Woman Fight the War from HomeWoman Fight the War from Home
Suddenly as a result of the war much of the supplies that a housewife used to complete her everyday chores were gone. A 1940's housewife could not buy a staple like sugar at the grocery store, because the sugar cane supply was significantly diminshed. What sugar was left was vital to the war effort, because it makes molasses; molasses makes ethyl alcohol; and alcohol makes the powder which fires guns and serves as Torpedo fuel, dynamite, nitrocotton, and other chemicals desperately needed by the American military. The availability of this product to the American people was very limited and as a result it was aconsidered a "rationed" item. This meant that a housewife could only purchase so much of it at a time, assuming of course that she could find it at the store to begin with.
Other items that women needed to ration were silk, nylon, rayon, cotton, and wool. All of these materials were in high demand because they made parachutes, aircraft and military clothing, tents, and even gunpowder bags. Food items that were rationed were coffee, tea, butter, and meat. As a result, housewifes had to drive around to several different markets to find the supplies that they needed to create a well balanced meal. This too created a problem given the fact that gasoline was rationed as well.
Another obstcle that the early 1940's housewife ran into was the shortage of stell. In 1943 civilians were only alloted 15% of the naiton's steel production. This caused the rationing of such items as bottled, canned, dried, and frozen vegetables, as well as canned fruits, jouices, and soups. Women who lived in big cities felt this squeeze more than ever, while women who lived on farms and in small towns were able to garden and preserve their own supply of fresh produce. So in an effort to help the war effort, the government promoted "Victory Gardens." These were small gardens that family could have in their back yard which produced tomatos, lettuce, and beans and other produce that would normally be found in the grocery store.
Posters encouraged all citizens to participate
in the war effort in every possible way -- growing,
conserving, saving, and producing.
U.S. Department of Agriculture 163786.01, 90-3534.
As evident by the above section, being a housewife during the war was not easy. These women were still expected to keep house, dress, and cook as they had before the war started, however they had to do so with very limited resources. It seemed like everytime they turned around another product was being rationed, and it was thier job to learn how to deal with it. Women became excellent troops of the war effort in their own homes for they did, for the most part, what they were told to do by the U.S. federal government. Impart the rationing system was so successful because of the great stives made by American women.