Gas Rationing WW II

[Tom Deering]

Thought I'd start this thread because I felt John Packard's thread on hand cranking was getting diluted by some of my nonsense. Novaman and Grover also deserve an answer to their questions about gas rationing stickers. Hope some of you other Medicare Jockeys (or Jockettes) will help me out because I was only 9 years old at the end of the war, and these observations are strictly drawn from memory as a kid who was in the primary grades of elementary school when this was in practice.<P> During WW II, the OPA (Office of Price Administration) was formed to control prices and availabilty of many commodities. Among these controlled commodities, just about everything related to motor vehicles and their operation, maintenance etc. was controlled by the dreaded OPA. They apportioned gasoline to the motoring public by their perceived "need". The system they used to identify the various "need" classification was a sticker pemanently affixed to the lower right hand corner of a vehicles windshield with the letter "A", "B", or "C" printed in very bold type. The owner was also issued a "book" of gas rationing stamps with a corresponding letter. Automobile allocations went something like this:<BR>"A" sticker---- issued to the general public who used their car for general private use. Don't laugh, but I think that allowed a weekly purchase of somewhere between 5&10 gallons of gas. The "A" stickers were assigned to an overwhelming majority of cars.<BR>"B" sticker---- This was assigned to persons whose vehicle was absolutely necessary for them to perform their CRITICAL job. This would include doctors and certain defense workers who couldn't do their job without their car. This was a tough case to prove.<BR>They were granted a larger weekly allotment of gas. I don't recall the amount, but it was limited.(20 gal/week)?<BR>"C" sticker---- these were assigned to persons whose vehicles were mandatory for the performance of their job. There were limitations on vehicle usage though. I believe it helped to have some job specific alteration made to the vehicle. E.G.: being a building contractr, my dad had ladder racks mounted on his roof. God help you if you got caught 200 miles from home at a vacation spot with that vehicle. I don't remember any gallon/week limitation for 'C" stickers, but the OPA watched you like a hawk. I think there might have been other stickers used for special purposes that seemed frivolous. How about a "T" for truck and "E" for emergency vehicle? Duh! There were special concessions made to farm operators too.<P> Gotta run off to Long's<BR>Drug store parking lot now to buy that '54 Capri from the unregistered user in the Buy-Sell section of the DF.<P> Tom

[Guest]

Gas rationing happened because of OPEC oil production cutbacks, correct? Remember the odd and even days when you stood in line forever! And then the guy came down the line and placed the "sorry, we're out" sign just in front of your car.<BR> <P>Well I'm a geezer, for sure, and I have two memories from WWII rationing. Every so often on Saturdays I went down to my dad's Flying A station to mind the "front end", which means I gassed up cars for customers from the visible register pumps. I was responsible for pumping the correct amount per the coupon tendered and getting the money part right. And second, I don't remember much of the details because I just turned 8 near the end of the war. <BR> <P>But rapidly moving forward, every year at the big local car show in Rockville, MD a guy hands out repro WWII windshield gas stickers to the participants. And the synopsis of the accompanying info handout is:<BR> <BR>From May '42 until August '45 gasoline was rationed, there was a 35 MPH speed limit, and tires were inspected. You were allowed only 5 tires per car. (Ever hear of regrooved tires?)<P>Local rationing boards controlled who got what gasoline allocation. You had to display your rationing sticker on the windshield, lower right corner. <P>"A" sticker (black) = general population weekly allocation ranged from 1-1/2 to 4 gallons.<P>"B" sticker (green) = a supplemental ration to the A category for those who had long commutes to work (325 to 400 miles per month figured at 15 MPG).<P>"C" sticker (red) = preferred workers could get as much gas as needed - doctors, clergy, essential scrap agents, telegram deliverers, etc.<P>"S" (brown) and "T" (blue) stickers = trucks, busses and commercial vehicles. Even if you had one of these vehicles, the ration was granted on a case by case basis.<P>So Virginia, there was no Santa Claus when it came to gasoline availability during the bad old days. <p>[ 12-01-2001: Message edited by: ted schneider ]

[Guest SalG (Sal Grenci)]

