POINT RATIONING OF FOODS
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Year Published: 1943
Format: 16mm
Description: Made in 1943 and animated by Chuck Jones under the Leon Schlesinger Unit, this very serious animated documentary short film demonstrating the reasons and methods of the point system of wartime food rationing. In the face of wartime demands and agricultural personnel shortages during World War II, food rationing was necessary. This film explains the US Government's answer of of these wartime realities, point based rationing. Furthermore, the system's application is illustrated as we follow a typical grocery shopper at the store who learns to use it in her favor. Ask anyone who remembers life on the Home Front during WWII about their strongest memories and chances are they will tell you about rationing. WWII 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. The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price controls) and rents after the outbreak of World War II.
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Transcription
[Music] wartime America faces the greatest demand for food in her history food for our Army and Navy food for The Invasion front food for ourselves on the home front food to help our fighting allies and the people of the Allied country it takes pounds of food a day to keep a soldier on the fighting front millions of pounds of food each day the best way to supply our men overseas and our fighting allies with most of the foods they need is in dried form and in camps in addition to the military other factors ffect our canned food supplies take tin for example our major peacetime sources have been cut off by the enemy our railroads and other Transportation facilities are being taxed to their utmost carrying Munitions armaments War supplies and troops that leaves less shipping space for civilian food stuff and then there's the farm labor shortage all this means that we at home will have less canned fruits vegetables soups and other processed foods for our use without rationing of these Foods some people would get more than their fair share others would not even get what they need but rationing assures everyone of his fair share that is why your government is rationing canned fruits and vegetables and other processed foods until now we have been rationing one item at a time like sugar and coffee but processed fruits and vegetables are not one product they are hundreds of products in hundreds of different brands grades sizes varieties in cans bottles packages in dried and Frozen forms one cannot say as in the case of sugar each citizen will be allowed two cans of peaches a week or four cans of spinach it may be true that some people don't like spinach some of you may want to buy canned corn others of you may want to buy canned peas or spinach so the question arises what method of rationing can be used so that each citizen may get his fair share of canned fruits and vegetables and other commercially packed foods and that will still allow Freedom of Choice the system which has been adopted and has worked successfully in England for over a year is called Point rationing in the point rationing system all these foods are grouped together and your ration book is used to buy those you like those items which are not so scarce will take fewer points items which are more scarce will take more more points Point stamps to buy these ration goods are in war ration Book 2 this book contains blue and red stamps blue stamps are to be used for canned fruits vegetables soups juices and other processed foods red Stamps will be used for meat this is a typical page of blue stamps in war ration Book 2 notice that the stamps are given point numbers 8 5 2 1 everyone will get 48 points each period that means you will use blue stamps ABC for the first period DF for the second and so forth Point values will be the same in all stores every store in which you shop must post the official table of Point values of all Point rationed items in all sizes from time to time Point values may change and stores will post the new point [Music] value here's an example of how Point r work this lady all decked out with her family's brand new ration books starts out to do some shopping first of all she wants to buy a can of [Music] peas she wants to buy a can of chicken soup and she wants some dried prunes [Music] well there's our list complete and all that remains to be done is to tear out 14 points in stamps and pay the grosser but wait just a minute just for fun let's take another look at that point ration table hey slow down there what about those string beans why there are only three points in the size we want if we buy those instead of we can save Five Points and what's this fresh apples don't require any points well why not buy those instead of dried prunes and save another point so there we are our shopping list complete with the same amount of goods and with six points save for future use smart girl she's smart in more ways than one too because she used her large stamps first wisely saving her small ones for low Point purchases later on because she shops early in the day and so helps her grosser because wherever possible she substitutes unrationed fresh fruits and vegetables for canned or processed ones this is point rationing this is the way to assure everyone here at home an equal opportunity to get the same fair share this is the way to assure food for our fighting men and for our fighting alive share and share alike is the American way to Victory
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