RATION BOOK QUESTIONS

I HAVE HAD THIS IN MY COLLECTION FOR SEVERAL YEARS, DON,T KNOW ALLOT ABOUT
IT HOWEVER, SOME OF THE CONTENTS ARE PRETTY MUCH SELF EXPLANATORY BUT OTHER ARE NOT FOR INSTANCE THE NUMBER 4 ON THE FRONT COVER WOULD THAT
BE INDICATIVE OF THE MONTH ? OR SERIES ?

SECONDLY I HAVE TRIED TO FIND A ACCURATE DATE REFERENCE BUT THERE IS NONE
ON THE BOOKLET ITSELF IAM ASSUMING BETWEEN 1942-1945 BUT ONLY MY BEST
GUESS

ON THE CONTENTS AND STAMPS THEMSELVES THERE ARE STAMPS FOR SPARE TIRES WHEAT AND COFFEE ALL SPELLED OUT BUT OTHERS I HAVENT A CLUE ESPECIALLY THE GREEN ONES WITH THE STATUE OF LIBERTY THESE WOULD BE THE GREEN ONES

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Caps Lock. Learn how to use it!

 

Why all capital letters in your post?

 

I think these ration books were issued to families each year, so Book 4 would have been for 1945.

 

Hey Greg, Thanks for your positive contribution can you tell me anything about
what the green stamps were used for ? i think i have everything else figured out

 

1943 is on the 2nd photo, centered in the middle on the bottom.

CAPS are for yelling. These were used in the United States to ration certain goods so the soldiers could get what they needed first. Spares were used for anything that was deemed necessary. Coffee, Sugar, etc. are obvious.

The following is copied:

Rationing for the War Effort
Ask anyone who remembers life on the Home Front during WWII about their strongest memories and chances are they will tell you about rationing. You see, the war caused shortages of all sorts of things: rubber, metal, clothing, etc. But it was the shortages of various types of food that effected just about everyone on a daily basis.
Food was in short supply for a variety of reasons: much of the processed and canned foods was reserved for shipping overseas to our military and our Allies; transportation of fresh foods was limited due to gasoline and tire rationing and the priority of transporting soldiers and war supplies instead of food; imported foods, like coffee and sugar, was limited due to restrictions on importing.
Because of these shortages, the U.S. government’s Office of Price Administration established a system of rationing that would more fairly distribute foods that were in short supply. Every American was issued a series of ration books during the war. The ration books contained removable stamps good for certain rationed items, like sugar, meat, cooking oil, and canned goods. A person could not buy a rationed item without also giving the grocer the right ration stamp. Once a person’s ration stamps were used up for a month, she couldn’t buy any more of that type of food. This meant planning meals carefully, being creative with menus, and not wasting food. More than 8,000 ration boards across the country administered the program.

Four different series of war ration books were issued. In 1942, five months after (December 8, 1941) the United States entered the Second World War, "Book One" series were issued. In January 1943, "Book Two" series were issued. "Book Three" series were issued in October of 1943. And "Book Four" series were issued towards the end of 1943. Most ration restrictions didn't end until August 1945, with sugar rationing lasting in some parts of the country until 1947.

The A, B, and C series of green stamps in ration book 4, which will be issued during the last week of October, will be valie for the purchase of canned fruits and vegetables starting Nov. 1, Raymond S. McKeough, office of price administration regional head, announced yesterday. They will be good thru Dec. 20.
Stamps U, V, W, X, Y, and Z of book 2 are currently valid, but the first three expire on Oct. 20, the rest on Nov. 20, overlapping the new book 4 stamps. After the latter date, only green stamps in book 4 may be used for the purchase of canned or bottled fruits, vegetables, and juices.

Hope this answers your questions. They do not sell for very much, especially when some of the stamps are missing.

 

Spare tires were not rationed during WWII. They were bought by the US government at $.20/tire. Civilians were not able to purchase tires during the war without showing a need in support of the war.

Wheat was not rationed.

The green stamps in Book 4 were for processed foods. The Blue stamps in Book 4 were also used for processed foods.

Other than the stamps that are dedicated to particular items, what each stamp was used for at any given time was determined by the OPA.

Attached is a notice from the October 17, 1943 Milwaukee Journal explaining what was valid at that time.

 

Thanks for all the info

 

I have a leather ration book holder with Books 1 and 3, along with a collection of various ration coupons. Not something I actively collect, but this seems like the right place to post them.

 

Great post the third pic stamps look totally different and how many gallons of
gas do i get per stamp ? hope its more then one gallon..LOL

 

And I found a couple OPAs, too! These were tokens put out by the Office of Price Administration. During 1944-45, they were given out as change by grocery stores for food bought with ration stamps. Blue tokens were used for processed foods and red tokens for meats and fats.

 

never seen those before thanks for sharing

 

Check transferring 23 pounds of sugar credits from the OPA to the ration checking account of a school district.



Check from the Idle Tire Program for $.20 for the government's forced purchase of an unused tire.

 

Forced ? did they have to meet some kind of Quota ?

 

No. You could not have more than five tires including the four on the one vehicle you were given gas coupons for. If you had more than five tires you had to sell the extras to the government for $.20 per tire.

 

i guess no stockpiling allowed..LOL

 

Family members during WWII traded these stamps back and forth, some needed more for coffee, others needed more flour etc. Somewhere in all my stuff I have some of their ration books, those little OPA tokens and a small spring loaded OPA token holder.

 

I have a 1942 War Ration Book No. 3, but I can't decipher what the stamps are for. The first page has a mobile cannon, the second page has a tank on them, the third page has a ship on it, and the last has planes on them. Does anyone know what they mean?

 

Can you post some pics ?

 

My mother had a ration book in my name dated 1942. But the strange thing about it was that I wasn't born until May of 1943. She could not explain how she got it. Unfortunately it was lost in a house fire.