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War time rationing was the topic explored by Hesperian Club members and guests at the recent meeting at the Dixie Molz residence. The current study theme of the Hesperians is Remembering World War II. Their memories reminded us that ordinary household and food items of today were seen in short and almost non-existent supply during the war. A book of ration stamps provided by the government allowed one to purchase limited quantities of coffee, chocolate, cigarettes, film, tires and gasoline, and shoes.
“White sugar seemed to be a major item on the ration list as well as fabric.”, said Dixie Molz, host and Hesperian member. “Fabric was so hard to come by that you just used whatever cloth you could get”.
Fabric by the yard became a new venture in the agricultural belt of America.
Feed sack cloth, also referred to as chicken linen, hen house linen or just “pretties”, came straight off the farms. In 1943, President Roosevelt ordered that only six standard size sacks would be produced and typically as a woman’s dress required three of these sacks, women found themselves gathering to swap and trade their feed sacks. It was considered very patriotic to use these sacks so they were used not only for clothing but for tea towels, pillow cases, stuffed toys, underwear and diapers.
Nearly everyone in attendance at the Hesperian meeting “confessed” to having worn dresses fashioned from the colorful feed sack fabrics from that time in history.
Rubber became the first commodity to be rationed in the States due to the Japanese invasion of the Dutch Indies which was the source for the product. When this occurred, Japan immediately cut off supplies to the U. S.
Nationwide food rationing was instituted in the spring of 1942, and each member of the family was issued ration books by the Office of Price Administration (OPA). These books contained stamps and gave precise details of the amounts of certain types of food that you were allowed.
Rationing insured that each person could get their fair share of the items that were in short supply due to the war effort and import reductions. This eliminated the wealthy from stockpiling items but it created a black market opportunity. By the end of the war, over a hundred million of each ration book were printed. Rationing finally ended in the U. S. in 1946.
Rationing wasn’t just limited to the U. S. either as Canada saw strict rationing as well as Europe. England suffered from shortages far longer than the United States due in part to the physical devastation from waging a war on its own lands and the resulting lack of production facilities, exporting abilities and severe infrastructure collapse. In England, rationing lasted until 1954.
War time rationing was the topic explored by Hesperian Club members and guests at the recent meeting at the Dixie Molz residence. The current study theme of the Hesperians is Remembering World War II. Their memories reminded us that ordinary household and food items of today were seen in short and almost non-existent supply during the war. A book of ration stamps provided by the government allowed one to purchase limited quantities of coffee, chocolate, cigarettes, film, tires and gasoline, and shoes.
“White sugar seemed to be a major item on the ration list as well as fabric.”, said Dixie Molz, host and Hesperian member. “Fabric was so hard to come by that you just used whatever cloth you could get”.
Fabric by the yard became a new venture in the agricultural belt of America.
Feed sack cloth, also referred to as chicken linen, hen house linen or just “pretties”, came straight off the farms. In 1943, President Roosevelt ordered that only six standard size sacks would be produced and typically as a woman’s dress required three of these sacks, women found themselves gathering to swap and trade their feed sacks. It was considered very patriotic to use these sacks so they were used not only for clothing but for tea towels, pillow cases, stuffed toys, underwear and diapers.
Nearly everyone in attendance at the Hesperian meeting “confessed” to having worn dresses fashioned from the colorful feed sack fabrics from that time in history.
Rubber became the first commodity to be rationed in the States due to the Japanese invasion of the Dutch Indies which was the source for the product. When this occurred, Japan immediately cut off supplies to the U. S.
Nationwide food rationing was instituted in the spring of 1942, and each member of the family was issued ration books by the Office of Price Administration (OPA). These books contained stamps and gave precise details of the amounts of certain types of food that you were allowed.
Rationing insured that each person could get their fair share of the items that were in short supply due to the war effort and import reductions. This eliminated the wealthy from stockpiling items but it created a black market opportunity. By the end of the war, over a hundred million of each ration book were printed. Rationing finally ended in the U. S. in 1946.
Rationing wasn’t just limited to the U. S. either as Canada saw strict rationing as well as Europe. England suffered from shortages far longer than the United States due in part to the physical devastation from waging a war on its own lands and the resulting lack of production facilities, exporting abilities and severe infrastructure collapse. In England, rationing lasted until 1954.