Hi gang, My father, (will be 75 in February) likes to tell a story about having to go the Empire State building to get the correct papers from OPA for the purchase of a bath tub. He was the oldest son and my grandfather could not afford to lose a days pay so he could buy the tub to get 4 child cleaned every day. He went by train, he could not dream of using the limited gas allotment. He was no fan of OPA.<p>[ 12-01-2001: Message edited by: SalG ]

[Tom Deering]

HVS,<BR> My apologies to you for starting this thread and leaving you hanging out in the hand cranking thread. I checked that thread before starting this one and your great input wasn't posted yet. Do you feel "computer smarts" enough to try moving it over to this thread? Your input was super and would enhance this thread considerably.<P>Sal, Your dad is in the age group that could really add some meaningful input to this subject. Pick his brain and record it here.<BR>That bathtub story is beyond a rational persons comprehension, isn't it? But, that was the OPA.<P>Ted, Wasn't Flying A strictly a western brand? You must have lived in California during the war. Have you any knowledge of voltage dropping resistors used to dim car lights along the coast? We didn't have anything like that in the Great Lakes area. What about partially "blacked-out" headlight lenses?<P> I think it was Howard who said the number of people who have a knowledge of this subject is very limited. Many of those in the age group who were old enough to experience auto history during the war: were indeed fighting the war and never returned home. C'mon ladies, there are probably more of you out there who can help fill in the blanks. We promise not to reveal your age. Your secret is safe with us. You too can be proud to have been an adult during that trying period of our history.<P> Tom

[Guest]

Tom ~ I have tried 3 times to drag that other post over here without success. I even got it onto Word and then tried to move it here, but it won't come up.<P>Dan Binger seems to be able to do it at will and I have been doing what he showed me, but still no luck. I will try again tomorrow when I'm fresh, and if that fails I will call on Dan. I would like to see all of the info on rationing on one thread as there is a lot of fading history there. ~ hvs<P>PS: I remember Tydol Flying A gasoline stations in upstate New York in the '40. I am quite certain of that because the man I worked for in the summers in Plattsburg, NY called it Tydol Fu**ing A. One doesn't easily forget that. <P>PPS: I just tried again without success, but I did get it copied to Word and printed it out. Tomorrow I will re-type it here.<p>[ 12-01-2001: Message edited by: hvs ]

[D Binger]

Here you go Howard<P>hvs <BR>Senior Member <BR>Member # 2215 <BR> posted 12-01-2001 12:47 PM <BR>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>I was hoping that someone a little older would be able to come on here with an authoritative answer to the ration sticker question. Having been born in 1933, I was only 8-12 years old during WWII and so have only casual memory of what stickers stood for what. This is what I remember.<BR>A - 3 gallons a week [as I remember it]<BR>B - a bit more gas, but I don't know how <BR>much.<BR>C - Still more than B<BR>T - Truck, commercial. I have no idea how much you got, but I don't think it was unlimited. Was there an unlimited category for essential industry trucks?<P>I believe the B & C were issued to doctors and essential workers based on need as determined by the ration board. Being a city kid I know nothing about farmers and their vehicles and equipment.<P>I do remember three specific stickers in my family.<P>A - It didn't take my mother's '41 Cadillac very far.<BR>C - My father had this as manager of an essential business.<BR>T - The business' '37 dodge truck had one of these. So did a '41 Buick limo that my father picked up during the war and converted into a delivery vehicle by removing everything behind the front seat.<P>I have an 81 year old friend here in town who worked in a gas station during the war to put himself through medical school. I'll see what he remembers.<P>It is becoming harder and harder to get first hand information from peoiple who were adults during WWII. Just look at the age of our veterans. God bless them all. ~ hvs <P><BR>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>Posts: 1250 | From: Cheyenne, WY USA | IP: Logged<p>[ 12-01-2001: Message edited by: D Binger ]

[ThomasBorchers]

Very interesting to know it. I had such a sticker at the windshield of my 1930 Buick which I sold recently. In main things I know what it means but now more exactly. On the back side there where tips how to save gas.<P>Tom

[Tom Deering]

