# Instructions from a WWII ration book



## wormlady (Oct 8, 2004)

The following is a set of instructions that came with every book: 

Your first ration book has been issued to you, originally containing 28 war ration stamps. Other books may be issued at later dates. The following instructions apply to your first book and will apply to any later books, unless otherwise oredered by the Office of Price administration. In order to obtain a later book, the first book must be turned in. You should preserve War Rations Books with the greatest possible care. 

1) From the time the Office of Price Administration may issue orders rationning certain products. After the dates indicated by such orders, these products can be purchased only through the use of War rations Books containing valid War Ration Stamps. 

2) The orders of the Office of Price Administration will designate the stamps to be used for the purchase of a particular rationed product, the period during which each of these stamps may be used, and the amounts which may be bought with each stamp. 

3) Stamps become valid for use only when and as directed by the Orders of the Office of Price Administration. 

4) Unless otherwise announced, the Ration Week is from Saturday midnight to the following Saturday midnight. 

5) War Ration stamps may be used in any reatil store in the United States. 

6) War Ration Stamps may be used only by or for the person named and described in the War Ration Book. 

7) Every person must see that this War Ration Book is kept in a safe place and properly used. Parents are responsible for the safekeeping and use of their children's War Ration Book. 

8) When you buy any rationed product, the proper stamp must be detached in the presence of the storekeeper, his employee, or the person making the delivery on his behalf. If a stamp is torn out of the War Ration Book in any other way than above indicated, it becomes void. If a stamp is partly torn or mutilated and more than one half of it remains in the book, it is valid. Otherwise it becomes void. 

9) If your War Ration Book is lost, destroyed, stolen or mutilated, you should report that fact to the local Ration Board. 

10) If you enter a hospital, or other institution, and expect to be there for more than 10 days, you must turn your War Ration Book over to the person in charge. It will be returned to you upon your request when you leave. 

11) When a person dies, his War Ration Book must be returned to the local Ration Board, in accordance with the regulations. 

12) If you have any complaints, questions, or difficulties regarding your War Ration Book, consult your local Ration Board.


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## wormlady (Oct 8, 2004)

These words were written at the bottom of my 81 year old father's ration book from 1943:
Rationing is a vital part of your country's war effort. This book is your Government's guarantee of your fair share of goods made scarce by war, to which the stamps contained herein will be assigned as the need arises.
Any attempt to violate the rules is an effort to deny someone his share and will create hardship and discontent.
Such action, like treason, helps the enemy.
Give your whole support to rationing and thereby conserve our vital goods. Be guided by the rule:
"If you don't need it, DON'T BUY IT."


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## wormlady (Oct 8, 2004)

Two questions came to mind:

1). Could rationing possibly work in this day and age?

2). How will I regulate myself if and when I need to eat from my preps? In otherwords, how will I make my chocolate supply last beyond the first week?


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

what were the items rationed? 28 stamps for a person for a week...
did one stamp be a $$ amt, or did you maybe get two stamps for bread, one for eggs, one for coffee etc??
I dont really know much about the program

also, could you still buy stuff (like chocolate or extra eggs if you had the money)?

editing to add...I get a kick out of the "war" recipes...cakes with no egg etc. those frugal ladies really knew how to stretch their food!


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

Wow...bring up allrecipes.com and put "war" in the search box. lots of war ration recipes with nice stories too! I like the maple hard candy one


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## wagvan (Jan 29, 2011)

I have my grandmas war rations books, want me to go dig a few out?


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

wagvan said:


> I have my grandmas war rations books, want me to go dig a few out?


Yes, please. Tell us what you find.


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## wagvan (Jan 29, 2011)

AngieM2 said:


> Yes, please. Tell us what you find.


Will do, but it will probably be tomorrow, putting kids to bed right now.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

My Father would never talk about those times, he would say that living on a farm they never went hungry. He said they never had money before and they didn`t have any during those years. > Thanks Marc


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Only certain items were rationed. From the top of my head I think sugar, coffee, meat, eggs, milk, chocolate. I'm sure there were others.

Gasoline and tires were also rationed.

