The following is a guest post by Lauren Krauskopf, a former intern with the Digital Resources Division of the Law Library of Congress. She was a double major in government & politics and History at the University of Maryland, College Park.
On January 16, 1942, just over one month after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ subsequent entrance into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9024 which established the War Production Board. This board was commissioned to “exercise general direction over the war procurement and production program.” Its primary task was to convert civilian industries into war industries and to adapt American industrial life to support the war effort.
A key way to accomplish that mission was by reallocating materials deemed necessary for military success, such as steel, wool, and nylon. In order to ensure that certain materials would be readily available for war production, the War Production Board issued General Limitation Order L-85 on April 8, 1942.
Better known as Regulation L-85, this order placed limitations on feminine apparel. The order specified the amount of fabric that could be used to create a g