Treasure Chest Thursday - If you don't need it, DON'T BUY IT.

Give your whole support to rationing and thereby conserve our vital goods. Be guided by the rule: 'If you don't need it, DON'T BUY IT."

The back of one of my grandfather's ration books.

Thus were US citizens urged to cut back and save during WWII.

These ration books were among the treasures that I found in my step-mother's basement this past Labor Day weekend.  There was also one in my dad's name and a couple in my grandmother's name.

I know very little about the experiences of my father and his parents during the war and they're all gone now, so it's too late to ask. The little I do know are my grandfather's written recollections about how things changed at work during the war and that he and my grandmother decided to sell their car "in a fit of patriotism." Luckily he only had blocks to walk to work and was able to take shelter in doorways along his route during the very cold (and windy, of course) Chicago winters.

My grandmother's Ration Book One had the same coupons intact.

My grandfather's War Ration Book Two had no remaining coupons.

There were many coupons left in the War Ration Book No. 3 that I have for both of my grandparents and my father. Each sheet had a different war-related symbol on each coupon, presumably because certain coupons were used at designated times.

The backs of the second and third coupon books say that instructions will be issued. I'm curious about this now and will have to do some research to learn more. I'll also have to ask my mother how rationing was handled in Canada.