Not all items were rationed all the time. Items were added and removed from the list during the war. 

Some items like rubber were rationed because our supplies were cut off by the enemy. Others were rationed because the US was supplying the needs of our allies including the British and Russians.

There was an active black market for rationed goods.

Many German POWs knew that they had lost the war when they saw the massive allied supply dumps behind our lines.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

"Types of rationing included: Uniform coupon rationing (sugar is an example) provided equal shares of a single commodity to all consumers; Point rationing provided equivalent shares of commodities by coupons issued for points which could be spent for any combination of items in the group (processed foods, meats, fats, cheese); Differential coupon rationing provided shares of a single product according to varying needs (gasoline, fuel oil); and Certificate rationing allowed individuals products only after an application demonstrated need (tires, cars, stoves, typewriters)."

http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/events/rationing.htm


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Just because you had a ration ticket/stamp did not mean you could purchase the item. There were broad shortages of meat, leather, sugar, coffee, etc. If you lived on a farm or had family on a farm, you faired much better. Everyone had a "victory garden" although most people typically had gardens every year anyway and depended on them to feed their family. Mom says that when a family had a service member they needed to visit that people would pool their gas rations for that family.


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## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

My older sister was telling some young employees where she worked about rationing, and they all said 'THEY won't make me do that!" Bet me. If it were implemented again, we'd all have to live with it. If you had stores and stockpiles, you'd be wise to keep your mouth shut about it, in my opinion.

Pipe was another thing that was rationed. Mom and Dad were tryiing to get a well drilled and had the pipe already. The well driller was so snotty to my Mom, saying that she KNEW that she couldn't get pipe! Two days after telling the man that she already had the pipe, someone came in the night and stole half of it. She always suspected the well driller.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

"By 1944, whisky had disappeared from liquor store shelves as distilleries converted to the production of industrial alcohol. New car production was banned beginning January 1, 1942 as former auto plants switched to the production of military vehicles. Thirty percent of all cigarettes produced were allocated for service men, making cigarettes a scarce commodity on the home front by 1944. By the end of the war, rationing limited consumption of almost every product with the exception of eggs and dairy foods.

Most rationing restrictions ended in August of 1945 except for sugar rationing, which lasted until 1947 in some parts of the country. 

For many who served on the home front, rationing may be the most remembered daily aspect of the war."


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

Gasoline was rationed to save rubber. Tires were few and far between, as synthetic rubber hadn't been invented yet and the tropical rubber plantations were out of reach during the war. There were local boards set up, made up of ordinary citizens, who determined who got what ration for their community. For gas there was A, B, M, X, a lot of different levels and each level got so many gallons per week, depending on how "necessary" to the war effort you were deemed. There was a lot of bootlegging and a thriving black market for gas and tires, just like with liquor and prohibition. A lot of the old cars that come out of barns and woods and such still have the ration sticker on the windshield - for gas you had to have the sticker on your car that matched your coupon book. 

And some things never change - the elected representatives got the "X" sticker which was pretty much unlimited gas and there was much public outcry and scathing editorials in the papers about their abuse of their ration. 

It is very interesting to learn about. I think it could still be done today, and probably easier in the electronic age, instead of keeping track of all those printed books.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Jan in CO said:


> If you had stores and stockpiles, you'd be wise to keep your mouth shut about it, in my opinion.


Yes, when sugar rationing began they asked you how much sugar you had on hand when they issued the ration books. They removed the appropriate number of stamps for the sugar you had on hand prior to giving you the book!


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

"You also serve -- you who stand behind the plow, pledged to feed the Soldier, the Worker, the Ally, and, with God's help, all the hungry victims of this war! You also serve -- you who farm, you who pray and sacrifice. You'll feed the World even if it means plowing by lantern light, and harvesting by hand -- even children's hands -- even if it means putting up the trucks and going back to covered wagons once again..."


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture Urges you to:
See your County USDA War Board
Meet your 1943 farm goals
Keep tractors working
Take good care of your machinery
Conserve your trucks
Turn in your scrap
Buy War Bonds

Farmers must win the Battle of the Land with the machinery they already have. "


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## Freya (Dec 3, 2005)

What was the population then compared to now? How much bigger are we?


