During the Second World War, the government introduced rationing because there was a shortage of certain items that were needed for the war. Rationing is when you are only allowed to buy a certain amount of an item. Each member of a family would have received a pamphlet filled with stamps that could be used for the purchase of rationed items such as sugar, meats, and nylon. Each ration book was used to purchase different items. The first ration book was used to buy sugar, if you already owned any sugar, the stamps for that amount would be torn out of the books.
In order to conserve rubber which was in very short supply, cars were labeled with classification stickers to indicate how much gas a person could buy, limiting the amount that they could drive. For example, cars labeled with an “A” sticker were allowed to buy four gallons a week because they were considered nonessential to the war efforts. While cars that were labeled with a “B” sticker were allowed to buy 8 gallons of gas a week because they were considered to be essential workers. Carpooling was strongly encouraged.
Sources:
"Word War II Rationing". Ames Historical Society. March 27, 2010
"World War II (1939-45)". Britannica. March 30, 2010
References
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1674.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/310458/rationing_during_world_war_ii.html
http://www.waverlyinfo.com/page.php?ID=3282
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