Life in the USA

Discussion in 'USA' started by angie999, May 16, 2004.

  1. angie999

    angie999 Very Senior Member

    As most of us are aware, wartime life in the USA was largely without the rationing and restrictions like the blackout endured in Britain.

    Yet much was the same: millions overseas in the forces, women in the shipyards and factories (it was the land of rosie the Riveter), exciting music on the radio and so forth (don't forget that AFN was widely listened to in Britain, much to the alarm of the BBC!).

    There was the downside: internment of American citizens of Japanese descent, a colour bar and a great deal of racism in the US forces, war profiteering, etc.

    What aspects of American wartime life interest you most of all?
     
  2. Danmark

    Danmark Junior Member

    My GrandFather helped make Liberty Ships in the Brooklyn Naval Yards, NYC. He often told my dad of stories from around the harbor. My Grandfather would oftne lecture my dad on the ignorance of major US cities allong the Eastern Sea board and how disregarded the black outs. The Uboats would use the lights from the cities to guide them down and up the coast. My dad told me that the US Coast Guard thought that a German U-Boat was under the New York Harbor.
     
  3. BeppoSapone

    BeppoSapone Senior Member

    Originally posted by Danmark@May 19 2004, 08:22 PM
    My GrandFather helped make Liberty Ships in the Brooklyn Naval Yards, NYC. He often told my dad of stories from around the harbor. My Grandfather would oftne lecture my dad on the ignorance of major US cities allong the Eastern Sea board and how disregarded the black outs. The Uboats would use the lights from the cities to guide them down and up the coast. My dad told me that the US Coast Guard thought that a German U-Boat was under the New York Harbor.
    Well, I don't know anything about German U-Boats in New York Harbour, but I did read that the Italians were planning attacks in New York:

    "The Black Prince", Junio Borghese, commander of the Decima Flottiglia MAS, was ready to conduct a human torpedo attack of the New York Harbor when Italy signed the armistice in 1943."

    Source: http://www.comandosupremo.com/Facts.html
     
  4. Jeff Floyd

    Jeff Floyd Junior Member

    The U-Boats had no need to come into New York Harbor. It was easier for them to sit offshore and watch the convoys pass in front of the lights of the city. It was much the same elsewhere along the eastern seaboard.

    My father was a Merchant Marine officer sailing from New York and mother tells of watching the ships burning after U-Boat attacks just outside the roads. Because of security, however, she could not find out if my father's ship was among them. Her first word was usually a letter from my father posted from the UK a week or so later.
     
  5. Neil B

    Neil B Member

    Just to confirm Jeff's point my Mother and Father can tell of US merchant ships visibly burning from the Jersey Shore. There was also rationing in the US during WWII.
    Take care,
    Neil
     
  6. angie999

    angie999 Very Senior Member

    Originally posted by Neil B@Jul 1 2004, 07:49 PM
    There was also rationing in the US during WWII.

    Do you have any information about the scale of rationing and what goods were covered?

    I seem to recall that there was no problem over petrol, for instance, but tyres might have been in short supply. This would have been more of a problem in the US than in Britain, as country people were much more reliant on motor transport.
     
  7. Neil B

    Neil B Member

    Hi ANgie,
    Sorry for the delay in my reply. I think you may be confusing the USA of today with that of the 1940's gasoline was rationed and cars were much less plentiful. Servicemen had preference for rail travel. Meat and eggs were rationed and the US had it's share of scrap drives Nickel (5 cent) pieces wer made of silver to save the nickel and copper they were made of. Keep in mind the US was exiting the Great Depression and people were not as wealthy as they are now.
    Take care,
    Neil
     
  8. angie999

    angie999 Very Senior Member

    Originally posted by Neil B@Jul 26 2004, 04:25 PM
    Hi ANgie,
    Sorry for the delay in my reply. I think you may be confusing the USA of today with that of the 1940's gasoline was rationed and cars were much less plentiful. Servicemen had preference for rail travel. Meat and eggs were rationed and the US had it's share of scrap drives Nickel (5 cent) pieces wer made of silver to save the nickel and copper they were made of. Keep in mind the US was exiting the Great Depression and people were not as wealthy as they are now.
    Take care,
    Neil
    This is certainly on a greater scale than I realised. Do you know any good web links on the subject?

    I think that rationing in Britain was much more severe, but this is easy to understand, given the naval situation and the shortage of foreign exchange for consumption. Still, I didn't know about meat and eggs in the US.

    Thanks for the info.
     
