Link to column on gas rationing in WWII – CKDH
For those of us too young to remember the war and the rationing it entailed, wartime cartoons and old movies provided our only clues as to what went on.
I remember an old Abbot & Costello movie from 1944 or so, in which Lou Costello found a huge wad of cash with a rubber band wrapped around it. He picked up the wad excitedly, tossed the cash away, and beamed “Oh boy, rubber! Good rubber!!!”
A joke that was hugely popular at the time (though hardly anyone would get it now):
The year is 1943, and a man has been driving around the back woods of Vermont. He’s running low on gasoline, and is starting to panic. At last, he comes upon a remote, isolated gas station. He pulls in, and hands his A card to the attendant.
The attendant looks puzzled, and asks “What’s this? Ain’t you got any money?”
The driver replies, “What’s that? Why, it’s a rationing card.”
Attendant: “Rationing for what?”
Driver: “Why, because of the fuel shortage.”
Attendant: “What fuel shortage?”
Driver: " Well, because of the war, of course."
Attendant: “What war?”
Driver: “The war against Adolf Hitler, damn it!”
Attendant: “Who’s Adolf Hitler?”
Driver: “Sigh… look, forget the gas, okay? Just give me four new tires.”
