Download Teenage Life During WW II in the US

Life During WW II
in the U.S.
U. S. War Bonds
• Gave money for the war
• People invested in the war to
help their government
• Bonds were loans
• Government promised to pay
back with interest
http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/photos/#home
Rationing
With many parents engaged in war work,
children are being taught the facts of point
rationing for helping out in family
marketing." Alfred Palmer, February 1943.
208-AA-322H-1.
http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/photos/images/ww2-17.jpg
• Everyday goods were
difficult to buy.
• Housewives had to shop
different stores looking for
food.
• Ration stamps were used
like money.
• Each family was given a
"War Ration Book"
Scrap Metal Drives
•To build tanks, ships, planes, and
weapons we needed massive amounts
of metal.
•Americans were asked to give scrap
metal for recycling,
•Schools and community groups across
the country held scrap metal drives.
Movie star Rita Hayworth sacrificed her bumpers for the duration. Besides
setting an example by turning in unessential metal car parts, Miss Hayworth
has been active in selling war bonds."
http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/photos/images/ww2-13.jpg
Victory Gardens
• People planted food for their
family, friends, and neighbors
• It was what you had to do
• This gave more supplies to be
shipped to our troops fighting
the war
http://www.victoryseeds.com/TheVictoryGarden/page3.html#Plant
Sugar Rationing
•Sugar was the first food to be rationed
•Our supply of sugar was down to a third
Sugar Rationing
http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/photos/images/ww2-16.jpg
Meat Rationing
• Grocery stores started rationing
canned goods
• Meat was hard to buy
• People over 12 years old were
allowed 2 ½ pounds of meat
per week
Working Women
Riveter at Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Burbank,
CA. 86-WWT-3-67
http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/photos/images/ww2-18.jpg
•Rosie the Riveter was a symbolic
character to encourage females to
take male jobs
•They were quickly trained to prepare
them for jobs operating machinery
•Women did an extraordinary job
•Jobs included: working in shipyards,
lumber mills and steel mills.
•Millions worked for the Defense
industry
•Women also joined the military
• Minorities in the Work force
• Men at war meant more jobs in factories.
• African Americans moved from the south all over the
country to fill these jobs.
• White Americans protested over African Americans’ jobs
• A. Philip Randolph threatened to lead 100,000 protestors
because they were discriminated in defense jobs.
• President Roosevelt didn’t want the protest in Washington
DC
• So he established the Fair Employment Practices
Commission to promote minority hiring .
The Home Front
• Many people think that war is won on
the battlefield
• People living on the home front
during World War II knew that hard
work, sacrifice, and being positive
were important to the United States
winning.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/victory/victory5.htm