Ashley Berg
Carnes, Mark C. and John A. Garraty. “Women’s Contribution to the War Effort”. The American Nation: A History of the United States. 11th edition. New York: Longman, 1996.
- By 1944, 6.5 million more women had entered workforce
- By 1945, 19 million women were employed
- Thousands of women were also in the armed forces
- Resistance occurred at first from opposing husbands and employers that felt women should not handle such tasks. This decreased as need for labor increased.
- Women still had to do housework after a long day
- Day-care facilities were provided, but not nearly enough
- Wives/moms had to deal with “cramped quarters, ration books, the absence of friends and relatives, the problems encountered by their children in strange “schools and playgrounds…”
- “In addition most took on other duties and bore other burdens, such as tending ‘victory gardens’ and preserving their harvests, using crowded public transportation when there was no gas for the family car, mending and patching old clothes when new ones were unavailable, participating in salvage drives, and doing volunteer work for hospitals, the Red Cross, or various civil defense and servicemen’s centers.”
Elliot, Harriet. Price and Supply on the Home Front. Survey Graphic. Survey Associates, Inc., July 1941. 4/20/06 http://newdeal.feri.org/survey/sg41394.htm.
- “Greatly increased demand for food – growing out of increased consumer purchasing power, army needs, and shipments under the Lease-Lend program- have been pushing food prices up.”
- “Our all-out effort must overcome this type of waste. It must overcome, too, obstructions and inefficiencies in methods of production and distribution which check the flow of goods and raise costs to the consumer.”
- “The most fundamental approach to economic efficiency, and incidentally to problems of price, is to produce and make available an adequate supply. This is the only real means of consumer production.
Hartman Strom, Dr. Sharon H. and Linda P. Wood. “Women and World War II”. What Did You Do in the War, Grandma? Brown University’s Scholarly Technology Group. 1997. 4/20/06 http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/tocCS.html.
- As men went off to fight in the war, women replaced their positions in jobs
- Introduced a “provocative change” in the traditional female role – women were more liberated
- Still, women kept to their tradition role by supporting family and keeping in contact with soldiers
“The Homefront: World War II Rationing”. Ed. Steve Avery. Online Highways. U-S-History.com. 2002-2005. 4/20/06 http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1674.html.
- Food, clothing, gas, and other materials were rationed by the government during the time period in attempts for Americans to conserve more
- Food Rationing Program set into effect in 1942
- Purpose of rationing: so government oculd control supply and demand and to avoid public anger of shortages of certain supplies
- “Sugar Buying Cards” were used as coupons, families only being given certain amounts in accordance to their family size
- “Red Stamp" rationing covered all meats, butter, fat, and oils, and with some exceptions, cheese
- "Blue Stamp" rationing covered canned, bottled, and frozen fruits and vegetables, plus juices and dry beans; and such processed foods as soups, baby food and catsup
- "War Ration Book" with stamp authorizing a purchase of rationed goods in the quantity and time designated, guaranteeing each family its fair share of goods made scarce
- Determined by a point system
- Serious effect: rise of black market
McDonald, Joan. Personal Interview. 16 April 2006.
- Maternal grandmother
- Oldest of 4 children
- Father at war, mother in textile factory
- Had to learn how to use ration books and took care of siblings