Make It Do or Do Without: 1940s Ration Recipes - Retro Housewife Goes Green (2024)

FAQs

What did the stamps in Book 3 of war ration mean? ›

BOOK 3 - Introduced October 1943

These books contained brown stamps, which were used for meats, canned milk, canned fish, butter, cheese, lards and fats. Examples: 1 pound of pork chops - 7 points. 1 can of condensed milk - 22 points.

A: Millions of ration books were issued during World War II. They were intended to prevent the hoarding of such goods as coffee, sugar, meat and other items in short supply due to the war. Ration books generally sell in the $5 to $25 range, but unlike savings bonds, you can't cash them in as you wish.

1940s. In the 1940s, the Second World War was ongoing and food rationing was introduced. Meat, cheese, butter, cooking fats and sugar were heavily restricted, but potatoes, other root vegetables and bread were freely available. People ate a diet much higher in carbohydrates and lower in fats than we do today.

Other favorites of the time were Bazooka Bubble Gum, Licorice candies, Turkish Taffy, DOTS Candy, Jolly Ranchers, Whoppers Malted Milk Balls, Mike & Ike, and Rain-Blo Bubble Gum. Snacks that emerged during the '40s include Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Chiquita Bananas, Junior Mints, Almond Joy, V8, and Cheetos.

The overall condition of the booklet as well as the stamps have the biggest impact on the resale value, with a large number of these available on the market. With 100+ stamps and in very good condition your 1940's era War Ration Book would have a fair market or resale value of between 25-50 dollars.

Ration cards included stamps with drawings of airplanes, guns, tanks, aircraft, ears of wheat and fruit, which were used to purchase rationed items. The OPA rationed automobiles, tires, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, firewood, nylon, silk, and shoes.

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.

Extra-popular items include flags (especially from captured German and Japanese personnel), uniforms, helmets, and weapons. American flight jackets also are sought-after.

Amid the shortages experienced during World War II and the Holocaust, many people relied on the black market to obtain food and other necessary items illegally. The black market facilitated resistance and survival, but it also provided opportunities for people to enrich themselves at the expense of others in need.

Everybody was given a ration book with 66 clothing coupons that had to last for a year. Each item of clothing that was rationed was worth a certain number of coupons, for example one dress was worth eleven coupons.

What did people eat for breakfast in 1940? ›

1940s: Mint, orange juice, and apple butter

A sample brunch menu includes: orange juice topped with mint, creamed ham and mushrooms, waffles de luxe, maple syrup, apple butter, coffee, and milk. Notable breakthroughs: General Mills rolls out CheeriOats in 1941; the name is changed to Cheerios in 1945.

An English Breakfast during WWII. Breakfast tended to be porridge with milk if available but some families would use melted lard! OMG. A special treat was toast or bread and jam (we always had jam apparently – my grandmother would make it, but so little sugar, she relied on the fruit.

A typical weekly ration per person, when at its lowest level, was butter 4oz; bacon and ham 4oz; loose tea 4oz; sugar 8oz; meat one shilling-worth; cheese 1oz; preserves 8oz a month. By 1942, most foods were rationed except vegetables, bread, and fish.

Even though thousands of items became scarce during the war, only those most critical to the war effort were rationed. Key goods such as sugar, tires, gasoline, meat, coffee, butter, canned goods and shoes came under rationing regulations. Some important items escaped rationing, including fresh fruit and vegetables.

Rationed Foods. The categories of rationed foods during the war were sugar, coffee, processed foods (canned, frozen, etc.), meats and canned fish, and cheese, canned milk, and fats.

Certain key commodities were also rationed – petrol in 1939, clothes in June 1941 and soap in February 1942.