The OPA had the power to place ceilings on all prices except agricultural commodities, and to ration scarce supplies of other items, including tires, automobiles, shoes, nylon, sugar, gasoline, fuel oil, coffee, meats and processed foods. At the peak, almost 90% of retail food prices were frozen.
What are Opa tokens used for during rationing?
The Office of Price Administration used OPA stamps, coins, and chits for rationing. Items that were rationed include canned goods, meats, sugar, coffee, tires, gas and more. OPA tokens were used for rationing during World War II. OPA tokens were used by retailers to give change back for food bought with ration stamps.
What is OPA in WW2?
OPA stands for Office of Price Administration. During WWII, OPA had another acronym. Office of Over Priced Administrators! The Office of Price Administration used OPA stamps, coins, and chits for rationing. Items that were rationed include canned goods, meats, sugar, coffee, tires, gas and more.
What are OPA points and how do they work?
OPA points are small vulcanized fibre red and blue ration tokens issued during World War II to make change for ration coupons. Approximately 1.1 billion red and 0.9 billion blue were produced, and even though many were collected and destroyed after the war, they are still quite common today. The red OPA points are a bit more common than the blue.
How were rationing points distributed in WW2?
These points came in the form of stamps that were distributed to citizens in books throughout the war. The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was in charge of this program, but it relied heavily on volunteers to hand out the ration books and explain the system to consumers and merchants.
What did they ration during ww1?
Daily rations were meant to include fresh or frozen meat, but many meals would have consisted of tinned food, like this 'Maconochie' beef and vegetable stew. Named after the company that made it, it was a familiar aspect of the British soldier's diet.
What did they ration during ww2?
Even though thousands of items became scarce during the war, only those most critical to the war effort were rationed. Key goods such as sugar, tires, gasoline, meat, coffee, butter, canned goods and shoes came under rationing regulations. Some important items escaped rationing, including fresh fruit and vegetables.
Why did they ration sugar in ww2?
To ensure adequate supplies for manufacturers, the military, and civilians, sugar became the first food item to be rationed. Manufacturers initially received supplies at 80 percent of pre-war levels, but that was reduced over time.
Why did OPA set up a system of rationing?
The Office of Price Administration (OPA) warned Americans of potential gasoline, steel, aluminum, and electricity shortages. It believed that with factories converting to military production and consuming many critical supplies, rationing would become necessary if the country entered the war.
What food couldn't you get in ww2?
Basic foodstuffs such as sugar, meat, fats, bacon and cheese were directly rationed by an allowance of coupons. Housewives had to register with particular retailers. A number of other items, such as tinned goods, dried fruit, cereals and biscuits, were rationed using a points system.
What wasnt rationed in ww2?
Not all foods were rationed during the WWII-era. Some of these were offal, rabbit, game and even chicken. Bread and potatoes were not rationed, too.
Which food was rationed after WWII but not during the war?
Read more in our online classroom. As World War II came to a close in 1945, so did the government's rationing program. By the end of that year, sugar was the only commodity still being rationed.
Was fish and chips rationed in ww2?
So engrained in English culinary culture are fish and chips that they were one of the few foods never rationed during World War II. The government believed that safeguarding this comfort meal during a time of distress was key to keeping morale up.
Why was milk rationed in ww2?
People started to panic buy in a manner similar to recent times as in the petrol or Covid crisis. So, the Government introduced rationing as a fair system to allow people to have a certain amount of food each week. Other countries involved in the war such as America had rationing too.
What types of goods were rationed?
The OPA rationed automobiles, tires, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, firewood, nylon, silk, and shoes. Americans used their ration cards and stamps to take their meager share of household staples including meat, dairy, coffee, dried fruits, jams, jellies, lard, shortening, and oils.
Why was coffee rationed in WW2?
Latin American countries were producing record amounts of coffee during the war. Instead, rationing aimed for a fair distribution of resources among all citizens and prioritizing the military for certain raw materials and shipping resources.
What were ration books used for?
Every American was issued a series of ration books during the war. The ration books contained removable stamps good for certain rationed items, like sugar, meat, cooking oil, and canned goods. A person could not buy a rationed item without also giving the grocer the right ration stamp.
What was rationed in the US during ww2?
