Ration Books in World War II

In the summer of 1941 rationing increased in the United Kingdom due to military needs and German attacks on shipping in the Atlantic. The government there asked the U.S. to conserve food, and the U.S. Office of Price Administration began warning Americans of potential shortages in gasoline, steel, and other areas. The OPA created a rationing structure after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. 

Local officials chose volunteers for 5500 ration boards around the country. A system of books and stamps given to individuals in families were used to obtain rationed goods. Some stamps specified the rationed product, others were later associated with other goods. For instance, one airplane stamp allowed a person to buy a pair of shoes; stamp number 30 from ration book four was needed for five pounds of sugar. Other strictly regulated products included tires, gasoline, meats, cooking oil, butter and canned goods. All household members received ration books, as did merchants of all types. As you might expect, a black market quickly developed. Read more details about U.S. rationing during World War II here. 

Ration books were issued in four waves during the war. Book 1 came out in May 1942 and applied to sugar. In January 1943 Book 2 appeared with blue and red stamps. Blue covered canned goods, and red later went into use for meats, fish and dairy products. Book 3 in October 1943 utilized brown stamps for meats, canned milk, cheese, butter and lard. Book 4 had been issued in July and August 1943 with green stamps for processed foods such as canned, frozen or dried. Black stamps labelled "spare" were included for future use.

As if that weren't complicated enough, gas rationing was achieved with four types of use. Class A allowed 3-5 gallons a week for shopping, church, and doctor visits. Class B applied to factory workers and traveling salesmen, who received 8 gallons per week. Classes C [essential war workers, police, doctors, mailmen] and Class T [truck and bus drivers] had no restrictions. 

Our family is blessed--some might say cursed--with all sorts of paper ephemera from past decades. The ration books shown here are examples. See more comments below. 

The use of stamps to buy rationed goods was established to prevent hoarding. That behavior, along with a black market in stamps and trading and selling of stamps, were serious problems.

These books were issued to my dad's parents in Gadsden, Rosa Mae Wright and Amos J. Wright, Sr. My grandfather served in the Army briefly at the end of World War I. I've written about them here. 

Here are a couple of photos from mom's ration books 1 and 2. These were issued when she was 12, or just a "squirt" as she would say. On Book 1 her sister, known to us as Heth, signed for her. On Book 2 we see that her father, John Miller Shores, a long time Methodist minister in Alabama, signed the book. At the time there were living in Florence. You can see a photo of him and one of mom and her siblings in later years on this blog post. 

Source: Internet Archive

I Heard a Rumor [World War II version]

No, it's not the Bananarama song. It's World War II. Let's investigate.

During that war the Office of War Information collected rumors, jokes, anecdotes, etc about the conflict. Collecting this information would allow officials to understand the progress of the war effort as perceived by the civilian population. 

Material was gathered in two different ways, by individuals from all walks of life reporting to field representatives of various federal agencies, and by high school and college teachers from students. The Library of Congress has a collection of reports from each state; there are about 60 from Alabama.

The pages below are from field representative Paul Duncan to the Chief of the Bureau of Public Inquiries in the Office of War Information for August 3 through August 8, 1942. I have not included all pages from that report, but these will give you the flavor of rumors collected in the state during this time. 

 

Alabama and the Six Triple Eight

Captain Abbie N. Campbell and Major Charity Adams inspect the first contingent of African American WACs sent overseas shortly after their arrival in England, 15 February 1945

Source: National Archives via National Museum of the U.S. Army

An interesting but little known unit of the American armed forces in World War II was the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. This group in the Women's Army Corps was the only female, black unit sent overseas in World War II. The 855 women, officers and enlisted, were led by Major Charity Adams. Most of the members of the five companies were postal clerks, but the battalion was self-sufficient and thus had its own cooks, mechanics and other supporting personnel. 

Enlistees trained in Georgia and sailed to Glasgow, Scotland, on February 3, 1945. By mid-February the unit had arrived in Birmingham, England, the location of their assignment. The women were faced with organizing unsorted mail that had been piling up in unheated hangers for as long as two years. Much of the mail had only partial names, nicknames, etc. Seven million Americans were stationed in the European Theater; 7500 were named Robert Smith. The estimated amount was 17 million items. 

What was expected to be a six month task was completed in three, by May 1945. Work continued around the clock, seven days a week; each shift sorted an estimated 65,000 pieces of mail. A unique index card system using serial numbers and ultimately involving 7 million cards, was devised to deal with partial and similar names. Another batch of mail was sorted in France, before the unit was disbanded on March 9, 1946, at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. 

Although unknown to the general public at the time, the 6888th earned accolades during their service and several since. On March 14, 2022, President Biden signed a bill awarding the unit a Congressional Gold Medal. A website devoted to the 6888th includes a listing of the veterans, at least 25 of whom were from Alabama. I note two First Lieutenants among them. 

I imagine each of these women had some interesting stories to tell....

UPDATE 1 August 2022

A recent article from the Associated Press by Jay Reeves profiles Romay Davis, a 102 year old veteran of the unit now living in Birmingham. She is not listed below, but is presumably the Romay Johnson listed in her home state of Virginia. 

UPDATE 17 February 2022

Two other recent articles are here and here. A Netflix film about the group was also recently announced. 

ALABAMA

Battle, Lillian Irma PVT; 

Brown, Dorothy Elizabeth PFC; 

Campbell, Abbie Noel CPT; 

Campbell, Addie Lee T4; 

Coleman, Willie Lee PVT; 

Davis, Elizabeth Mary PFC; 

Duncan, Lilian Willierob 1LT; 

Edwards, Eva PVT; 

Fairgood, Marcelene Lettice T4; 

Fry, Ruby L PVT; 

George, Christel Stocks T5; 

Greene, Irene Robinson PVT; 

House, Willie Mae PFC; 

Johnson, Felicia LaVon PVT; 

Maniece, Mary Rose PFC; 

Middlebrook, Susie Irma PFC; 

Moorehead, Jeanetta Lucile T5; 

Quarles, Minnie Bell PVT; 

Seymour, Tassie Mae PFC; 

Smith, Delores Hall PVT; 

Smith, Mary Frances T5; 

Steele, Hattie Irene PFC; 

Thomas, Ophelia Dark PVT; 

Walthall, Mary Louise PVT; 

Williams, Julia H 1LT

Members sorting mail

Source: National Archives via U.S. Army Center of Military History