WWII RATIONING: THE RED, BLUE AND GREEN STAMPS WERE SERIOUS BUSINESS IN WWII

"I will pay no more than top legal prices. I will not accept rationed products without giving ration stamps."

Housewives across the nation took that pledge as part of a campaign to keep home-front prices in check during the tumultuous days of World War II.

More than 12 million Americans signed the Office of Price Administration Home Front Pledge the first month it was introduced.

The Cape Girardeau pledge campaign was sponsored by the Price Panel of Cape Girardeau County War Price and Rationing Board.

Rationing was serious business. And it was something -- albeit small -- that those left at home could do to help those in battle half a world away.

It was a half-century ago this summer that the final ration stamp was taken off the "ration" list following the war but the memories of shortages and rationing are still here.

Sugar, the second item to go on the ration list in February of 1942, remained scarce until more than five years later. It was finally removed from the list in June 1947, almost two years after the war's end.

Many items that Americans take for granted today -- meat, butter, coffee, gasoline, sugar, shoes -- were obtained with ration stamps more than 50 years ago during World War II.

Paul Bray of Cape Girardeau was in the U.S. Air Force then. "I was stationed near Champaign-Urbana, Ill., for a while, and my parents and wife had to save their gasoline stamps over a period of time before they could come up and visit me," he said.

People were limited to three gallons of gas a week and had to abide by a 35 mph speed limit.

Mrs. Paul (Mary Lou) Bray recalled that her relatives also saved sugar stamps for jelly-making time. "My mother always made jelly," said Mrs. Bray.

Cape Girardeau businessman Marty Hecht also remembers shortages.

"I was in the Army when the war ended in 1945," said Hecht of Hecht's Stores and other downtown Cape Girardeau retail businesses. "When I came home on leave, I couldn't purchase gasoline because I didn't have ration stamps."

Servicemen were not issued stamp books.

Hecht also recalled shortages on some items that were not rationed.

Nylon hose were among the most sought-after items. "I remember my parents talking about sought-after nylons," said Hecht. "They would get a few pair in, call some customers on a waiting list and they'd be gone the same day. Next time my parents would call others on the list."

Americans were limited to eight ounces of sugar a week -- when they could find it.

Rationing became a way of life for Americans in 1942, a few months after the December 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan, the event which propelled the U.S. into the thick of World War II.

As news of Pearl Harbor spread, a public which only hours before had been divided over the question of "intervention" in a war that had been going on since the late 1930s found itself quickly united in its demand for complete victory both in Asia and In Europe.

Tire rationing came quickly after Pearl Harbor, in January of 1942. In rapid succession, rationing followed on sugar, gasoline, and many other items.

Automobile factories were converted to the manufacture of war equipment -- planes, tanks and guns.

The OPA, which was founded in early 1942, was faced with a problem utterly new to the American economy.

Regional, state and district OPA offices were set up throughout the nation. Volunteer local rationing-board members were recruited and organized. More than 5,500 local OPA offices were created immediately, and more than 130,000 of them were established within a year.

During the war, a grocery store would tally more than 14 billion points a month, which translated into aboaut 3.5 billion stamps.

For one point, a grocery shopper could buy a six-ounce can of frozen juice. Applesauce went for 10 points, grapefruit juice was 25 points.

It took seven points for a pound of hamburger, 16 points for a pound of butter and 18 points for a 16-ounce can of peaches.

Ration stamps represented the points needed to purchase certain items during the war.

Each adult received a stamp book which contained red stamps, for meat, fish or diary products; blue stamps for other food items; and green stamps for items like tobacco and shoes.

Some people swapped their stamps -- sugar for gas, meat for sugar, etc. Some sold them. Both practices were illegal but they happened.

Everyone at home was limited to two pairs of shoes a year. The military needed 15 million pair a year.

Other limitations included: sugar, eight ounces a week; meat, 28 ounces a week; and butter, which was considered a precious item, a half-pound a week.

People were also limited to three gallons of gasoline a week unless they had special windshield stickers granted to certain emergency vehicles.

Most vehicles had an "A" sticker, which permitted them the three gallons a week. Docters and pastors received a "C" sticker, which allowed them a little more fuel to carry out their duties; and ambulances and other emergency vehicles had an "E" sticker, for unlimited fuel. Auto owners were allowed only four tires (no spares).

A black market flourished during the war. As many as 30,000 motorists had to surrender their ration books because they used counterfeit or stolen gas coupons. During the war, more than 1,300 persons were convicted of gasoline black market activities.

Many items were taken off the rationing list when the war ended in November 1945, leaving only tires and sugar. Tires were removed from the list in December 1945, leaving only sugar on the list.

While the grown folks were doing their part with rations, youngsters throughout the nation also were helping the war effort.

The War Production Board issued a call for boys and girls to help with scrap drives. Victory scrap banks were set up in communities -- including Cape Girardeau -- to collect iron, steel, tin cans and paper.

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One national magazine published a monthly ration-stamp calendar that explained which stamps could be used when.