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Freya said:


> What was the population then compared to now? How much bigger are we?


I believe that US population at the time was around 150 million.


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## Wanderer (Aug 22, 2011)

I know that rationing in this country was difficult, but my mother grew up in England during the war. This was the rationing there:

This was the official list of food-rations for one week allowed to adults living in England, during WWII: 



> BACON and HAM &#8230;&#8230;&#8230; 4ozs ( 100g )
> MEAT &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230; to the value of 1s.2d ( 6p today ). (about 6 oz per week)
> BUTTER &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230; 2ozs ( 50g )
> CHEESE &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230; 2ozs ( 50g ) sometimes it rose to 4ozs ( 100g ) and even up to 8ozs ( 225g )
> ...


Although vegetables and fruit weren't rationed, they were sometimes hard to come by due to the bombing. My family got by with a garden (lots of root veggies) and poaching game from the nearby estates. I have an electronic copy of a cookery book from that time on my Kindle. Some of the recipes are amazing.

I forgot to add that rationing continued into the 1950's on some items. I remember the wonder of my first orange at Christmas and I was born in 1948.


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## wormlady (Oct 8, 2004)

Wow, tinknal and everyone! Thanks for all the extra info. And Jan in CO your sister's young co-workers -they couldn't' make me do that' attitude is very telling I fear for our society today.

I know some have tried to live on food stamps as an experiment or lived on a poverty level income to see if they could do it. I wonder how we would fare if we lived on war rations?


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

people were of a different breed then, dedicated


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## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

Silk was also on the list of things you couldn't get. My grandmother told me how when their silk stockings ran out, they would use makeup on their legs and an eye liner to draw a "seam" up the back of their leg so it appeared they had stockings on.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Leslie, my mother taught us girls to do that too because sometimes we didn't have money for hose. We had garter belts and the hose with seams. I never have liked panty hose! The belts and hose always seemed so 'dressed up' to me. I miss the hats and gloves and patent leather shoes too.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I remember reading that people with sugar on hand would make simple syrup and can it so they didn't have to declare their sugar. Then they had the syrup for putting up their fruit when they needed it.


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## Colorado (Aug 19, 2005)

Coffee was rationed and shoes. Chocolate was not rationed. Meat, canned goods and fats and sugar were. Cigs were not rationed. Stores only got few cigs and chocolate bars as it went to service men. A child's ration book they would remove coffee stamps. So every one rich or poor would get same amount. Eggs were not rationed. 

My dad wanted more coffee and took thermos to work. Mom bought imitation coffee and mixed it with real coffee to have enough, Least did while we lived in Utah early in the war. We moved back to Denver and dad worked on gov carpenter job. At least one job no families allowed. My dad was not at home a lot of years. We only followed him on one job and he had told Mom to not do that. She refused as my brother and both my sisters and their families were going to Utah to work and dad was there. Mom would not have been able to make it if sister had not lived 2 blocks from us. She had money to live on. Just helpless. In Utah they were hauling tomatoes to the cannery in town by horse and wagon. Only one time and only wagon i ever rode on. We live that year in tiny one room tar paper shack. You could not find anything to rent. Sis and brother hauled out their trarilers. Other sister was in a tent and got cold she went back to Denver. 2 little kids. 

Little town we were in and Navy took over the school for offices while the supply bas wae being built. House trailers were parked in orchards. Had electric and water faucet for use. Mom washed by hand. 

Living through the depression and WWII . People really expect a lot now days to ever start out.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Do you think there is a chance today's Americans could ever see these types of rules in their lifetimes? Would there be a foreshadowing that they were coming? Was there a foreshadowing or warning before rationing started back in the 40s?


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2011)

Just remember that if ever rationing does once again become necessary then the food and other supplies you prudently put away BEFORE the rationing became necessary will be deducted from your ration books.

A closed mouth gathers no government busybodies.


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## Farmerwilly2 (Oct 14, 2006)

If right minded polits don't overturn OsamaCare then ya'll might get a taste of what rationing was like when you go to the government approved pill pusher.


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