Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services. The purpose of rationing is to restrict the amount of essential goods consumers are allowed to purchase. Rationing controls one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time. For Americans at home living without a few necessities was not that difficult. Many people remembered the Depression, which by comparison made rationing seem like a modest concession. Most Americans were happy to contribute to the War Effort and found fun and inventive ways to make rationing part of daily life. New recipes and fashion trends found their way into culture as a result of rationing. One example is women’s stockings. Due to shortages in fabric women often had to create the illusion of wearing stockings by painting a line up the back of the leg where the stocking seam would have been.

"Making do with less" was the standard on the American Home Front. Following the example of our British cousins, America soon began the rationing of critical goods.  The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was formed in 1941, to create necessary rationing regulations by which the transfer of essential goods would be governed for the next few years. For those who disobeyed the rationing rules, punishment was strict. Punishments ranging from as high as 10 years imprisonment or $10,000 fine, or both, were imposed under the U.S. Statutes for any violations arising from infractions of the rationing orders and regulations.

For more information, visit the Examples of Rationing and Rationing Recipes sections.