FAQs
What was one way Americans dealt with rationing on the home front during World War II? ›
Families were issued ration stamps that were used to buy their allotment of everything from meat, sugar, fat, butter, vegetables and fruit to gas, tires, clothing and fuel oil.
What food was rationing in the US during ww2? ›Two ration books were distributed to "every eligible man, woman, child, and baby in the United States." One contained blue coupons for processed goods while the other contained red coupons for meat, fish and dairy products. Each person started with 48 blue points and 64 red points each month.
Is a war ration book worth anything? ›A: Millions of ration books were issued during World War II. They were intended to prevent the hoarding of such goods as coffee, sugar, meat and other items in short supply due to the war. Ration books generally sell in the $5 to $25 range, but unlike savings bonds, you can't cash them in as you wish.
What was rationed in ww2 home front? ›Resource: Rationing During World War II
Rationing began on May 5, 1942, with a 28-coupon “Sugar Book.” Citizens were issued monthly governmental ration books with coupons that were required to purchase food. Rationed foods were either blue point foods (48 stamps per month) or red point foods (64 stamps per month).
Goods like cars, toys, and fridges disappeared from the market. Even doctors and nurses became scarce. The government rationed other goods like some foods and gasoline. People across the country grew their own food and collected needed materials to support the war.
Why did the US government begin rationing food fuel and other good during World War 2? ›Civilians still needed these materials for consumer goods as well. To meet this surging demand, the federal government took steps to conserve crucial supplies, including establishing a rationing system that impacted virtually every family in the United States.
What were 3 items that were rationed during ww2? ›Rationed Foods. The categories of rationed foods during the war were sugar, coffee, processed foods (canned, frozen, etc.), meats and canned fish, and cheese, canned milk, and fats.
What food rations did soldiers get in ww2? ›Also known as the 14-Man Ration, the 'compo' ration came in a wooden crate and contained tinned and packaged food. A typical crate might include tins of bully beef, spam, steak and kidney pudding, beans, cheese, jam, biscuits, soup, sausages, and margarine.
What was the last thing to be rationed? ›Rationing remained in effect until the early 1950s. Meat was the last item to be derationed and rationing ended completely in 1954, nine years after the war ended.
What did ration cards look like in WW2? ›Ration cards included stamps with drawings of airplanes, guns, tanks, aircraft, ears of wheat and fruit, which were used to purchase rationed items.
What was in a WW2 food rationing book? ›
Every person in the country, including children, received a ration book and each home had to register with a local butcher, grocer and milkman who had to ensure they had enough food for their customers. The ration books contained coupons which had to be presented when items were bought.
What was never rationed in ww2? ›Bread, potatoes, coffee, vegetables, fruit and fish were never rationed, though choice and availability of the last three were often limited. 'The main grouse of people at the moment is that they are not able to buy all they want at the shops, especially in the food line.
What happened on D-Day? ›Troops from the UK, the US, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the coast of northern France, on 6 June 1944. D-Day was the largest military seaborne operation ever attempted, and marked the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe.
What would happen if World War III started? ›It is widely assumed that such a world war would involve all the great powers, like its predecessors, and include the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and thus surpass prior conflicts in geographic scope, destruction, and loss of life.
When did WWII end? ›On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered. After the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, and the Second World War came to an end.
How many Japanese were interned in WWII? ›Japanese-Americans Internment Camps of World War II
The United States, by order of the President, rounded up 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry for detention.
After the war, most women returned home, let go from their jobs. Their jobs, again, belonged to men. However, there were lasting effects. Women had proven that they could do the job and within a few decades, women in the workforce became a common sight.
Are WWII war ration books worth anything? ›Many individuals never used their last books. In addition, it was considered patriotic not to use all of one's ration stamps. This freed even more goods for use by the armed forces. Complete ration books sell for between $4 and $8, partial books between $2 and $4.
What was the substitute for butter in ww2? ›The butter substitute oleomargarine, also known simply as margarine, proved a hardy product that would outlast the war despite Americans' initial negative reaction to it. At that time, it came in white blocks; yellow dye had to be kneaded into it in order to give it a butter-like appearance.
How long did rationing last after WWII? ›Bread, which was never rationed during wartime, was put on the ration in July 1946. It was not until the early 1950s that most commodities came 'off the ration'. Meat was the last item to be de-rationed and food rationing ended completely in 1954.
How did Americans respond to ww2 on the homefront? ›
Many Americans supported the war effort by purchasing war bonds. Women replaced men in sports leagues, orchestras and community institutions. Americans grew 60% of the produce they consumed in “Victory Gardens”. The war effort on the United States Home Front was a total effort.
How did Americans on the home front sacrifice during ww2? ›Americans used their ration cards and stamps to take their meager share of household staples including meat, dairy, coffee, dried fruits, jams, jellies, lard, shortening, and oils. Americans learned, as they did during the Great Depression, to do without.
In what ways did Americans support rationing and salvaging for the war? ›Rationing Resources like food & fuel were needed for the war effort. People rationed and saved bacon fat to donate for ammunition. Many families tended backyard "victory gardens," canned their own vegetables, or substituted ingredients in favorite recipes.
How did Americans participate in the war effort on the home front? ›People planted Victory Gardens to grow their own produce and stretch rations. Towns held scrap drives to collect household goods made of rubber and aluminum to provide materials for the defense industry. Many people also contributed financially by purchasing war bonds from the government.