World War II Woman

Cockroaches

Gasoline rationing probably impacted the family more than any other rationing. Gone was most pleasure driving, and visits to parents and grandparents in other parts of the country were greatly curtailed. Buses and trains were generally overcrowded.

All car owners were required to register their automobiles and were then given a sticker to place on the windshield, along with a ration book. The “A” sticker allowed four gallons per week, the “B” sticker allowed ten gallons per week for special needs and the “C” sticker indicated the car was used for the war effort. People who needed their car for work would try to fill their car with other workers who would then turn over some of their ration stamps to the driver. As reported in We Knew We Were at War: Women Remember World War II one such special need was taking sports teams to games.

Occasionally, a family would limit car use for several weeks, enough to save enough gas for a trip to the shore. Our family had been accustomed to an every other week visit to my grandparents’ home in Wilmington, Delaware from our home near Philadelphia. These visits were reduced to once a month and even then, we had to take a bus, then a train, and then another bus. Of course, the return home was just the reverse, making for a very long day.

One of the women in We Knew We Were at War; Women Remember World War II, recalls an experience she had while attending William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. In an effort to ease the travel problems of the students, the college resurrected an old bus to take the students into Washington D.C. where they could then take trains to their homes. However, once the bus warmed up, cockroaches appeared from every crevice, which caused much screaming and swatting of bugs as everyone exited the bus.
 

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