Matt DiPalma's Display
CULPEPER, Va.
I have often wondered about rationing. My dad grew up in Culpeper, and my mom grew up on a farm in Sperryville in the Depression. My father was drafted and served in Europe in WWII. My mother took a government job in Richmond. We didn't talk about those years. . . .
At a recent talk about rationing in WWII, Matt DiPalma, a collector of ephemera and historian, said in times of war, it ensures a fair distribution of supplies for people and armed forces.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, which led to a cutoff from raw materials in Southeast Asia, the United States shifted from its policy of isolation to involvement in WWII. With involvement came restrictions in the form of rationing—tires, rubber, gasoline, cars as well as shoes, silk and nylon, even bicycles and typewriters, DiPalma told his audience of around 40 people. Foods rationed included sugar, canned milk, butter and coffee.
“It sounds like just about everything on the planet was rationed," DiPalma pointed out.
Boston Public Library
Local ration boards and rationing books provided a means of monitoring supplies and preventing hoarding. The main goals were to ensure armed forces and population back home had adequate supplies. DiPalma explained improvements in ration books over the years and shared examples from his collections.
Americans supported the war effort by going without (National Park Service). And they often did so with a sense of humor as shown in a column in the Virginia Star (Nov. 5, 1942).
The proposed rationing of coffee has never alarmed us, feeling that we could meet the emergency when it came along, but this total prohibition of coffee is something else again and we—along with a lot of our fellow citizens—are finding it hard to take it. Some people might have been hoarding but we didn’t; just getting a pound of coffee when the other pound was about out or something like that. But we don’t feel virtuous about this lack of hoarding now—we feel regretful!
In addition to rationing, the government encouraged Americans to plant a Victory Garden as a display of patriotism, DiPalma explained. Many articles use humor to convey the message as show in the Culpeper Exponent (May 20, 1943).
How does your garden grow? For of course you have a Victory Garden. It is simply unpatriotic not to have a garden this year. . . . Not the least the lesson the Victory Garden will teach is perseverance, and to meet disappointment cheerfully. The old saying that we reap what we sow does not apply always to our vegetable garden. Sometimes we sow and plant and reap nothing.
DiPalma pointed out Americans developed strategies “to get around limits by using substitutions.” Honey, molasses and maple syrup often replaced sugar. But coffee seemed more difficult.
At the end of the war, many products were removed from rationing, except sugar, which did not return to the shelves until 1947.
Matt DiPalma talks with a member of the audience at the Museum of Culpeper History
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Works Cited
DiPalma, Matt. “How Culpeper and the Country Survived WWII – Rationing and the Home from 1941-1945.” Museum of Culpeper History. Culpeper, Va. 2 September 2025.
Dorcas. “That Reminds Me--Victory Garden.” Culpeper Exponent. V. 63, no. 6. 20 May 1943, p. 2. Virginia Chronicle: Digital Newspaper Archive. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=TCX19430520.1.2&srpos=17&e=--1941---1947--en-20--1--txt-txIN-victory+gardens--------Culpeper+%28VA%29. Accessed 3 September 2025.
“Is Your Trip Necessary – Troops On The Move.” This image was originally posted to Flickr by Boston Public Library. https://flickr.com/photos/24029425@N06/2352740270. 18 August 2021. Accessed 5 September 2025.
“Most anything—and—Everything.” Virginia Star. V. 24, no. 20. 5 November 1942, p. 1. Virginia Chronicle: Digital Newspaper Archive. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=TVS19421105.1.1&srpos=12&e=--1941---1947--en-20--1--txt-txIN-rationing+culpeper--------. Accessed 3 September 2025.
“Sacrificing for the Common Good—Doing Their Duty by Doing Without.” National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/rationing-in-wwii.htm. accessed 5 September 2025
Related Works
“World War II and Rationing in the U.S.” Pearl Harbor. 18 April 2028. PearlHarbor.org. 21 March 2023. https://pearlharbor.org/blog/wartime-rationing-in-the-us/. Accessed 5 September 2025.
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