Civilian “War Effort” Documents, World War II
Musdp Collection W2
For information concerning this collection or to request copies
contact:
speccoll@truman.edu
Copy Policies, Copyright Law & Acknowledgements
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| Rationing and War Bonds |
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During World War II, the civilian population of
the United States, and most other countries for
that matter, was rationed to the bare
necessities when it came to goods needed by the
military. Rationed
items included food stuffs as well as items made
from materials used in the manufacture of
military supplies, equipment and arms.
Such things as clothing fabrics, shoes & other
leather goods, metals, oil products and rubber
were hard to obtain. When such
goods were available, citizens could purchase
them with a combination of cash and a specified
amount of ration stamps, but as the stamps
themselves were rationed and those allotted
applied to numerous types of items, difficult
choices sometimes had to be made.
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Civilians also contributed to the war effort
with the purchase of U S Government Defense
Savings Bonds or “War Bonds”.
These were purchased at a discounted
price and redeemed for full value at maturity.
Those who could not afford the full price
of a Bond could purchase them in incremental
amounts by buying $.25 cent stamps at the Post
Office and redeeming them for a Bond when the
total amount was saved. Children were encouraged
to save this way so stamps could also be
purchased at school. |
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E Skipwith Harrison of Kirksville donated these
ration and savings booklets to the Museum
in 1973. |
| W2:1 | War Ration Book No 3 |
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Seriel No 454-496BZ, issued to Ella S Harrison;
unused book with validation stamp affixed;
contains 8 pages, 2 types of stamps |
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| W2:2 | Postal Savings Plan for the Purchase of United States Defense Savings Bonds |
| $25 Bond booklet; contains twenty (20) $.25 stamps ($5.00) toward the $18.75 needed to purchase a $25 Bond |
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For information concerning this collection contact: speccoll@truman.edu |
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