Dan saves the day;or at least Howard's finger tips.<BR>Howard, when you said Tydol; that rang the bell and turned on the light. I do remember albeit vaguely, them in the mid-west. They were not a dominant player in my neck of the woods.<P> We have a pretty wide divergence in our recollection of alloted gas quantities. I wonder if there were variations by different areas of the country and rural vs.urban etc. The quantities I quoted were just estimates.<P> Sal's story about the bathtub shook loose some other recollection of standing in line at the OPA office with my dad. Can't help but wonder how the whole WW II rationing experience influenced our attitudes and values in later life. I know it had a profound affect on me.<BR> <BR> Well, gotta go out now and burn up about 430 miles worth of gas to attend a car hobby event. Ain't it great? <P> Tom

[Guest]

I believe that we still have some ration coupon books in a box somewhere in the house. They may be food, shoes or possibly gas. We'll dig them out and post anything worthwhile we learn.<P>Now another story from my youth during the big one. There was an Esso station across the street from the back of the factory where my father worked. Whitey was a somewhat shady operator who had 2 prices for gas. One price with ration coupons and another, double or more, without coupons. As I heard the story, he had accesss to stolen stamps and used them for gas sold without coupons. A rather shady character to say the least. A crooked war profiteer to be exact. Nothing ever happened to him and he finally moved away sometime in the '60s. ~ hvs

[Guest]

OK I located a book of gasoline ration coupons and I will list some of what it says. <P><B>A</B> Bacic Mileage Ration<BR>1. Coupons must be used only in conjunction with the vehicle described on the front cover. Detached coupons are VOID<P>2. If you stop using your car, this book and all unused coupons must be surrendered to your Board within 5 days.<P>3. If you sell your car, this book and all unused coupons must be surrendered to your Board. The purchaser will not be issued a gasoline ration unless he presents the receipt which you receive at the time of such surrender.<P>On the reverse side it says, "You must immediately write or stamp your car license number and state of registration on the face of each coupon. Otherwise these coupons are INVALID and may be revoked."<P>Each coupon measures 1"x1" and they are marked with a serial number and the designation [A 17 h] with a place on each one to write in the license # and state. The back is plain.<P>If there is any interest in seeing these coupons, I will try to scan them and send to Peter to get them posted here. ~ hvs

[Guest]

One other tidbit about OPA during the War. I remember my Grandmother telling me how in 1942 they needed to get a phone (no, not everyone had a phone then) so work could get Grandpa when needed(Grandpa was an design engineer at a company that made the cranes for ships, McKiern & Terry I think was the name). The people at M&T had to pull all kinds of strings to get them a phone and it still took 3 months just to get a party line. I still have that Western Electric phone in the house and it still works.

[Guest]

In the 1960s the Tidewater Oil Company had its headquarters building at the northern end of Crenshaw Blvd. in LA. This was a bicoastal oil exploration and marketing company. West Coast was Flying A stations (Associated) and in the east, I believe it was Tydol gasoline and some Flying A. Later Tidewater Oil renamed its marketing arm Getty Oil.<P>Yes Tom, I'm a California native, born in downtown LA, raised in Ventura after WWII (an old time oil town with wells dating to the 1890s). The WWII Flying A station was on Crenshaw Blvd. several miles down from the headquarters and was an old style 20s steel office with a small canopy and visible register pumps. It had an outside car lift. What made it unique was an extensive separate back building with about 6 or 8 repair bays, which were always busy during the war with a draft exempt, qualified mechanic. <P>Early in the war, I remember several blackouts (my dad was also the neighborhood air raid warden with the steel hat, arm band and a five gallon fire extinguisher pumping can that we kept on the back porch. Imagine how useful that would have been in any munitions ignited fire! Some cars did have headlight dimming devices, but as I remember not all. During a blackout, anything that emitted light was contacted by the air raid warden and was hidden (cars, houses, etc.).<P>Mostly everyone was really into the war effort with feelings towards the "ememy" that would never exist in these politically correct times. As an example, on December 8, 1941 my dad came in the back door and held up an LA Herald Express newspaper with a huge headline "Japs Invade Pearl Harbor" on the green front page. I was just learning to read, so I remember that.

