When the Office of War Supply issued Ration Book Three last spring, most households along the Eastern Seaboard had already grown accustomed to the arithmetic of coupon living. Sugar had been rationed since May 1942. Coffee followed in November. By the time the new book arrived, counting stamps before planning meals was simply how one lived.
The Coupon Economy
I spent three weeks at the district supply office in Baltimore, watching clerks process supplemental ration claims. Each application is cross-referenced with the household's book number and stamped with the district seal before a single additional coupon is issued. The lines form by half past eight each morning.
“The housewife who plans meals around Tuesday’s delivery is not being thrifty — she is strategic. Every coupon saved is a margin against the week the allotment runs short.” — Eleanor Marsh, District 5 Rationing Administrator
Blue stamps for processed foods and red stamps for meats, fats, and oils are not interchangeable — a distinction that still confuses newcomers to the system. The two-color overprint was chosen to prevent counterfeiting on cheap stock and to force each household to reckon with every category as a separate account.