Cftapter 5
RATIONING
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Rationing is the name which
is given to the system of distributing scarce resources in a wartime
situation. The purpose of rationing
was to try to ensure that everyone
received an equal share of goods
whichwere in limited supply. Scarcity came about for a variety of
reasons:
[a]
goods which are freely available inpeacetime become scarce because theyare diverted
for use by the Armed
Services
[c]
supply to civilians in
order to divert a surplus to other countries
whose needs are seen
to be greater.
goods which are freely available in peacetime are scarce in wartime because the factories producing them
converttowartimeproduction
tbl
Ration coupons forclothing and petrol. Citizens were issued withbooks containing a supply
of goods for a certain period. These were presented along with money when purchnsing
courtesy RNZAF Museum,
rationed goods.
goods which are freely available in peacetime become scarce because they are imported, and there are problems with an enemy
controlling the source
of goods, or there are
difficulties with transporting such goods be
cause of the war
In New Zealand in World War II,
rationing was implemented by the
government for all these reasons.
Petrol was rationed by government
regulation from the beginning of
thewar. Inmanycases, goods were
not rationed by any system other
than supply. Eggr, for example,
became scarcer because of the diversion of supplies from the civilian market to the services in New
Zealand and in the Pacific. However, as the war progressed, the
government was forced to devise a
system of controlling the supply of
goods through a centralised system.
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Although New Zealand was
tdl
goods which are freely available in peacetime become scarce because the government
decides to restrict their
a country whose economy was
based on its ability to produce large
quantities of primary resources
such as meat, dairy products such
as milk and cheese, agricultural
Page 17
products such as wheat and a variety of other food products, people
in wartime New Zealand found
thattheywere forced to acceptfood
rationing. In 19 42, the government
decided to introduce a system of
rationing of food under their control rather than by the traditional
market method of supply and demand.
The first goods tobe rationed
were foods such as sugar and tea.
Clothing, footwear and household
linen such as sheets, towels and
tablecloths were also rationed at
the same time. In 1943, butter became rationed for the first time,
and a year later controls on the sale
of meat were introduced. As well
as these goods, periodic shortages
of goods such as cream, cheese,
fruit and other foodstuffs had to be
accepted. Eachpersonwasissued
with a ration book, and when goods
were purchased, as well as paying
for them, they were required to
produce their ration book. The
shopkeeper would clip out the coupons for the goods purchased, and
when the coupons were used up,
people had to do without until the
next ration books were issued.
requiring more mate-
fabric, were not popular, and earned
rials [such as pleats, double-
the derisive name of "passion-killers".
Goods made of rubber [such
as bicycle or car tyres, hot water
bottles, rubber gloves ]became ex-
so that styles
Although food was the most common form of rationing to affect people, there were other goods which
were rationed for a variety of reasons. Clothing affected many people. Although they were given a
yearly allocation of clothing coupons, the selection of material and
colours was severely limited at
times. Fashions were modified
breasted jackets, large bands or
cuffs] were discouraged. The
Armed Services' needs for footwear
meant that shortages of shoes were
common.A common shortage for
women was stockings, with desirable stocking materials such as silk
becoming unobtainable. Durable
but less appealing substitutes, g€nerally made of a thicker woollen
tremely scarce. Elastic virtually
disappeared from shops, except in
small amounts at times. Clothing
requiring elastic [such as trousers,
skirts and underclothingl had to
undergo modification, with buttons
and safety pins being a poor and
often ineffective substitute. Many
other specialist goods whichhad to
be imported [such as binoculars,
bicycles and spares, tools for specialist trades and professions] and
more common household goods
such as cutlery, saucepans, pens
and jewellery were among the worst
wartime shortages. A particularly
worrying shortage was paper.
Small goodswere notthe only
worrying shortage. The expansion
of wartime building [such as military bases and installations] which
absorbed tradesmen and materials
and the rapid transfers of families
for military reasons created housing shortages. Although the government controlled rents to prevent
unscrupulous landlords from
profiteering, the shortage of housing created much awkwardness for
manypeople. Just as worrying were
the shortages of services such as
electricity and gas supplies, which
had to be rationed periodically,
sometimes with little warning. Coal
and wood were in occasional short
supply, which affected people's
ability to cook meals.
Aslnp assistant clips clothingcouponsfrom arationbookas austomerpaysforhispurchase.
New ZealandHerald.
Qage 18
As soon as the warbroke out,
petrol was rationed for private use.
After the Japanese invasion of the
South East Asia [aiming at the oilrich Dutch East Indies - now Indonesia], shortages became acute.
Military needs became top priority,
followed by the needs of industry,
agriculture and defence construction. This meant that there was
little left for the private car owner/
with the average allocation being
sufficient for most owners to travel
about 450 miles [1000km] per year.
Communities were forced to resort
to other means of transport. Public
transport was more widely used, as
were bicycles if a person possessed
one. Horse-drawn transport made
a comeback, and more efficient
planning of deliveries of goods
such as milk, mail and other necessities cut national petrol consumption. An Oil Fuel Controller moni-
tored stocks of petrol and oil, and
adjusted petrol rations according
to supplies. More than any other
item, petrol rationing produced the
greatest numbers of prosecutions
for breaches of the rationing regulations.
Although by modern standards the restrictions seem harsh,
few people in New Zealand were
endangered by rationing. It is true
that many people found the restrictions awkward or inconvenient.
However, no-one starved and most
people found that with careful planning and use of scarce resources
that they could manage reasonably
well. A variety of methods were
tried to overcome the effects of rationing. With food rationing,
the use of substitutes [such as margarine or dripping for butter] was
encouraged. Many cookbooks were
published which advised women
on how to prepare meals in the
most economical and tasty fashion.
Tastes had to change in some cases
[for example, the amount of sugar
used in tea] or people had to resign
themselves to doing without things
which they used to enjoy [such as
chocolate and sweets, some types
of fruit and commodities such as
high quality stockingsl. Many families grew more vegetables on their
section, and farmers [and townspeople who knew farmers] generally ate better than city dwellers.
Reproducedby pennission of "Taranaki Herald"
"Christmns Legend" by Treaor HnL|1944.
Qoge 19