How was rationing done in WWII in the U.S.? (war, 70s)

[katharsis]

I already know that rationing was done by coupon books which were mailed to every family each month (?), but I have a few questions about the details of this:

1. How were the books mailed and were the books individually addressed? (In other words, was this done in the same way as mail-in voting ballots today?)

2. Were the number of coupons in each book, based on the number of people in each household, so that a couple would receive fewer coupons than a family with five children, for example, -- or did each household receive the same number? And if the number of coupons did vary by family size, how did the government determine the number of people in each household? (And if this was determined by tax returns, then what happened to those people and their families who did not file a tax return?)

3. Could coupons be torn out and sold -- and if so, was this a common practice?

4. Can someone give a real example of an item? (For example, if 10 lbs. of flour was allocated per household.)

I am asking mainly just out of curiosity, which was triggered by reports of some possible food shortages coming up.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I am sure that if I spent an hour or so researching this myself, I could probably find the answers, but I am wondering if anyone already knows the answer to any of these questions -- plus I would love to read some personal stories if anyone would like to share!

[markg91359]

Originally Posted by katharsis

I already know that rationing was done by coupon books which were mailed to every family each month (?), but I have a few questions about the details of this:

1. How were the books mailed and were the books individually addressed? (In other words, was this done in the same way as mail-in voting ballots today?)

2. Were the number of coupons in each book, based on the number of people in each household, so that a couple would receive fewer coupons than a family with five children, for example, -- or did each household receive the same number? And if the number of coupons did vary by family size, how did the government determine the number of people in each household? (And if this was determined by tax returns, then what happened to those people and their families who did not file a tax return?)

3. Could coupons be torn out and sold -- and if so, was this a common practice?

4. Can someone give a real example of an item? (For example, if 10 lbs. of flour was allocated per household.)

I am asking mainly just out of curiosity, which was triggered by reports of some possible food shortages coming up.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I am sure that if I spent an hour or so researching this myself, I could probably find the answers, but I am wondering if anyone already knows the answer to any of these questions -- plus I would love to read some personal stories if anyone would like to share!

I think this will answer most of your questions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ration..._United_States

Father time has caught up with most of the people who had any maturity during the war years and could answer your questions. Only a few are still left alive. Someone who was ten years old in 1942 would be 90 years old today.

[bus man]

Not directly answering your question, but part of the process of rationing was to get public buy-in. The government mounted a propaganda campaign to support rationing in terms of shared fairness, as seen in the attached poster.

[katharsis]

Originally Posted by markg91359

I think this will answer most of your questions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ration..._United_States

Father time has caught up with most of the people who had any maturity during the war years and could answer your questions. Only a few are still left alive. Someone who was ten years old in 1942 would be 90 years old today.

Thanks for that -- and I was obviously wrong about the mailing part! -- but if people went to rationing boards (per the article), I wonder if people on the boards simply accept that the people who were applying for the ration books were telling the truth about the size of their family?

Also, it was interesting reading that sugar was rationed at 1/2 pound per person per week which was HALF the average amount consumed prior to rationing! I don't know what the average is now, but it takes my husband and myself about three months to consume a four-pound bag of sugar during the cold months when I do more baking -- and probably six months to consume a four-pound bag during the warmer months!

Thanks again.

[in_newengland]

Rationing of sugar didn't end until sometime in 1947. I THINK I remember it but only very slightly. My mother loved to bake so it makes sense that she would have been wanting more sugar. We stood in a crowd around a man who was handing something out on the sidewalk in my mother's home town. Actually it was almost in front of the apartment where HER mother lived so maybe she was getting it for her mother or maybe her mother was letting her use her coupon.

All I can add is that women were really pushing and shoving and my mother had a bit of paper in her hand. I looked up and asked my mother what the piece of paper was. She said something like, "It's a ration..." (Since I was only about 2 years old the word "ration" was new to me and that's why I remember it. I don't know if she said ration book or ration coupon or what. I don't think she was able to get whatever it was though because afterward she looked downcast. I don't remember seeing anyone getting anything big like a bag of sugar. Maybe they were very small portions or maybe they had run out.

[chirack]

Originally Posted by katharsis

Thanks for that -- and I was obviously wrong about the mailing part! -- but if people went to rationing boards (per the article), I wonder if people on the boards simply accept that the people who were applying for the ration books were telling the truth about the size of their family?

Also, it was interesting reading that sugar was rationed at 1/2 pound per person per week which was HALF the average amount consumed prior to rationing! I don't know what the average is now, but it takes my husband and myself about three months to consume a four-pound bag of sugar during the cold months when I do more baking -- and probably six months to consume a four-pound bag during the warmer months!

Thanks again.

They probably wouldn't have much choice but to accept the truth about family size as given the technology of the time(Paper Work) finding that information out by other means would be very hard. Asking every mother to bring in all her children would be a real hardship for the mother. As for how much sugar would be consumed it would depends on how much baking the family did and in those days they probably did more baking at home than now(more expensive ingredients).

[keyman51]

I remember when my great-grandfather died in the 1970s we found the ration stamps in his house when we went in to clean it.

[Taiko]

Originally Posted by katharsis

Thanks for that -- and I was obviously wrong about the mailing part! -- but if people went to rationing boards (per the article), I wonder if people on the boards simply accept that the people who were applying for the ration books were telling the truth about the size of their family?

Also, it was interesting reading that sugar was rationed at 1/2 pound per person per week which was HALF the average amount consumed prior to rationing! I don't know what the average is now, but it takes my husband and myself about three months to consume a four-pound bag of sugar during the cold months when I do more baking -- and probably six months to consume a four-pound bag during the warmer months!

Thanks again.

I can theorize that since the rationing wasn't for say the Vietnam War in 1968 as the nation was almost all in and complied with the war effort. That there would have been a lot of social pressure to tell the truth and those who violated their community's trust would have had push back from the WWII home front warriors.

Now some where sure to cheat for a local black market as they did to provide booze just a few years before and I am sure the police and federal agents did run down those cases after congress added enforcement penalties in early 1942

[BahHumBug2]

I had many conversations with my grandfather about WWII and rationing. There was an underground market for nearly everything -- if you had the money. Many became very wealthy operating the underground markets. If one had the money, one could get whatever they desired. Also, ration stamps were bought, sold, traded.....very similar to what happens with todays "food stamp" programs.

[JONOV]

Originally Posted by katharsis

Thanks for that -- and I was obviously wrong about the mailing part! -- but if people went to rationing boards (per the article), I wonder if people on the boards simply accept that the people who were applying for the ration books were telling the truth about the size of their family?

Also, it was interesting reading that sugar was rationed at 1/2 pound per person per week which was HALF the average amount consumed prior to rationing! I don't know what the average is now, but it takes my husband and myself about three months to consume a four-pound bag of sugar during the cold months when I do more baking -- and probably six months to consume a four-pound bag during the warmer months!

Thanks again.

Does it though? I rarely use raw sugar at home. Most of my sugar comes in stuff bought at the store. Ice Cream, cookies, cake, etc.