One Hundred Pounds of Sugar
May 1, 2008 – 6:00 amIn case any of you younger readers have a question as to why food rationing was necessary, I came upon this story recently in the book Dead Reckoning by McAvoy and Sigfred.
On December 7, 1941, Sture Sigfred stopped at a gas station on a rural road in Wisconsin. The voice on the radio in the background indicated that something had just happened at Hickham Field in Honolulu. The gas attendant was about to turn the radio off, suggesting the report was some sort of soap opera.
Surge, a pilot, told the attendant he had just been in Honolulu four weeks ago and this was no soap opera. And then they both listened intently as the announcer reported the devastation at Pearl Harbor, hangars burning and battleships sinking into the sea.
As if in a daze the attendant went to the phone and dialed.
“Rose,” he said. “Call Joe at the co-op and order 100 pounds of sugar.”
It appeared that his message was meeting with some resistance, so he repeated his order.
“Don’t ask questions. Just call Joe at the co-op and order 100 pounds of sugar. I’ll be home soon.”
After hanging up the phone, the attendant stared out the window as if in deep thought, seemingly unaware of Sture’s presence until Sture told him he would like to pay for the gas.
“Oh, yes,” replied the attendant. “Sorry to keep you waiting. The last time we went to war, we couldn’t get sugar until the damned thing was over. I hope this time we beat the rush”
Additional stories and posters on rationing are in my book, We Knew We Were at War: Women Remember World War II.
Your stories are always welcome. Contact me at margaretgeorge@verizon.net.
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