[Tom Deering]

At yesterdays car club function, I queried some of the guys who were a little older than we kids on the DF. The general concensus among those questioned, was a 4 gal/week allocation with an "A" sticker was the limit. The conversation kinda wandered after that towards the migrants from the dust bowl, Appalacia, and Eleanor Roosevelt. You guys were a lot closer to the correct gallon allotment than my guess of 5-10 gallons/wk. <BR> Howard, how could anyone named "Whitey" possibly be shady? Unfortunately, all Americans didn't place patriotism ahead of personal gain. "Profiteering" was probably the longest word in my vocabulary during the war.<BR>If you could post an enlarged view of a gas rationing coupon, that might be the only chance most DFers would have to see one. Please give it a try.<P> Chris, The day is not too distant when you will have to explain what a telephone party line is to the DF. We haven't had such an animal around here for ~30 years.<P> Ted, your thumb nail historical accounting of Flying A is a reminder of another fleeting piece of americana: the demise of the family operated SERVICE station. Gotta admit the 89.9 and 93.9/gal that I paid for Mobil and Chevron in Bakersfield yesterday, didn't hurt my feelings. That figures out to less than a dime per gallon in WW II dollars. AND no ration coupons required. The "awl biznis" ain't what it used to be. <P> Through sheer, blind, dumb luck, I learned of a WW II memorabilia collection at the Fondren Library at Southern Methodist University. They have collected war posters, maps, documents, and assorted propaganda material.They have a web site and it includes slightly more than 200 titles. There are a handful of automotive related documents that sound interesting. They also list some titles of general interest that would make a politically correct person blush. Couldn't explore too much because my electronic etch-a-sketch can't read Adobe Acrobat.<BR> <A HREF="http://worldwar2.smu.edu/" TARGET=_blank>http://worldwar2.smu.edu/</A> <BR> <BR> Enjoy, Tom

[JohnMyer]

On the subject of gasoline rationong during WWII, being born late in 1932 I do not have a very clear memory of all of the 'ins and outs' of the gas rationing, but I do remember that if you were a farmer that you had a method to obtain gasoline for your tractor. Does anyone recall how that was done?<P>We lived in SE Penna and had a one acre 'truck farm' where we raised and sold potatoes to supplement our income. We had a Monarch farm tractor that I followed around to cultivate the potatoes in the Spring, particularly as I got to be old enough to do so. Well, because we did this farming, my father was able to get additional gasoline for this tractor. As I recall, not all of the gasoline went toward this tractor, and I remember also that we claimed use of the tractor throughout the year!! We didn't get much gasoline for using in the tractor, maybe a gallon or two each week, but it helped to have that gasoline available, and remember in those days, the gasoline did not go bad nearly as fast as it does today.<P>I have a "C" sticker from WWII and it states that not only Physicians, Surgeons and Veterinarians were eligible for this stamp, but also were 'Embalmers'! Dan Binger, they needed you even in those days!

[Guest]

Tom ~ I have been totally unsuccessful in posting the gas ration coupons on my electronic etch-a-sketch. I did scan them and when I tried to send the scan to Peter it indicated a 37 minute upload, so I scrapped that. So last night I printed the scan in double the size, put it in a manila envelope and mailed it to Peter this AM. I sent him an e mail telling him it was coming and to please post it on this thread. Maybe by the end of the week.<P>Whitey was not so called for the reason Whitey Ford and others are called Whitey. At some point in his career he decided that an Americam sounding name might be to his advantage. White is, I believe, the English word for Bianco, which when coupled with the first name Antonio could lead one to draw conclusions. ~ hvs<p>[ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: hvs ]

[Guest SalG (Sal Grenci)]

More bath tub info.<BR>I spoke to my father and he remembers he was 17 and that would be in 1944. He had to go to the 87th floor of the Empire State Building and that it was on the west side facing the Hudson River and he slowly approached the window out of fear, he had never been that high. The local OPA office in Babylon told them that a tub was available in Sayville, about 15 miles to the east and they were able to purchase it.

[novaman]

Ah the lovely party phoneline. I remember as a kid my dad was a member of the volunteer ambulance. We ended up getting a private line because the person (my parents knew him) had a habit of serenading his girlfriend over the phone with his guitar. This created a problem if there was an emergency as they wouldn?t be able to get my dad on the phone because this bozo had the line tied up.

[Guest]

When I bought my 55 Buick, I noticed on the rearview mirror, a sticker. It's the capital letter 'A' and the year 1955 below it. Not my era, but I'm quite certain there was no ration in the mid50s. Or could I be wrong? Any ideas on what it would mean?

