The United States, despite it being a very publicly debated issue, had one of the least severe rations, however, it still affected all of America significantly. Almost all goods taken for granted became commodities, whose distribution became state regulated. Items such as rubber, metal, clothing, food were all needed for the war effort overseas, and the average American could only receive a reduced amount. For example while a pound of bacon remained at a pre-war value of around 30 cents, you required 7 food points to buy the meat. These food points were food stamps that you got every week of, which would dictate how much of each standard food such as sugar, flour, and meat you could obtain. Similar standards were set for other commodities such as gas. This tight regulation however brought a strengthened black market to America. Especially for gas which was one of the rarest rations to obtain, Americans were unhappy with their inability to have these goods. Therefore the illegal selling of them was incredibly common.
This was also very present in other countries fighting in World War II. In fact most countries were living with much, much tighter regulations than Americans, especially because no other country was able to produce as much as America. A German soldier was only given 300 grams of meat and one 150 gram unit of hard bread per day.
While many civilians had to change their lifestyle to match this new way of life, for most of the allies especially it was a dutiful sacrifice and helped maintain the war effort needed for the allies to win.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/take-closer-look-ration-books
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/rationing
http://reprorations.com/WW2-Germany.htm
https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Rationing-in-World-War-Two/
I found it interesting to see how various materials were rationed in America. It's also worth noting that the Roosevelt Administration dealt with inflation by rationing the amount of materials available to save them for the war effort. The idea that if there was less to buy, then the price of goods wouldn't increase which would hinder inflation. Another entertaining material that was rationed was SPAM. Though the majority of soldiers found it disgusting and unappealing, it still had to be rationed, showing just how stringent the rationing measures and how desperate Americans during the war were that something that no one wanted had limited quantities.
ReplyDeletehttp://theconversation.com/how-world-war-ii-rationing-gave-us-a-liking-for-spam-35975
This blog is really interesting, I like how you had specific statistics about how much bacon cost in cents versus with ration points. Something that I found while looking deeper into this is that a lot of Americans were encouraged to plant their own "victory gardens." This originated in World War I and was spread through a lot of women's clubs and associations. They picked up popularity again in the second World War because many of the commercially grown fruits and vegetables were rationed for the military, so people would be able to keep their families at home healthy without taking away from the soldiers.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.history.com/news/americas-patriotic-victory-gardens
Thank you for providing a reminder that we should be thankful for the ability to go to the grocery store without restrictions on how much we can buy. I like how you used examples and statistics to make your point more clear to the reader. Upon further research about the food rationing, I found that local food board taught Americans how to can food and prepare foods that followed the rationing limits. The support of the food boards towards the public helped conserve food during the war.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/news/food-rationing-in-wartime-america