  9. Neil B

    Neil B Member

    Hi Angie,
    I found this on a genealogy website. My apologies, I was wrong about eggs!
    Price controls were also maintained on items.
    Take care,
    Neil


    Friday, April 23, 1943
    RATION REMINDERS

    NOT ALL FOOD IS RATIONED - Chief unrationed items are eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables, dried and dehydrated fruits (prunes, raisins, etc.) fish and shellfish of all varieties except that in sealed containers, bread and cereals, milk, grain products such as spaghetti, macaroni and noodles, poultry and game, jams, preserves and jellies, mayonnaise and salad dressing, perishable cheeses.

    RED STAMP RATIONING - This covers all meats, butter, fats and oils, and cheese (except the soft, perishable varieties). Each person is allowed sixteen points a week. Red coupons in War Ration Book 2 marked D are valid this week. These coupons and any A, B and C coupons saved from the preceding three weeks may be used at any time through April 30.

    BLUE STAMP RATIONING - G, H and J blue stamps in War Ration Book 2, worth a total of forty-eight points a person, become valid tomorrow, April 24, and are good throughout the month of May. D, E and F blue stamps, in use since March 25, expire Friday, April 30. Thus there will be an overlap period of one week in which all six stamps will be valid. These stamps cover canned, bottled and frozen fruits and vegetables and their juices, dry beans, peas, lentils, etc., and processed foods such as soups, baby foods, baked beans, catsup and chili sauce.

    SHOES - No. 17 coupon in War Ration Book 1 is good for one pair until June 15. Families may pool coupons of a household.

    COFFEE - Coupon No. 25, in War Ration Book 1, good for one pound of coffee, expires Sunday, April 25.

    SUGAR - Coupon No. 12 in War Ration Book 1 is good for five pounds, but this must last through May 31.

    Gasoline Ration Card

    GASOLINE - A, B and C coupons each are worth three gallons. T coupons are good for five gallons each. The A coupons numbered 5 must last through July 21, which is double the time of previous ration periods. B and C books bear own expiration dates.

    FUEL OIL - Period 5 coupons, which must last you through Sept. 30, are now valid for ten gallons (household type) and 100 gallons (institutional type). The O. P. A. advises you to save the stubs from ration sheets - you will need them when the new heating season begins on Oct. 1.

    TIRES - Tires for essential driving are available on application to rationing boards. Recapping with reclaimed rubber camelback (Grade F) is now available to all without restriction.

    LOCAL RATIONING BOARDS - Borough rationing boards will provide the address of any of the fifteen local rationing boards in the city which should be consulted on rationing problems. Borough office telephones are: Manhattan, COolumbus 5-4575; Brooklyn, MAin 4-85575; Bronx, MElrose 5-8250; Queens, IRonsides 6-6300; Richmond, GIbraltar 7-6929. Information on price control may be obtained at the O. P. A. offices in the Empire State Building, Chickering 4-7300.
     
  10. angie999

    angie999 Very Senior Member

    Excellent post, Neil. Thanks for the information.
     
  11. Kiwiwriter

    Kiwiwriter Very Senior Member

    US wartime production also led to interesting shortages...there was a national scandal over rubber shortages in 1942, for example. In 1945, that rubber shortage led to major league baseball using the "balata ball," which couldn't go very far or very fast. Neither could the players (all overaged or 4F), so it didn't matter.

    In 1942, Ford made hundreds of thousands of sedans. In 1945, it made 12 -- all for US government use.
     
  12. Rebel

    Rebel Junior Member

    Originally posted by Neil B@Jul 26 2004, 04:25 PM
    ...Keep in mind the US was exiting the Great Depression and people were not as wealthy as they are now....
    [post=27085]Quoted post[/post]

    Britain was hit pretty hard, too.
     
  13. jamesicus

    jamesicus Senior Member

  14. Dpalme01

    Dpalme01 Member

    Originally posted by BeppoSapone+May 20 2004, 09:24 PM-->(BeppoSapone @ May 20 2004, 09:24 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-Danmark@May 19 2004, 08:22 PM
    My GrandFather helped make Liberty Ships in the Brooklyn Naval Yards, NYC. He often told my dad of stories from around the harbor. My Grandfather would oftne lecture my dad on the ignorance of major US cities allong the Eastern Sea board and how disregarded the black outs. The Uboats would use the lights from the cities to guide them down and up the coast. My dad told me that the US Coast Guard thought that a German U-Boat was under the New York Harbor.
    Well, I don't know anything about German U-Boats in New York Harbour, but I did read that the Italians were planning attacks in New York:

    "The Black Prince", Junio Borghese, commander of the Decima Flottiglia MAS, was ready to conduct a human torpedo attack of the New York Harbor when Italy signed the armistice in 1943."

    Source: http://www.comandosupremo.com/Facts.html
    [post=25410]Quoted post[/post]
    [/b]
    I don't think the Axis really considered an attack on the U.S. Mainland worth it.
    They would just be pushed back, and it would cost them a tremendous amount of resources.

