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The American Home Front During World War II: Rationing, Recycling, and Victory Gardens

Graphic color poster. A large crowd of uniformed men stream off of passenger train cars. The train is deep green. The sky is deep blue.
“Millions of troops are on the move… Is YOUR trip necessary?” Poster, Office of Defense Transportation, 1943.

Collection of Northwestern University Libraries (ark:/81985/n22f7ms1c).

As the US joined the war, huge amounts of resources were needed to arm, feed, clothe, and transport the military. This meant that civilians needed to do without or find other means. Some goods, like nylons, metal toys, and refrigerators, disappeared from stores entirely. Both their raw materials and factories were needed for wartime production. Some things, like rubber, couldn’t be imported because of the war.[1] Other items were limited at the point of manufacture. To save fabrics, the government banned suit vests and women’s two-piece bathing suits became popular. The US Mint also limited their use of copper and nickel, and Americans found steel cents and silver-based nickels in their pockets.[2]

Rationing

Even during the war, civilians still needed access to products. Rationing was used to limit the number of items also needed for the war effort that they could buy. It also helped control inflation by managing demand.[3] That limit, and who could have access, was determined by the federal government. They printed ration books that contained a set of ration coupons (also called stamps). To buy something, shoppers had “pay” the right number of ration stamps plus the money that the item cost. Stamps were only valid for a certain time before they expired.[4]

Limited by rationing, Americans found ways to make do. Newspapers and cookbooks published recipes that limited or eliminated the use of rationed foods. People carpooled or rode bicycles, and canceled road trips. They sewed and mended their own clothes. And they grew and preserved their own food. Some people – buyers and sellers – tried to work around the ration system. When people heard that the government was going to add something to the ration list, people would line up to buy as much as possible to hoard it. Some sellers also stockpiled goods to sell at inflated prices. Others charged extra to sell rationed goods without the necessary ration stamps. There was also an illicit trade in the ration stamps themselves. If caught, both buyers and sellers could be arrested and fined.[5]

Rationing ended as goods became available. By the end of 1945, the only thing still rationed was sugar. It stayed under ration until June 1947.[6]
Graphic color poster featuring painted vegetables arranged in the shape of a "V" for "Victory." Lettering in black capital letters reads “Food for Victory.”
“Food For Victory.” Poster made by Grade 6 students Edith Tillotson and Ruby Prince during World War II.

Collection of State Archives of North Carolina (WWII 12_P78).

Recycling

Not all materials for the war effort had to be new. As part of the “Salvage for Victory” campaign, Americans were encouraged to collect and recycle needed materials. School children, churches, community groups, and families donated and sold materials to the war effort. Iron fences were removed from around cemetery plots. Children and even Fala, the President’s pooch, donated their toys.[7] By the time the war ended, millions of tons of metal, rags, rubber, paper, rope, and even record albums had been recycled. One consequence is that few of these items from the war survive.[8]

Victory Gardens and Preserving Food

One of the major advances of World War II was a national focus on nutrition – for the military and for the public. This was based on new research showing the importance of a balanced diet. It was important that civilians were at peak health to support the war effort.[9] Fruits and vegetables were an important part of a good diet. Although fresh produce was not rationed, Americans were encouraged (and taught how) to grow Victory Gardens. This left more commercially grown produce for the military and helped offset the lack of farm labor. It also meant less resources needed to transport produce to market.[10]

Half of all American households grew a Victory Garden – in their yards, in window boxes, at their jobs, in school yards, and in community spaces. Incarcerated people of Japanese descent also planted victory gardens.[11] By 1943, Victory Gardeners had planted over 20 million acres of land and by the end of the war, produced about 8 million tons of food. Even Eleanor Roosevelt, Batman, and Superman had Victory Gardens. [12]

Preserving the food was just as important as growing it. Government publications and training centers taught Americans how to can, dry, pickle, freeze, and properly store root vegetables. They advised which products were suitable for preserving and how to save seeds for the following year. Community canning centers opened across the country, providing entire neighborhoods with training and equipment.[13]

Rationing, recycling, and Victory Gardens were only part of the larger US economy during World War II. Americans on the home front also went to the movies, found new places to live (or didn't), and spent millions of dollars on Victory Bonds.
This article was written by Megan E. Springate, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, for the NPS Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education.

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Last updated: November 16, 2023