World War II
During World War II, many attacks involved the use of air crafts. Within the first few years of the war, air raid shelters were used as protection in Britain. When Britain realized that war against Germany was unavoidable, they began building air raid shelters as protection against aerial attacks. The most well-known air raid shelter was the Anderson Shelter designed in 1938. These were built in gardens of houses and covered with soil to be unseen. They were made of steel and can hold 4-6 people in each. Anderson Shelters were free to anyone in Britain with an annual income of less than £250, which is about $380 US dollars. Over 2 million families had the Anderson Shelter in their gardens by the time the Blitz occurred.
[Left: Anderson Shelter in Britain]
World War II was a time of rationing, for both the soldiers and civilians. Things were in short supply during his time, so in order to make sure everyone got fair amount of food, gas, supplies, etc., people were given ration books. Ration books kept track of how much supplies you purchased to make sure you don't go over the limit. Even soldiers at war were only given a limited amount of calories a day to preserve the amount of food in supply. Another way of rationing was through ration cards. Every car was a given a sticker with letters such as A, B, C, M, R, S, T, and X. If you were seen as essential to the war effort, you were given unlimited gas.
A sticker: general public- 4 gallons per week
B sticker: business owners- 8 gallons per week
C sticker: professionals (physicians, ministers, nurses, densists..)- unlimited
T sticker: truck drivers- unlimited
X stickers: members of congress/other VIPs-unlimited
This idea of rationing began in 1942, and each type of supply you purchased was kept track of one way or another.
[Left: Anderson Shelter in Britain]
World War II was a time of rationing, for both the soldiers and civilians. Things were in short supply during his time, so in order to make sure everyone got fair amount of food, gas, supplies, etc., people were given ration books. Ration books kept track of how much supplies you purchased to make sure you don't go over the limit. Even soldiers at war were only given a limited amount of calories a day to preserve the amount of food in supply. Another way of rationing was through ration cards. Every car was a given a sticker with letters such as A, B, C, M, R, S, T, and X. If you were seen as essential to the war effort, you were given unlimited gas.
A sticker: general public- 4 gallons per week
B sticker: business owners- 8 gallons per week
C sticker: professionals (physicians, ministers, nurses, densists..)- unlimited
T sticker: truck drivers- unlimited
X stickers: members of congress/other VIPs-unlimited
This idea of rationing began in 1942, and each type of supply you purchased was kept track of one way or another.
[Examples of gas ration stickers put on cars]
Also during this time, war bonds were created. War Bonds are saving bonds that are used to help pay for the war effort. They are government issued and make the citizens feel like they are contributing to the war by purchasing the bonds. The funds from the war bonds were used to pay for the military. If you could not afford to buy a full price bond, you could still get them in smaller amounts by purchasing .25 cent stamps and getting the full bond once you have saved up enough. In order to convince the citizens to buy bonds, propaganda was used to show the people that if you loved your country, you would help by buying war bonds. Propaganda promoted patriotism to their country, and it was used in all countries during World War II. The governments goal was to send a message to the people that even citizens were soldiers, homes and factories are battlefields too, and it's their duty to help support the war efforts. Because the countries were in total war, it was important to get their citizens to realize the necessity of buying bonds.
[Propaganda posters for selling war bonds in WWII]