Pg. 22: War Years
Prior to December of 1941 the country was busy making things for the “defense effort”. After Japan made their Big Mistake, we were at war in earnest; and all efforts escalated rapidly to try to meet military demands. There was not enough raw material to fight a war and also supply the civilians their “wants”. Rationing was placed in effect for items such as gasoline, sugar, coffee, meat. Ration books were issued depending on the size of the family to give everyone a chance at the limited supply.
With Demand so far ahead of Supply, wages and prices were bound to skyrocket. To prevent this from happening, the government established a system of controls over wages and prices. It worked pretty well. Your rent did not keep going up, and the cost of things stayed fairly constant. Neither did your salary take big jumps, although wages could be increased where the company could show it was following previously established scales.
Jobs were pretty much “frozen” to prevent industry from wasting effort trying to entice workers from each other. You could change employers if you could show your talents would be better utilized by the new employer.
For Industry, the government set up a priority system to rate each project on its relative importance to “the war effort”. A.E. was supplying communication systems and components to nearly every branch of the military, and our projects received high priority. As a consequence, Uncle Sam decided (at six month intervals when my number came back up) that I was helping the war more at A.E.Co. than I would be elsewhere. I heartily agreed. Only once did I get so far as to take a physical exam preparatory to induction. (Incidentally, the physical said my left arm, broken in 1933 Sophomore football, was 30% disabled.) But the A.E. appeal caught up before things went any further.
There were no war time “hardships” of real consequence for Chicagoans, but you knew things were not quite normal —
:::You saw groups of midshipmen marching to class.
:::4th Church had a rash of weddings at the conclusion of each midshipmen’s class.
:::You stood in line with your ration book waiting to buy meat — it was available only once or twice a week.
:::There were no new refrigerators, washers, cars, or any major appliances to be had. The factories were busy making airplanes, tanks, and ships. Second-hands were in short supply.
:::You turned off your lights and kept the shades drawn for an occasionally scheduled “black out”.
:::Posters in most public places reminded you that loose talk (about where your friends were shipping to) could cost lives.
:::Bill boards asked, “Is this trip really necessary?”.
:::There were no cameras nor imported goods to be found.
:::Wood was substituted in items normally using metal.
:::Ads in magazines reminded you that the company was busy making things for the war effort — you would have to wait for yours.
:::You had to have a ration book with stamps to get gasoline.
:::You were encouraged to share a taxicab with others.
:::Posters and bill boards encouraged you to invest in War Bonds.
Chicagoans had little to complain about during WW II. We had enough to eat, no bombs were coming close — we probably were not sufficiently grateful.
