Assignment 6: Rations in the Home Front

If you were alive during WWII and living in the Bay area and as well as the rest of the nation, you were forced to deal with a few changes that affected everyone including the Latinos…

The government of this country decided that its citizens should make small sacrifices for the benefit of the war. It made sure its boys in the Pacific and in Europe had enough cheese, meat, and milk. Laws like the Priorities and Allocation Act in 1940, and the Second War Powers Act in 1942, made it possible for goods to be rationed to the public. Commodities ranging from sugar to cars were allocated based on a system of red and blue colored coupons and certificates developed by the government. People were able to get sugar, coffee, and shoes through “Uniform” coupons, each item would cost the person one coupon. To get meats, cheese, processed foods, (you know the good stuff) a person had to use their “Points,” to buy these items. “Differential” coupons were used to buy gasoline or fuel oil. “Certificate” rationing applications were used to buy typewriters, cars, tires, and stoves. (Examples of the certificates are above.) These ration books were distributed by the teachers in the neighborhood schools. According to author Silvia Whitman, “each person was entitled to two pounds of sugar a month and three pairs of shoes a year.” People were allowed to earn bonus points if they saved bacon grease and other kitchen fats (which were used to make explosives) and dumped in scrap barrels. Many of the citizens had rubber and metal scrap drives in order to collect these materials for the government.

Women were encouraged to grow their own fruits, vegetables, and herbs in their backyard “Victory Gardens.” It’s estimated that more that 20 million were planted in the U.S. in 1943. Many of the women canned their groceries in jars. Women’s fashions were also affected by the war. Mrs. Rosa Maria Escobar said many women painted on their nylons instead of purchasing them, because Uncle Sam needed the nylons to make parachutes. Everyone was doing their part to make the war machine continue and to win.

It was a bit difficult if you ask me. I find it very difficult to believe that today’s society would prosper under these conditions. Everyone would be upset. Look at how worked up they got about health care reform, the black outs in California in the early 2000s, and traffic.

Who wants the government telling them what to do and when to do it? I know I defiantly don’t. I want my coffee when I need it, when I want it that sometimes means three times a day.

Sylvia Whitman.V is for Victory: The American Home Front during World War II. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1993.

American in World War II: The 1940s, Primary Sources in U.S. History. The Center for Learning. TAP Instructional Materials.

Interview with Rosa Maria Escobar. May 5,2010. San Leandro, CA.