Rationing- is the controlled distribution of scarce
resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the
size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources
being distributed on a particular day or at a particular
time.
Rationing in the US
•During the WWII, we couldn't just walk into a shop and buy as much
sugar or butter or meat as you wanted. Even if you had the money.
•You couldn’t fill up your car with gasoline whenever you liked.
•The government introduced rationing because certain things were in
short supply during the war, and rationing was the only way to make
sure everyone got their fair share.
Rationed Items
Rationing Duration
Tires
Cars
Bicycles
Gasoline
Fuel Oil & Kerosene
Solid Fuels
Stoves
Rubber Footwear
Shoes
January 1942 to December 1945
February 1942 to October 1945
July 1942 to September 1945
May 1942 to August 1945
October 1942 to August 1945
September 1943 to August 1945
December 1942 to August 1945
October 1942 to September 1945
February 1943 to October 1945
Sugar
Coffee
Processed Foods,
Canned Fish
Cheese, Meats
Canned Milk, Fats
May 1942 to 1947
November 1942 to July 1943
Typewriters
March 1942 to April 1944
March 1943 to August 1945
•Nearly 20 million households planted gardens.
•Some neighborhoods even started cooperatives, each
planting one specific crop and pooling the produce for
the community.
• During WWII, Americans got their first taste of recycling.
• Those who couldn’t fight could do their part to supply the troops
with what was needed.
Scraps needed for the war effort
Iron
Tin cans
Paper
Rags
Cooking fat
Rubber
Nylons
Silk
Glass
Items that were made from Scraps
Parachutes
Explosives Rags & Mops
Tires
Metal Items
• To do their part children across the country would search
attics, garages, alleys, basements and vacant lots search for
scraps.
War Bonds- are loans issued by a government for the
purpose of financing military operations during times of war.
• Citizens buy a bond and earn a profit after a set period of
time.
• War bonds generate capital for the government and make
civilians feel involved in their national militaries
• War bonds were the primary source of fund raising for the
US government during WWII. These bonds are how we
paid for the War and the necessary supplies.
• By 1945 war bonds had raised a total of $185.7 billion in
the United States.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FxzOSwkkPI
• In 1941 the US was facing a shortage of workers. Fear that
our need for both military and industry would not be met.
• By 1944 over 6 million women were working in factories,
industry and labor.
• Jobs that included using tools such as welding torches and
riveting guns.
• Many factory owners feared women did not have the stamina
necessary.
Pearl Harbor Widows at Work: Two
women whose husbands were killed in the
Pearl Harbor attack work in a factory in
Corpus Christi, Texas. (Photo Credit:
Library of Congress)
Building Bombers: Two women
work on a bomber at the Douglas
Aircraft Company in Long Beach,
California. (Photo Credit: Library of
Congress)
•Bill to establish the Women’s
Auxiliary Army Corps. (WAAC) was
passed through Congress.
•For the first time, this bill allowed
women to volunteer to serve in noncombat positions.
Members of the Women's Army Corps (WAC)
pose at Camp Shanks, New York, before
leaving from New York Port of Embarkation on
Feb. 2, 1945. The women are with the first
contingent of Black American WACs to go
overseas for the war effort From left to right
are, kneeling: Pvt. Rose Stone; Pvt. Virginia
Blake; and Pfc. Marie B. Gillisspie. Second
row: Pvt. Genevieve Marshall; T/5 Fanny L.
Talbert; and Cpl. Callie K. Smith. Third row:
Pvt. Gladys Schuster Carter; T/4 Evelyn C.
Martin; and Pfc. Theodora Palmer.
Specially chosen airwomen are
being trained for police duties in
the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
(WAAF). They have to be quickwitted, intelligent and observant
woman of the world - They attend
an intensive course at the highly
sufficient RAF police school where their training runs parallel
with that of the men. Keeping a
man "in his place" - A WAAF
member demonstrates selfdefense on January 15, 1942
.
“When this project [women in the
military] was proposed…like most
old soldiers, I was violently against
it…Every phase of the record they
compiled during the war convinced
me of the error of my first reaction.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Women in the Military
• Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service
(WAVES) – Navy
• Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron
(WAFS) – Air Force
• Women Air-Force Service Pilots
(WASP) – Air Force
• Semper Paratus and its English translation, Always Ready
(SPAR) – Coast Guard