[Guest]

Deering ( & Novaman): If we have to explain what a "party line" is, should we also explain what a "station to station" call is too?

[Guest]

Ken ~ Did the sticker face out toward the windshield or into the car. If it faced out it could have been a parking lot sticker. There was no rationing after the end of WW II. When rationing was in effect, the sticker had to be affixed to the windshield facing out.<P>Chris ~ How about person to person. An old trick of the era, when you wanted to let someone know you had arrived safely and didn't want to pay for a call, was to call home person to person to a pre determined name. When the operator said, "I have a person to person call for so and so," the person on the other end would say "He is not here." Then your safe arrival was known.<P>You have to be a fairly old phart to remember that game. ~ hvs

[Guest]

After readng all the posts I have not seen the real reason for gas rationing. It was not to conserve gas but to conserve rubber.Tires were made of real rubber and the Japanese controlled the islands were the natural rubber came from at that time. Try explaining tires made of real rubber.

[Guest]

Packard V8 ~ Who the hell is complaining on here other than <B>YOU</B>? What is stuck in your craw that makes you such a pain in the ass.<P>We have been discussing history on here and you bring in class warefare. Why don't you apply for a position with the DNC where your outlook and attitude would fit in perfectly.<P>Now stick to discussing history or go start your own deprived victimhood thread. And yes, my father owned a Cadillac in 1941. He worked for it instead of sitting on his ass and bemoaning his station in life. ~ hvs

[Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

Sugar was also rationed. She's not too proud of the fact, but my mom's stepfather had to spend a little time in the big house for stealing sugar. It seems the law caught him with several 50 lb bags of the stuff that were missing from a local warehouse. Hmmm? Now why would anyone need so much sugar?

[Guest]

LaFayette ~ One of the often overlooked reasons for all forms of rationing was psychological. It served to remind the population that the country was at war and that those at home must sacrifice just as the soldiers oveseas were doing. It made people feel like they were contributing to the war effort.<P>The United States, unlike England, was self sufficient in the production of food and many other rationed products such as shoes.<BR>The goods and/or raw materials were there, but the ability to package and transport them to market was limited, so in order for everyone to get their fair share rationing was necessary.<P>I lived through that war. I participated in scrap iron drives and collection of aluminum pans for the war effort. We saved fat and grease for the war effort. I understand that only a small percentage of those items collected in those drives ever got into any form of war production. However it made all of us feel we were contributing to the war effort.<P>Psychology my friend, psychology.<P>hvs

[Guest]

there was not much that was'nt rationed.<BR>Whiskey, cigarettes, meat, just about everything. yeah, my father loaded tanks onto flatcars during WWII. The German POW's tied them down with heavy ropes or chains. Dad would drain the antifreeze and gas out of the tanks, 50 gallons of each, right out onto the RR tracks. This was at a time when he couldnt get ANY gas or antifreeze for his 12 year old car at the time.<BR>The POW's ate VERY WELL. Dad could not trade his b'market cigarettes to the POW's for their lunch steak because no cigarettes, not even an EMPTY package was allowed in the marshaling yard for obvious reasons.

[Guest]

hvs: psychology. yes, thats really ALL that rationing served. and it still goes on today.

[Guest SalG (Sal Grenci)]

HVS, Your best responce in a while, let em have it.

[Tom Deering]

