Starting as early as January of 1940, nation-wide rationing was implemented as part of the war effort. Whether it was preserving food, regulating gasoline, or recycling and donating metal, civilians were able to contribute to the war from the Home Front. However, these rations had notable effects on citizens, and even influenced the renown Oscar Awards Ceremony.
Government rationing plans developed plans for recycling due to the resource shortages, and an important material to be recycled for the war was metal. There was a vast shortage of metal across the country, but recycling aluminum cans could result in more ammunition for the Allied soldiers, which influenced many Americans in their decisions to preserve the resource. Tanks, ships, planes, weapons, ammunition, and helmets all required metal to manufacture, so the wartime necessity took precedence over civilian products, implementing the saved metal in production. As a result, civilians were very limited in the metal they were allotted to use, and thus had to take care of what the owned, or simply had to learn to do without it.
Americans were also urged to contribute scrap metal for recycling, which eventually developed into scrap metal drives. Civilians were encouraged to turn in anything from chicken wire to typewriters, all in hopes to aid the Allies, and speed up the victory. Celebrities such as Rita Hayworth (depicted above) promoted these efforts as well as the purchasing of war bonds, and actively turned in inessential car parts for recycling. Extremes of the metal shortage included the halt in production of beauty products, alarm clocks, and even sliced bread. In the case of sliced bread, the blades used to cut bread were instead conserved for the war effort, but the public uproar led to its repeal after two months.
The rationing, however, also had interesting effects on entertainment. The annual Academy Awards still went on during the war, but the ceremony was to follow American nationalism for the recycling of metal. The previously $90 gold-plated solid bronze statuette was replaced with a $12 plaster rendition of the same size due to the lack of available and usable metal. During the wartime metal shortage, these plaster Oscars were awarded at the 1943, 1944, and 1945 ceremonies, but could be later traded in for their metal counterparts after the war had ended.
As seen through the cheaper statuettes awarded to prominent actors at the time, it is evident that the effects of World War 2 rationing were widespread. The war effort was universal, and every last scrap of metal was saved to gain any edge over adversity in the worldwide war. From efforts as nominal as blades used to slice bread, every ounce of effort was implemented to speed up the cease of war.
Sources:
http://www.sarahsundin.com/make-it-do-metal-shortages-during-world-war-ii/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/during-wwii-the-only-men-getting-plastered-for-oscar-night-were-the-statuettes
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/ww2-rationing/5927
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1674.html
Andrew, thanks for writing this interesting posts about the causes and effects of rationing on America during World War II. I thought it was very interesting how extreme and far reaching the effort to gather metal for the war was. Although it is reasonable to donate metal parts which are excess or unnecessary such as the awards for the Oscars I found it strange that a basic product which many people needed, sliced bread, was temporarily put out of production. While civilian needs taking a backseat in favor of military needs is sensible, I didn't really understand the rationale behind conserving tiny amounts of metal in knife blades while ending the production of a major food item for civilian consumption.
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting to learn about how the entertainment industry survived during the war. While efforts were made that were not necessarily beneficial to the industry as a whole, it still made an effort to contribute. During the Depression, Hollywood had capitulated to success and by reading your post, I was able to see how Hollywood continued to survive despite World War II. It seems amazing how the industry was able to capitalize off of the need for escape during the depression to truly reach success that even WWII could not bring down. Throughout the Depression, they brought life to the people as gangster films and a call for justice resounded throughout movies. This attachment to entertainment has lived past the Depression through all of the events that the world has endured and right to the present.
ReplyDeleteSource : https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/how-the-great-depression-inspired-hollywoods-golden-age-26481978.html