World War II Ration Tickets and Tokens

This cardboard wallet held ration coupons during WWII, and a news clipping listing where items would be available

I recently read something on Facebook that seemed to be very appropriate for the pandemic crowds waiting in line for meat, milk and just to enter grocery stores.  A 1944 newsclipping from Salem, Massachusetts read "BUTTER IN SALEM, 1000 WAIT IN LINE   Salem, Jan. 23 - ... Waiting in line in front of an Essex Street dairy market in downtown Salem at which a shipment of butter had just arrived today were more than 1000 persons.  Traffic was disrupted, and other shops in the neighborhood isolated."  The folks on this group made comments that even if the people of Salem waited in line, in 1944 these consumers could not purchase it without a ration coupon.  Many of the comments were from people who had never seen a ration coupon.  I knew that my Mom had a box full of World War II ephemera in her basement, including ration coupons.

At my next visit with Mom I "borrowed" her box of WWII mementos, and talked with her about the newsclipping. She instantly recognized the address on Essex Street in Salem as the Kennedy butter and egg store.  Her parents would save butter ration coupons and drive to Salem, too.  She had lots of stories about the ration coupons.  Her family included seven children (five boys!) and they were entitled to many coupons to feed them, buy shoes, and other commodities. Her father had an "essential worker job" (sound familiar?) and he had coupons to buy tires and gasoline to drive to work.  Families would trade coupons, and she knew that shoes were an item her mother needed often for her seven children.  

After photographing all the items in my Mom's box, I posted several images of the ration coupons on the Facebook group.  You can see them below.  The box also had lots of other interesting World War II items, and I'll try to write a blog post about them soon, and include lots of photographs.

The newspaper listed when coupons
could be redeemed

This jar held cardboard ration tokens

Ration tokens were given as change when coupons were redeemed

My Aunt's ration coupons. Each family member was entitled to coupons. She was only 16 years old.
She was married at age 18, but her husband was a serviceman who was stationed in China during the war.

Click here for another blog post about some of the items found in the same box, pertaining to Civil Defense during World War II:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/06/did-your-ancestor-serve-in-civil.html

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "World War II Ration Tickets and Tokens", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 12, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/06/world-war-ii-ration-tickets-and-tokens.html: accessed [access date]).