the war brought full employment to
America people had money but there
wasn't much to spend it on Japan
occupied the lands that had supplied 97
percent of America's rubber German
u-boats prowling the Atlantic reduced
sugar and coffee imports from Latin
America not to mention oil shipments
from the Middle East American factories
had stopped manufacturing civilian goods
like washing machines and refrigerators
all that meant shortages and rationing a
new experience for Americans but one
that made feelings of national unity and
common purpose stronger than ever
former Governor Al Smith with his
authentic New York accent was enlisted
to narrate this government film about
life on the homefront the film was
staged Ian sentimental but it did
Express how most Americans felt about
the war and about themselves
Oh
whenever I visit the east side I always
stop in at the Fulton fish market I used
to work there as a young man nowadays
they're busier than ever
folks here at home because of meat
rationing eat a lot more fish and the
market is short-handed since so many of
their men are now in uniform wherever I
went on the east side I saw service
flags in almost every window
these folks Italians Greeks Jews Chinese
Russians know what freedom means because
many of them or their parents were
denied it before they came to this
country they are pretty proud of those
stars each one standing for a man
fighting first country and sometimes the
star stands for a girl as I was walking
along I saw this scene mr. Dutch once he
lived in Germany saying goodbye to his
daughter I asked him how he felt about
her journey and he said anything I've
got America can have
and he meant it
in every house of worship on the east
side prayers are said daily by these
Protestants Jews and Catholics
for their sons and husbands who are
fighting to preserve the freedom peace
opportunity and happiness they found in
America there was not a town in America
large or small that did not have its big
scrap drives Americans rummaged through
their attics and basements for aluminium
brass copper tin anything that could be
melted down and used to make guns or
tanks or planes is not called recycling
then but that's what it was
Americans tried to make light of the
cigarette shortage the Armed Forces had
first call on the name brands civilians
smoked whatever they could get whenever
they could get them nylon was needed for
parachutes so patriotic women turned in
their worn-out stockings and their old
girdles as in Roosevelt said the rubber
shortage there's no joke one thing you
can be sure we are going to see to it
that there's enough rubber to build the
planes to bomb Tokyo and Berlin and not
rubber to build the tanks to crush the
enemy wherever we may find it enough
rubber to win this war you did you got
troubles look what I got
this not only saves gas it also makes
you rubber
I mean twig sure look who did it Jack
Benny the meanest man in the world and
Rochester drivin Jack's famous Maxwell
to the scrap pile
it certainly looks at home it's only
here because of a cost too much to
convert it into a cold burner
I'd like to give up my Maxwell to the
salvage drive I'm Jack Benny the movie
star well I never happen to seen you in
pictures that's not the point here to
take that car or not
yes we're taking anything he hates to
part with it so what parts would it say
he's broken heart never did that before
gave up the ghost the a card that's what
most Americans got when gasoline was
rationed four gallons a week enough to
drive about 60 miles newsreels tried to
make car pools look like fun they became
more popular when the a card ration was
cut the two gallons or workers got B
cards enough gas to commute to their
jobs and then there were the unlimited X
cards for emergency workers policemen
firemen doctors and so some reporter
discovered more than 200 Congress it
didn't take long for professional
criminals to establish a black market in
gasoline
counterfeiters began printing phony
ration coupons almost immediately
most Americans were law-abiding but they
were addicted to their automobiles they
dipped into the gasoline black market a
bit just as they had flirted with
bootleggers during Prohibition days but
overall gasoline rationing worked
given New York City's traffic jams were
in
as this government film pointed out
listen gents I've been pushing a hack
around New York for quite a couple of
years named weed 22 is my personal
experience there is more on Beals and
set see Norris people how would you like
to have to navigate through this mob in
order to make a nice couple of outs well
I was gonna retire and take up a new
line of business until sight in Japanese
he's decided to claw Pisani chops waste
resellers I don't have to retire because
this year war is made from traffic a
dead macro right away mobs deciding of
put away to Buick so use the feet and
I'm telling you getting dead storage
space is wasting getting into the World
Series this of course is now eliminated
to Sunday drivers the characters will
make right toys from the left and left
trains from the right and various other
citizens mostly a opposite sex who
should never been allowed to drive in
the first place if I had anything to say
about it the way it is now a poisoner
wants to go from green print to hollom
has got to use the subways
the first and last time in this
automobile age Americans relied on
public mass transportation it was not
hard to convince people to use mass
transit there's no other choice
problem was getting a seat or a ticket
or getting to the station shoes were
also rationed two pairs a year to get
around Americans had to improvise in the
newsreels at a field day presenting real
or imagined alternatives to the
automobile
new bicycles were rationed horses were
not and there were still a few around