The OPA rationed automobiles, tires, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, firewood, nylon, silk, and shoes. Americans used their ration cards and stamps to take their meager share of household staples including meat, dairy, coffee, dried fruits, jams, jellies, lard, shortening, and oils.
Was food rationed in the US during ww2?
The government began rationing certain foods in May 1942, starting with sugar. Coffee was added to the list that November, followed by meats, fats, canned fish, cheese, and canned milk the following March.
What food did they eat in World War 2?
Meat (March 1940) was first, followed by fat and eggs, cheese, tinned tomatoes, rice, peas, canned fruit and breakfast cereals. Remember this was a world where even in the pre-war days of plenty, olive oil was sold as a medical aid and dried pasta was confined to a few Italian shops. Rice was mainly for puddings.
What did they eat during ww2?
At first, the meals were stews, and more varieties were added as the war went on, including meat and spaghetti in tomato sauce, chopped ham, eggs and potatoes, meat and noodles, pork and beans; ham and lima beans, and chicken and vegetables.
What was the OPA?
The OPA (its name was streamlined in August 1941) was responsible for two types of rationing programs. The first limited the purchase of certain commodities (tires, cars, metal typewriters, bicycles, stoves and rubber shoes) to people who had demonstrated an especial need for them.
Why did the OPA promote artificial rubber?
Because no one had yet figured out how to make really high-quality artificial rubber, the OPA especially wanted to encourage people to care for the automobile tires they already had. Ads urged people to put less wear on their tires by driving in carpools.
When did the rationing end for tires?
Tire rationing finally ended on December 31, 1945.
When did the rationing program start?
On December 27, 1941, the federal Office of Price Administration initiates its first rationing program in support of the American effort in World War II: It mandates that from that day on, no driver will be permitted to own more than five automobile tires. President Roosevelt established the Office of Price Administration ...
What was the purpose of the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply?
President Roosevelt established the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply in April 1941 to “stabilize prices and rents and prevent unwarranted increases in them; to prevent profiteering, hoarding and speculation; to assure that defense appropriations were not dissipated by excessive prices; to protect those with fixed incomes from undue impairment of their living standards; to assist in securing adequate production; and to prevent a post-emergency collapse of values.” The OPA (its name was streamlined in August 1941) was responsible for two types of rationing programs. The first limited the purchase of certain commodities (tires, cars, metal typewriters, bicycles, stoves and rubber shoes) to people who had demonstrated an especial need for them. The second limited the quantity of things–like butter, coffee, sugar, cooking fat, gasoline and non-rubber shoes–which every citizen was allowed to buy. (As a result, of course, the black market flourished–studies estimated that 25 percent of all purchases during the war were illegal.)
What did the OPA do to the economy?
The OPA had the power to place ceilings on all prices except agricultural commodities, and to ration scarce supplies of other items , including tires, automobiles, shoes, nylon, sugar, gasoline, fuel oil, coffee, meats and processed foods. At the peak, almost 90% of retail food prices were frozen.
How did the OPA work?
The OPA worked with consumer activists in a “mutually empowering” and mutually reliant fashion to ensure the effectiveness of its policies and activists’ interests. The state could back a large swathe of consumer activists into helping to ensure businesses were compliant with its policies.
What happened to the OPA in 1946?
President Harry S. Truman vetoed this bill in hopes of forcing Congress to create a stronger one, but as the month of June came to an end the OPA shut down, and its price and rent controls went with it. The result was a sharp jump in prices, with food increasing by 14 percent and the cost of overall living rising by 6 percent, an equivalent to more than 100 percent per year. Consumers all over the nation turned out in varying numbers to protest these increases, with labor unions forming a major part of the participants.
Why did the OPA empower women?
The OPA’s enlistment of women to ensure that local businesses were complying with federal policies extended the public sphere into the private sphere and the effective growth of “state supervision.”.
What is the OPA?
Office for Emergency Management . The Office of Price Administration ( OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money ( price controls) and rents after the outbreak of World War II.
When did the OPA end?
The OPA was abolished effective May 29, 1947, by the General Liquidation Order issued March 14, 1947, by the OPA Administrator.
When was the OPA transferred to the Federal Trade Commission?
Most functions of the OPA were transferred to the newly established Office of Temporary Controls (OTC) by Executive Order 9809, December 12, 1946. The Financial Reporting Division was transferred to the Federal Trade Commission.