Time to pull the chair up to the 'ol electronic cracker barrel again.<BR>No argument from this corner about the OPA and ratonioning being psychological and their existance serving to keep the civilians mindful of the world situation. I can remember standing in line with my dad at the OPA jumping through the hoops so they would assign him a priority number to buy a new '42 Plymouth engine to install in our ratty '37 Dodge. Funny thing; the OPA office was located around the corner from Oven King Bakery where the odor of molasses (remember sugar was rationed) and freshly baked cookies would waft through the OPA building and driving this little kid absouletly NUTS. I'm pretty sure the engine installation required less time than we spent at the OPA trying to get it.<P> Yesterday, John Myer asked about fuel allocations for agricultural purposes. That was part of the discussion I had Sunday with my friends at the car function. 90 % of these folks are in agribusiness. They said war time fuel allocations were handled much the same way the California Board of Equalization handles it in California today. You have to demonstrate your need for a certain quantity and it was reviewed, audited, and eventually you're left alone. During the war, farm fuel was a different color than highway fuel. Today, farm diesel is a different color than highway diesel in California. We no longer have different color gasoline here as far as I know. Both then and now; if you get caught with farm fuel in a highway vehicle, you're in deep bondo.<P> Seeing John's post also reminded me of another WW II memory. An advertising slogan was coined by Buick that stated: "When better cars are built, Buick will build them". I'd guess there are at least four WW II school boys who are contributing to this thread, who were smitten by the Sequoia cream '42 Buick convertible that appeared in those ads. Well, at least one of us had the pleasure of realizing that dream coming true.<P> Has anyone had the opportunity to check out that SMU web site I posted yesterday? I'm curious about some of their collection.<P> Later, Tom

[Guest]

Tom -<BR>I took a quick look at SMU yesterday and decided that I needed to upgrade to Acrobat 5 to open their pdfs. I won't have a chance to go back and look for a couple of days, but it didn't look too promising just looking at some of the titles. <BR>

[Guest]

Packard V8 ~ Thanks for bringing your thoughts back to the subject of the thread.<BR>Your most recent informative and interesting input is appreciated. ~ hvs

[Guest]

More on the topic (if you can stand it). Grandma cutting the coffee with Chicory to make it last longer. Grandpa having "taps" put on his shoes to make the heels last longer. Saving cooking fat in a can next to the stove (I think they used it in munitions manufacturing). And for being rich, Grandpa didn't get his first car until 1947 (Pontiac). <P>My favorite was after the war when she would go to the butcher shop. When the price on a piece of meat went up, she had no problem telling the butcher: "Hey Mister, you know the War is over, right?"

[Guest]

during WWII, anyone that had a truck (i think 1.5 ton or greater) was suppose to sign somekind of gov't agreement that the truck could be called for National defense purposes. i believe this was required to obtain ration stamps. Antone elaborate on this.????<BR>Somewhere around here i have some ration stamps fo gas. i'll try to look 'em up.

[novaman]

Deering, I think all farm diesel is colored. I know along the east coast it is. And you don't want to get caught with it in a over the road vehicle. Big time $$$$$ fines.

[Guest]

well now, i can remember way back to 1972-73 when gas was 25-28 cents a gallon and i pumped alot of it and cleaned the windshield and checked the (oil sometimes). during about 74 to 75 gas shot up to 50-60 cents a gallon and everyone was outraged. They sold their big beautiful gas guzzlers for pennies on the dollar and bought 4cyl puddle jumpers. i bought a 75 top-o-line fury 9 passneger wagon for 500 dollars w/30k miles in 1977 and thats about all it was worth. Lots a problems.<P>Bathtubs??? Partylines???? 41Cadillacs????<BR>during WWII????? Oh cry me a river of tears. If u had those things back in the early 40's your were WELL-TO-DO by just about anyones standards of the day. How'bout washtubs, NO PHONE and rusty studebakers in the 1960's and 1970's????? How 'bout the boys that were over seas fighting during WWII??? <P>You old depression babies that had bathtubs and cadillacs and private phone lines here stateside during WWII have NOTHING to complain about.

[Tom Deering]

Lots of interesting trivia has been brought on line. <BR>Chris NJ : All those stories Grandma and Grandpa passed along, were repeated throughout the country during the war. I would guess the one most people would have trouble believing is the bit about saving your cooking fat in a coffee can and redeeming it at the butcher store. You would get 14 cents/lb. for the fat. Doesn't sound like much but; put it in this context: it cost 3 cents to mail a letter, 1 cent to mail a post card. For the redemption value of a pound of fat, you could mail 4 letters and 2 post cards. Today, it would cost $1.76 to send the same pieces of mail. Therefor, in todays dollars, the pound of fat would be worth $1.76 or roughly the price of a pound of bacon or a six pack of Coke. The use of chicory was surprising. I always thought it was a southern practice because I never heard of it in the Great Lakes area. The poor meat cutters (PC language for butchers) caught all kinds of flak. It seems all the housewives accused them of "weighing their thumbs".<P>Packard V8, This is the first time I've heard that requirement for 1.5 ton truck owners. Sounds logical doesn't it? I wonder if it might be part of title #8 at the SMU site.<P>Ted, There were only about 4 or 5 titles at the SMU site that seemed appropriate for this discussion: #8, #26, #150, and #151. Most of the others were just for grins.<P>Novaman, thank you for the info on diesel fuel being colored in other states. I never want to make the assumption that any other states do things like California when it comes to motor vehicles. Think we ought to start a thread titled: "Dumb driving laws and practices in my state"?<P> Later, Tom