    There may have been an Occasianal U-boat having fun along the coast bet even there they didn't do a whole lot of damage. They would have been trapped and sunk so fast if they drew attention to themselves.

    They were probably there just so they could tell their girlfriends that they had seen america.
     
  15. Dpalme01

    Dpalme01 Member

    Originally posted by angie999+Jul 17 2004, 02:24 PM-->(angie999 @ Jul 17 2004, 02:24 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-Neil B@Jul 1 2004, 07:49 PM
    There was also rationing in the US during WWII.

    Do you have any information about the scale of rationing and what goods were covered?

    I seem to recall that there was no problem over petrol, for instance, but tyres might have been in short supply. This would have been more of a problem in the US than in Britain, as country people were much more reliant on motor transport.
    [post=26923]Quoted post[/post]
    [/b]The american people really threw themselves into the war effort. They all conserved anything they could, down to cooking oil to be used for guns.
     
  16. nolanbuc

    nolanbuc Senior Member

    Originally posted by Dpalme01@Nov 2 2004, 09:48 AM
    The american people really threw themselves into the war effort.  They all conserved anything they could, down to cooking oil to be used for guns.
    [post=29103]Quoted post[/post]

    Another interesting war-conservation drive in the US: used women's stockings (which were already becoming rare due to silk & nylon rationing) were collected to be used as powder bags for naval guns.

    Here's an interesting on-line article about WW2 rationing in the state of Nebraska, which is a good snapshot of what was happening around the US.

    Nebraskans Tighten their Belts
     
  17. Kiwiwriter

    Kiwiwriter Very Senior Member

    My web page has just added more bibliography, including a number of books on the US home front. "Freedom From Fear," and "Days of Sadness, Days of Triumph" are two excellent books on the US home front. Also "No Ordinary Time," by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is a biography of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt during that period as well as a history of the United States. "Washington Goes to War" by David Brinkley is also excellent for a close-up view of how the nation's capital faced the conflict. All are on my web page.
     

    Attached Files:

  18. BrianP

    BrianP Member

    My grandmother was 15 when Pearl harbor was attacked. She lived in Oregon, just a few miles from the coast. She remembered that there was a real fear of a Japanese invasion. Her older brothers were experienced outdoorsmen and made preperations to live in the mountains for a long priod of time, if need be. She remembers black out curtins and air raid drills. Most of this followed in the months just after Pearl Harbor. That is all I can remember her telling me of the fears she had of attack. For the rest of the war, she feared for the lives of her brothers.

    I know that my gret-uncle worked in a shipyard in Louisiana. I think it was Trinity Marine in Madisonville. My great-grandmother worked in a munitions factory in Oregon, and by the end of the war my grandmother worked for Pacific Telegraph and Telephone, translating messages from morse code coming in from the Pacific.
     
  19. Gestapo

    Gestapo Discharged

    Hallo American friends !!
    I was in the German SS army 172 SS German inf. army.But i also work for Gestapo as you can see at my nick name.Im old but i remamber U-boats and i also remamber there enigma codes.I also know the sicret German codes and plans to atack American boats and New York harboor.I dont know that Italians want to make atack at New York but if they have done the atack they will lose.Every man must know that Italian dont have good soldiers or tanks no aircrafts.They have only win at the Balkans and Africa because there is easy.Germany want Italy as alley because they have realy good battleships and boats.Germany have a sicret plane call "mershot the shuaine" or on english kill the pigs.This plane was sicret and only Gestapo Hitler and the oficers.The plane was made at 1943 but never work they want to make descant at New York and some more citys in USA they want to surprice Americans but not with boats they was to drop paratropers SS special devision.Of course i know that the plane was stuped and imposible because they want to drop the units after they win in Russia or USSR and this was imposible too.Germany have nothing stronger after 1944 the Russians drove us back at Warsaw win the battle at Stalingrad and Kharkove Italy was destroyed and English American and Canadian devison was ataking us at the west front.Bulgaria drove us back from Balkans.Germany can only defend themselfs and i see what the German want to make they have making most powerfull weapon Atomn bomb they desidet to drop one at USA i thing but the Russians were fast and atack Berlin before they can make theyre plane.Of course i surender to Americans who give me medical support food.I have done the right thing to surender to Americans not the Russians.(Sorry for my bad English). If some one want to contact me pleace write me at daniel_stoyanov@abv.bg
     
  20. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Hello Gestapo,

    I notice your birthdate with interest. Your 27th birthday would have been a day to remember.

    There are quite alot of other country members on this site. Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom .....................

    Have a quiet 88th on Monday.


    mit freundlichen Grüßen


    Geoff
     

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