History & Context

Historical Note

The Office of Price Administration (OPA) expanded to include regulation of production and commodity distribution in 1942, when United States officially entered the Second World War. Initially the agency anticipated shortages of essential war materials such as rubber, gasoline, sugar and manufacturing capacity. Rationing grew to include food and fuel. Most commodities where removed from rationing by the end of 1945. The exception was sugar, which continued to be rationed into 1947.

Chronology

December 27, 1941

Tire rationing begins, per Ration Order #1.

January 1, 1942

Automobile rationing begins, per Ration Order #2.

March 13, 1942

Used typewriter rationing begins, per Ration Order #4. It is replaced by Ration Order #4A on December 28, 1942.

April 21, 1942

Sugar rationing begins, per Ration Order #3.

May 11, 1942

Gasoline rationing begins, per Ration Order #5.

May 15, 1942

Bicycle rationing begins, per Ration Order #7.

September, 29 1942

Footware (rubber) rationing begins, per Ration Order #6.

October 22, 1942

Fuel oil rationing begins, per Ration Order #11.

December 19, 1942

Heating stove rationing begins, per Ration Order #9.

Thermal Zones

Using weather and temperature data, OPA established thermal zones to account for the regional needs for heat, and therefore fuel, along the Eastern seaboard of the United States. Zones, therefore, were established along climatological rather than geographic lines.

Table 1. Zone A

State	Counties
Maine	all counties
New Hampshire	all counties
Vermont	all counties
Michigan	all counties
Wisconsin	all counties
Minnesota	all counties
North Dakota	all counties
South Dakota	all counties
Upper New York	Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, Washington
Iowa	Allamakee, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Floyd, Hancock, Howard, Kossuth, Lyon, Mitchell, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Sioux, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Worth

Table 2. Zone B

State	Counties
Massachusets	all counties
Rhode Island	all counties
Connecticut	all counties
New Jersey	all counties
Pennsylvania	all counties
Nebraska	all counties
New York	Albany, Alleghany, Bronx, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Genesee, Greene, Kings, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Nassau, New York, Niagara, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Suffolk, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Wayne, Westchester, Wyoming, Yates
Ohio	Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Auglaize, Belmont, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Darke, Defiance, Delaware, Erie, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Geauga, Greene, Guernsey, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Hocking, Holmes, Huron, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Licking, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Medina, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Ottawa, Paulding, Perry, Pickaway, Portage, Prebble, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Union, Van Wert, Wayne, Williams, Wood, Wyandot
Indiana	Adams, Allen, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, De Kalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Fayette, Fountain, Fulton, Grant, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jasper, Jay, Kosciusko, Lagrange, lake, La Porte, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Miami, Montgomery, Newton, Noble, Parke, Porter, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, St. Joseph, Starke, Steuben, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Union, Vermillion, Wabash, Warren, Wayne, Wells, White, Witley
Illinois	Adams, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Coles, Cook, De Kalb, De Witt, Douglas, Du Page, Edgar, Ford, Fulton, Grundy, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lake, La Salle, Lee, Livingston, Logan, Mcdonough, McHenry, McLean, Macon, Marshall, Mason, Menard, Mercer, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Piatt, Pike, Putnam, Rock Island, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Vermilion, Warren, Whiteside, Will, Winnebago, Woodford
Iowa	Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Clinton, Crawford, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fayette, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Humboldt, Ida, Iowa, Jakcson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Lucas, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Mills, Monona, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscatine, Pag, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Polk, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Sac, Scott, Shelby, Story, Tama, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Woodbury, Wright
Missouri	Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Chriton, Clark, Clinton, Daviess, De Kalb, Bentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Knox, Lewis, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Marion, Mercer, Monroe, Nodaway, Pike, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby, Sullivan, Worth
Kansas	Atchison, Brown, Cheyenne, Clay, Cloud, Dectur, Doniphan, Ellis, Gove, Graham, Greeley, Jackson, Jewell, Lane, Logan, Marshall, Mitchell, Nemaha, Norton, Osborne, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Rawlins, Republic, Riley, Rooks, Scott, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Trego, Wabaunsee, Wallace, Washington, Wichita

Table 3. Zone C

State	Counties
Delaware	all counties
Maryland	all counties
District of Columbia	–
Virginia	all counties
West Virginia	all counties
Kentucky	all counties
Ohio	Adams, Athens, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, Warren, Washington
Indiana	Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur, Dubois, Floyd, Franklin, Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Orange, Owen, Perry, Pike, Posey, Ripley, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Sullivan, Swotzer;amd, Vanderburgh, Vigo, Warrick, Washington
Illinois	Alexander, Bond, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Johnson, Lawrence, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, St. Clair, Saline, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, Williamson
Missouri	Audrain, Barry, Barton, Bates, Banton, Bollinger, Boone, Butler, Callaway, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Carroll, Carter, Cass, Cedar, Christian, Clay, Cole, Cooper, Crawford, Dade, Dallas, Dent, Douglas, Dunklin, Franklin, Gasconade, Greene, Henry, Hickory, Howard, Howell, Iron, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Laclede, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lincoln, McDonald, Madison, Maries, Miller, Mississippi, Moniteau, Montgomery, Morgan, New Madrid, Newton, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Perry, Pettis, Phelps, Platte, Polk, Pulaski, Ray, Reynolds, Ripley, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Francois, St. Louis, St. Louis City, Ste. Genevieve, Saline, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard, Stone, Taney, Texas, Vernon, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wright
Kansas	Allen, Anderson, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Clark, Coffee, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Dickinson, Douglas, Edwards, Elk, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Grant, Gray, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jefferson, Johnson, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Lyon, McPherson, Marion, Meade, Miami, Montgomery, Morris, Morton, Neosho, Ness, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Rush, Russell, Saline, Sedgwick, Seward, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Wilson, Woodson, Wyandotte

Table 4. Zone D

State	Counties
North Carolina	all counties
South Carolina	all counties
Georgia	all counties