Food Stamps vs Ration Stamps.

I was thinking how times change. I was born in 1942. I remember all the stories my folks use to tell about having to use ration stamps. You still had to pay for the stuff and you had a ration ticket to buy a item. Tires,gas, oil, even some food was rationed.

America experienced rationing for the first time in World War II. Some products that were rationed during World War II were sugar, meat, coffee, typewriters, fuel oil, gasoline, rubber, and automobiles. Food rationing probably affected most Americans the most. Each American was issued a book of ration cupons each month. Rationed goods were assigned a price and point value. Families were not restricted to certain quantities of rationed goods. But once their cupons were used up, they could not buy rationed goods until the next month. Families were incouraged to plant victory gardens. These gardens supplied a mjor part of the vegetable supply during the War. Rubber and gas were the most vital product rationed. Limited fuel supplies during the war affected America in many ways. Gas rationing was done differently than food rationing. Car owners had to register and were given windshield sticker based on how the car or other vehicle was used. Pleasure driving was prohibited. We have less information about clothing at this time. I do not believe that clothes were actually rationed, but the availability of civilian clothing was very much affected. Certain fabrics like silk or synthetic fibers were not available for civilian use. Shoes were rationed in America. Stamp 17 in War Ration Book 1 was good for one pair of shoes until June 15. (Probably about every 3-4 months.) Families could pool the coupons of all members living in the same household. Even tennis shoes which had become popular in America were hard to get because that had rubber soles.

I remember my mom saying that they wore makeup on their legs and an eyebrow pencil to draw a seam. Also things like face powder were rationed. I can not imagine living here in the South and having pancake makeup and eyebrow pencil dripping down your legs.

Granny4Peace wrote:

I remember my mom saying that they wore makeup on their legs and an eyebrow pencil to draw a seam. Also things like face powder were rationed. I can not imagine living here in the South and having pancake makeup and eyebrow pencil dripping down your legs.

I go back so far that my mother would buy oleomargerine that was in a heavy cellophane bag. It was white but had a little red spot about the size of a nickel that you squeezed and then kneaded the bag until the contents turned all buttery yellow.

LOL That was my job. Making Butter

When I was about 7 or 8 we when to see my grandparents in Miami. My uncle took me to the grand opening of new super Market. WOW! it was huge. They even had a machine that made little cake donuts. They also had maybe 4 or 5 different kinds of coffee. The name of the place was Shells. I revisited my uncle in 1970. I asked him about Shells. It had been torn down but the footprint of the store was still visible. The Giant Super store had been about the size of a small 7-11 or Circle K convenience store. LOL

Before I started listening to audiobooks, I used to listen to XM's Old Time Radio station. In addition to the radio programs, they had wartime public service announcements about stuff like saving animal fat and turning it in to a recycle center somewhere.

Apparently a lot of the stuff we now throw away was recycled during the war.

I always thought there may have been a Rubber Condom shortage. Just guessing......

This is a good thread. I enjoy hearing all of your stories.

There were essentially no tires to be bought and the ones available were in horrible shape. My parents said flat tires were as an expected part of maintenance as changing the oil.

One time my grandfather told about seeing what looked like a good tire on the side of the road so he went back to inspect it. When he got out, he noticed in his periphery two men moving in the grasses nearby. Apparently this was a common setup for thieves taking advantage of gullible passersby.

The older women in my family.....grandmother, great-grandmother and great aunts would combine their stamps to put together family gatherings. It was a great way to round out meals and a good reason to get everyone together.

When my mother was little, nylon and rubber were rationed so there was no elastic other than what could be recycled. As a first grader beginning a new school year, my grandmother sewed her new underwear....but with drawstrings...since there was no elastic. At the peak of fashion and sophistication at the age of six, my mother was incensed at her new underthings but had no choice but to go along.

She recounts the string coming undone at recess and her panties slipping down to her knees. Embarrassment creeping over her red and hot, she left the school (can you imagine?) and made her way home, crying, knees knocked and locked shuffling.

I asked her why she didn't just go to the bathroom and fix them, and she replied that if she had done that her mother would never have understood the depth and intensity of her suffering, lol.