This post was written by Lynn Weinstein, Business Reference Librarian in the Science, Technology, and Business Division.
It hasn’t been since World War II began that many have faced such a challenging time of shortages. Given our current environment, in which we want to be as prepared as possible to protect and keep our families safe while not unintentionally harming those who may have disabilities or weakened immune systems by over shopping, it may be interesting to take a look back at rationing during WW II.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2017691852/
Everyday life for all Americans was altered after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when the U.S. government entered into a war economy. Taxes were raised and war bonds were issued to fund the war effort. In May 1942, the rationing of consumer goods began with the Office of Price Administration setting price limits and rationing food and other commodities in order to ensure the proper distribution of resources, manage shortages, and discourage hoarding and needless consumption.
Banks began distributing coupons for rationed goods, which eventually included sugar, coffee, meat, gasoline, fuel oil, tires, and shoes. Millions of Americans needed to be educated in the complexities of the new rationing system. Food rationing affected what people would eat and how they would prepare food, resulting in special cookbooks and marketing campaigns aimed at getting Americans to use new shortenings and foods that were not rationed.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2017696911/
After the war, the Library of Congress distributed the World War II Rationing Collection 1942-1946, consisting of unused certificates, coupons and stamps issued by the U.S. Office of Price Administration (OPA). It also issued information on the World War II rationing program to select libraries, archives, and historical repositories in order to document the rationing program that had been implemented to ensure adequate supplies were available to the military. To learn more about ration books, and the warnings which accompanied them, view these images which were part of a related exhibit at the Smithsonian.
World War II changed all aspects of life from news to culture, and called for collective national sacrifice from everyone in everyday life, making the distribution of food and supplies a moral and social issue as well as a logistical one.
Learn More:
- Manipulating images : World War II mobilization of women through magazine advertising by Tawnya J. Adkins Covert (c2011)
- Search the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog . The photographs in the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph Collection record of American life between 1935 and 1944 may be of particular interest.
- Download the new LOC Collections app to access digitized iconic photos, historic maps, books, films, newspapers, manuscripts & sound recordings. You can currently find the app for iPhone and iPad at the Library’s website or the iTunes store. An Android version of the app is slated for release later in 2020. Search “ration coupon” or “ration recipe”
- Ida Bailey Allen’s Money-saving cook book; eating for victory (1942)
- Grandma’s wartime kitchen : World War II and the way we cooked by Joanne Lamb Hayes (2000)
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Comments (2)
Does the US government maintain a rationing office to be used in case of an emergency such as the 1973 oil embargo — or a severe second wave of the coronavirus?
The U.S. does not maintain an office dedicated to rationing. On August 28, 1941, President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8875 created the Office of Price Administration (OPA), which imposed rationing. During the 1973 oil crisis, the U.S. government rationed gas by announcing that gas would be served to cars based on whether their license plate ended in an odd or even number. There was some state level gas rationing in New York and New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and in recent years, California has rationed water. On April 9, 2020, FEMA issued a statement on “Ensuring Civil Rights During the COVID-19 Response. It is possible that future rationing could be managed through Executive Order, through Executive Agencies, or on the state or local level.