78 years ago San Diegans lined up for ration books

In May 1942, Americans enduring wartime shortages stood in long lines to register for government-issued ration books. Ration books contained removable stamps that could be used to buy restricted items such as sugar, meat, cooking oil, canned goods, shoes and coffee.

From The San Diego Union, Tuesday, May 5, 1942:

THOUSANDS WAIT IN LINES FOR WAR RATIONING BOOK 1

Weary School Attaches Work Doggedly to Complete Registration by Thursday

Thousands of San Diegans registered yesterday for their War Ration Book 1. Aircraft workers with identification tags on their coveralls, young wives with babies in their arms, men in military unforms, small children tugging at the hands of their foreign-born elders who needed interpreters, politicians, musicians and bankers waited patiently for their numbers to be called in school auditoriums, most of them crowded from the time they opened at 2 p.m. until they closed at 8.

CRASHERS AMUSE

Bringing amused smiles to the crowd, a man or woman would rush in occasionally and demand to see “whoever is in charge here.” They would importantly explain that they had to be at work in 10 minutes, and attempt to crash the lines ahead of others who may have been waiting for hours.

Polite to the last, weary school principals made it clear that if it was not convenient to register at that time the applicant could come back any afternoon through Thursday.

For those who don’t obtain their rationing books in an elementary school before the booths close at 8 p.m. Thursday, however, the going will be hard.

DIFFICULTIES CITED

“To obtain a book after Thursday,” said Thomas Crawford, war rationing chief for this area, “an individual will have to prove to a rationing board that he was too ill to leave his home during the four-day period set by law for registration, or prove that for some other reason it was impossible to comply with the law.”

In the absence of such proof, the boards may, under the law, withhold rationing books, Crawford said.

The seriousness of failure to register by Thursday night should be realized by all, but specially by those who, because they use little or no sugar, do not feel that matters.

NOT ONLY SUGAR

“Bear in mind that War Rationing Book 1 is not merely a sugar rationing book,” Crawford warned.

“We know that the first four stamps are to be used for sugar. The government hasn’t announced what the fifth stamp is to be used for.

“Beyond the fourth stamp, the others may be used for almost anything from beans to shoes, if those commodities happen to be next to be rationed.”

There was no indication of lagging applicants at the schools yesterday. At Lincoln elementary school, Twelfth Ave. at E St., there was a small crowd waiting when school opened at 8 a.m. Administrators explained that the hours were 2 to 8 p.m. — and went on explaining it to early arrivals throughout the morning.

500 ON HAND

When registrars were in their places at 2, there were 500 applicants waiting in the auditorium.