WWII Ration Stamps and Blue Chip Trading Stamps

WWII Ration Stamps and Blue Chip Trading Stamps

Here is three sets of stamps I picked up at a garage sale along with the military paperwork I showed in an earlier post.

WWII Mileage Ration Stamps
WWII Goods Ration Stamps

The war caused shortages of all sorts of things: rubber, metal, clothing, etc. But it was the shortages of various types of food that affected everyone.

"Food was in short supply for a variety of reasons: much of the processed and canned foods were reserved for shipping overseas to our military and Allies. Transportation of fresh foods was limited due to gasoline and tire rationing and the priority of transporting soldiers and war supplies instead of food. Imported foods, like coffee and sugar, were limited due to restrictions on importing."

"Due to these shortages, the US government’s Office of Price Administration established a system of rationing that would more fairly distribute foods that were in short supply. Every American was issued a series of ration books during the war. The ration books contained removable stamps good for certain rationed items, like sugar, meat, cooking oil, and canned goods. A person could not buy a rationed item without also giving the grocer the right ration stamp. Once a person’s ration stamps were used up for a month, they could not buy any more of that type of food."

Blue Chip Trading Stamps
Before we had digital customer loyalty cards that we know today, they used to give you stamps.

Trading stamps were incentives given out by grocery stores and gas stations. A consumer would collect the stamps, paste them in books, and then take the books to a redemption center and exchange them for consumer goods. Blue Chip Stamp Company was a competitor of S&H Green Stamps.