What did the OPA rations include?
The OPA rationed automobiles, tires, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, firewood, nylon, silk, and shoes. Americans used their ration cards and stamps to take their meager share of household staples including meat, dairy, coffee, dried fruits, jams, jellies, lard, shortening, and oils.
What was the first ration card?
The first card, War Ration Card Number One, became known as the “Sugar Book, ” for one of the commodities Americans could purchase with their ration card. Other ration cards developed as the war progressed.
What was the purpose of the Office of Price Administration?
The OPA’s main responsibility was to place a ceiling on prices of most goods, and to limit consumption by rationing. Americans received their first ration cards in May 1942.
What is the bas relief panel on the World War II Memorial?
A bas relief panel on the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. depicts farmers harvesting wheat while a soldier leans on the tractor's wheel. NPS. During the Second World War, Americans were asked to make sacrifices in many ways. Rationing was not only one of those ways, but it was a way Americans contributed to the war effort.
How did the OPA affect the black market?
The system wasn’t perfect. Whenever the OPA announced that an item would soon be rationed, citizens bombarded stores to buy up as many of the restricted items as possible, causing shortages. Black market trading in everything from tires to meat to school buses plagued the nation, resulting in a steady stream of hearings and even arrests for merchants and consumers who skirted the law. Store clerks did what they could to prevent hoarding by limiting what they would sell to a person or by requiring them to bring in an empty container of a product before purchasing a full one. State legislatures passed laws calling for stiff punishments for black market operators, and the OPA encouraged citizens to sign pledges promising not to buy restricted goods without turning over ration points.
When did the rationing end?
By the end of that year, sugar was the only commodity still being rationed. That restriction finally ended in June 1947. Plenty of other goods remained in short supply for months after the war, thanks to years of pent-up demand.
What foods were rationed in 1942?
Coffee was added to the list that November, followed by meats, fats, canned fish, cheese, and canned milk the following March. Newspapers, home economics classes, and government organizations offered all sorts of tips to help families stretch their ration points and have as much variety in their meals as possible. Propaganda posters urged Americans to plant “victory gardens” and can their own vegetables to help free up more factory-processed foods for use by the military. Restaurants instituted meatless menus on certain days to help conserve the nation’s meat supply, and advertisers offered up recipes for meatless dinners like walnut cheese patties and creamed eggs over pancakes. Macaroni and cheese became a nationwide sensation because it was cheap, filling, and required very few ration points. Kraft sold some 50 million boxes of its macaroni and cheese product during the war.
How many points did the government give to people in 1943?
In 1943 for example, a pound of bacon cost about 30 cents, but a shopper would also have to turn in seven ration points to buy the meat.
When was gas rationed in the Dig for Victory Newsreel?
Dig for Victory Newsreel, 1943. Personal automobiles met a similar fate in February 1942 as auto manufacturers converted their factories to produce jeeps and ambulances and tanks. Gasoline was rationed starting in May of that year, and by the summer even bicycle purchases were restricted.
When did the rationing of tires start?
Tires were the first product to be rationed, starting in January 1942, just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Everyday consumers could no longer buy new tires; they could only have their existing tires patched or have the treads replaced.
What was the Bund organization?
Before World War II, the German-American Bund was one of the most successful pro-Nazi organizations in the United States. On February 20, 1939, American Nazis gathered at Madison Square Garden for a mass rally for “true Americanism.”. Article Type. Article.
What was the OPA's role in the war?
Its powers included the rationing of items which were in short supply due to the war. Some of these included processed foods, meat, coffee, oil and gas, sugar, nylon, cars, tires and even shoes.
What was the purpose of the OPAC?
Its main purpose was price control. Previously, in mid-1940s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had reinstated a World War I advisory board for national defense. At the time, it was the council’s responsibility to oversee consumer protection and price stabilization. These two functions were then merged into OPAC ...
What was the purpose of the Office of Price Administration?
Following the beginning of World War II, The Office of Price Administration was established to control rents and the overall cost of items that might be affected by the conflict. Executive Order 8875 was implemented on August 28, 1941.
What was another commodity that became the responsibility of that bureau?
Rice was another commodity that became the responsibility of that bureau. Rent control was placed under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Housing Expediter. Any infringement of price control was litigated by the Dept. of Justice.