[Tom Deering]

Today as we observe the 60th anniversary of the U.S. entering WW II, I'd like to share some info with you folks who were too young to read newspapers but too old to have this history recorded in your text books.<P> Between Dec.18,'41 and Dec.24,'41,there were five American ships sunk by Japanese submarine(s) within sight of the California coast. Among these sunken vessels were three tankers. The EMIDEO was torpedoed and sunk on 12-20-41, H.M.STOREY on 12-22-41 and the MONTEBELLO on 12-23-41. The MONTEBELLO alone had just taken on 74,000 barrels (~3 million gallons) of crude oil. You gotta admit; that is a serious loss of vessels and petroleum product to lose in a few days. It appeared that the Japanese were focused on the disruption of our fuel supplies. This theory was reinforced when the only attack on continental American soil was executed on Feb.23,'42. The target was the Elwood oil fields and refinery. These are all gone now. The site is ~ 8 miles from where we live now. The oil operations were between the shore and the coast highway. The mortar shells missed their target and landed inland of the highway where they did no damage.<P> Like most of you, I thought rubber conservation and patriotic propaganda were the prime motivators of gasoline rationing. Now I'm not so sure. It looks like we really had reason to believe our domestic fuel supply was in jeopardy.<P> Watcha think? Tom

[Guest]

How easily we overlook one of the primary reasons for WWII rationing - to remove the free market economy for many commodities and goods so that hoarding and profiteering could be minimized. Even as a kid I used to hear about the "blackmarket" where certain rationed things could be bought for a price. <BR>As I remember from history classes, rationing was meant to convserve production resources, regulate supply and sometimes prices, allocate items in critical short supply (tires, tin and chrome for plating come to mind), and of course set the psychological tone for the "war effort". How many Americans bought war bonds, had a victory garden, volunteered at the Red Cross, saved meat fat (for soap and chemicals), and conserved most of the rationed items? Most of us were proud to contribute to the war effort in several ways. I wonder if the same all-out WWII effort is possible in this far different era?

[Guest]

My memories of gasoline rationing are of sitting at the dining room table, helping my mother paste the coupons on 8x10 special sheets for deposit in the bank. <BR>In 1943, when I was eight, my father took over operation and later purchase of a gas station on old U.S.66, despite family members comments that he must be nuts to do that during rationing. It had a lot of interstate truck traffic, therefore lots of gas sales and lots of stamps taken in. <BR>The stamps had to be pasted on gummed sheets and deposited in the station's account at the bank to account for gasoline sales. My parents were constantly worried that the stamps and sales would not match properly. <BR>After gas rationing ended in 1945 the one teller at the bank who handled the stamp deposits told my mother nobody ever checked stamp deposits against sales-all the worrying was for nothing.<BR>I clearly recall A,B,and C stamps, but not T stamps-strange,since I probably pasted many thousands. Of course, memories from 58 years ago could be less than perfect.

[Guest]

Tom: I believe you are right about the enemy targeting our fuel supplies. And while I agree with the previous posters about the psychological aspects of rationing there is another point here. While most Americans believed we would win the war, no one knew "when". Suppose for a minute that the war lasted another 4 years. Would we have had the necessary resources to win? I don't know the answer to this, but considering the amount of production resources dedicated to the war, maybe rationing was the prudent way to go.

[Guest]

I have not seen anything concerning a X sticker. They were issued to rich people and politians. The X sticker permited unlimited purchase of gas. It was probably pretty rare to see one. The rich were the ones that owned and operated the factories. The goverment deemed that they should have unrestricted driving to operate their business interest. I would guess that some of them had their supply of gas at their home or factory. As for the politians,you know how that goes.