Rationing and Postwar Consumption
Rationing
Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States had no intention or plan for rationing, yet within sixteen months after the historic event, the government installed thirteen major rationing programs. The programs, in order of their installation, are tires, automobiles, typewriters, sugar, bikes, gas, protective rubber footwear, fuel oil, coffee, shoes, stoves, processed foods and meats, fats, oils and cheese. All of the programs except for the last two were implemented during 1942. At first the government tried price controlling, but the price levels were at a point where demand exceeded supply, which created the need for rationing. Supplies were low because the government needed to supply the troops, our allies and newly liberated places.
During the United State’s involvement in the war, industrial factories stopped making consumer items and began to produce war materials. Ration coupons took over as currency. People could clearly see the effect that the war was having on their own soil. Yet, in 1943 two thirds of people surveyed said that their meals were not different since rationing started and three quarters said that they size of their meals had not changed. Then in 1944, ninety percent of women surveyed said they had enough meat and seventy five percent said they had enough sugar. More than a third claimed they could not use all there canned goods before they expired. The American rationing system was so effective because of the “native good sense of the American people and because, on the whole, the amateurs who organized and administered it rose to the situation and discharged their responsibilities with vigor, imagination, and courage.”