What percentage of food prices were held in check?
Additionally, the OPA had the power to limit all prices with the exception of agricultural goods. At its high point, nearly 90 percent of U.S. retail food prices were held in check. Some financial assistance was also awarded to produce some of these commodities.
When did the Office of Price Administration close?
Money matters were taken over by the Federal Trade Commission. The Office of Price Administration was officially closed on May 29, 1947 after seven years of existence. Much of its work continued however under the auspices of different governmental agencies.
What was the system of rationing?
A complex system of rationing, administered by the US Office of Price Administration (OPA), was put in place with stamps, ration booklets and some other similar systems. During the time of war, men, women and children all had to manage with hard-set limits on certain resources.
When will the point value of rationed foods be published?
A. The point value of all rationed foods will be published and posted in each store at the beginning of each ration period. You will also know how many “points” your family will have to spend during that period.
What is included in rations?
A. The processed baby foods that are made of strained or chopped fruits, vegetables, or meats, or combinations of these, put up in sealed glass or tin containers are included in the ration order. Canned milk, canned milk formulas, and canned prepared cereals will not be rationed.
How much is a fine for a violation of rationing order?
1. Punishments ranging as high as Ten Years’ Imprisonment or $10,000 Fine, or Both, may be imposed under United States Statutes for violations thereof arising out of infractions of Rationing Orders and Regulations.
Can a daughter bring ration book 2 home?
A. No . Your daughter’s Ration Book Two, like Ration Book One, will be used by the dormitory or sorority house in which she eats, to buy her share of food while she is living away from home. She will bring her book home with her when school is out.
Can you use ration books for sugar?
A. Yes, Ration Book Two — like War Ration Book One (now used for sugar and coffee) — may be used by any member of the household to whom the book is issued. Any member of the family may use all the family’s ration books.
Craigescape Member
I have a bunch of OPA ration tokens, 3 YC, 3 XC and one MM. I cant seem to find a price guid for them. Can anyone help?
lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator
There is not a priceguide, to my knowledge, but I found a little information here.
Hookman Well-Known Member
If the thread wasn't so old, I'd suggest contacting someone "over there, over there".
Seattlite86 Outspoken Member
There is not a priceguide, to my knowledge, but I found a little information here.
lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator
There were a bunch of these in a wonderful exonumia bulk bag I bought a few years ago.
Seattlite86 Outspoken Member
There were a bunch of these in a wonderful exonumia bulk bag I bought a few years ago.
Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder
Are you sure? Everything I’ve read say they’re the rarest of the red tokens...
Overview
OPA points
OPA points are small vulcanized fibre red and blue ration tokens issued during World War II to make change for ration coupons. Approximately 1.1 billion red and 0.9 billion blue were produced, and even though many were collected and destroyed after the war, they are still quite common today. The red OPA points are a bit more common than the blue. Each token has two letters on it, and some people collect them by letter combination.
History
President Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated the Council of National Defense Advisory Commission on May 29, 1940, to include Price Stabilization and Consumer Protection Divisions. Both divisions merged to become the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply (OPACS) within the Office for Emergency Management by Executive Order 8734, on April 11, 1941. Civil supply functions were transferred to the Office of Production Management.
Women and the OPA
The success of the OPA’s price controls and rationing policies depended on the support of women who acted as the main shoppers of their households, especially during wartime. Local community organizations, governments, and OPA boards held educational seminars aimed at women, targeted women to join local price and rationing boards, and recruited women for volunteer programs. Many women led local volunteer War Price and Rationing Boards that ensured adher…
African Americans and the OPA
Black consumer activists also were among those who supported the OPA, which gave them support from the federal government in fighting market discrimination.
The OPA had a base of consumer support that included different socioeconomic classes and racial groups who supported the agency because of their belief it would bring about a postwar vision of “broad popular participation and consumer rights." The OPA worked to defend consum…
Administrators of the office
• Leon Henderson, 1941–1942
• Prentiss Marsh Brown, 1943
• Chester Bliss Bowles, 1943–1946
Gallery
• An OPA menu with ceiling prices.
• A mileage ration book issued by the OPA.
• Red and blue OPA points.
See also
• Office of Economic Stabilization
• Stabilization Act of 1942
• United States home front during World War II