<P> In summer 1941 the British appealed to Americans to conserve food to provide more to go to Britons fighting in World War II . The Office of Price Administration warned Americans of potential gasoline, steel, aluminum, and electricity shortages . It believed that with factories converting to military production and consuming many critical supplies, rationing would become necessary if the country entered the war . It established a rationing system after the attack on Pearl Harbor . </P> <P> Tires were the first item to be rationed by the OPA, which ordered the temporary end of sales on 11 December 1941 while it created 7,500 unpaid, volunteer three - person tire ration boards around the country . By 5 January 1942 the boards were ready . Each received a monthly allotment of tires based on the number of local vehicle registrations, and allocated them to applicants based on OPA rules . There was a shortage of rubber for tires since the Japanese quickly conquered the rubber - producing regions of Southeast Asia . Although synthetic rubber had been invented before the war, it had been unable to compete with natural rubber commercially, so the US did not have enough manufacturing capacity at the start of the war to make synthetic rubber . Throughout the war, rationing of gasoline was motivated by a desire to conserve rubber as much as by a desire to conserve gasoline . </P> <P> The War Production Board (WPB) ordered the temporary end of all civilian automobile sales on 1 January 1942, leaving dealers with one half million unsold cars . Ration boards grew in size as they began evaluating automobile sales in February (only certain professions, such as doctors and clergymen, qualified to purchase the remaining inventory of new automobiles), typewriters in March, and bicycles in May . Automobile factories stopped manufacturing civilian models by early February 1942 and converted to producing tanks, aircraft, weapons, and other military products, with the United States government as the only customer . As of 1 March 1942, dog food could no longer be sold in tin cans, and manufacturers switched to dehydrated versions . As of 1 April 1942, anyone wishing to purchase a new toothpaste tube, then made from metal, had to turn in an empty one . By June 1942 companies also stopped manufacturing metal office furniture, radios, phonographs, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and sewing machines for civilians . </P> <P> Civilians first received ration books--War Ration Book Number One, or the "Sugar Book"--on 4 May 1942, through more than 100,000 schoolteachers, PTA groups, and other volunteers . A national speed limit of 35 miles per hour (56 km / h) was imposed to save fuel and rubber for tires . Later that month volunteers again helped distribute gasoline cards in 17 Atlantic and Pacific Northwest states . To get a classification and rationing stamps, one had to appear before a local War Price and Rationing Board which reported to the OPA (which was jokingly said to stand for "Only a Puny A-card"). Each person in a household received a ration book, including babies and small children who qualified for canned milk not available to others . To receive a gasoline ration card, a person had to certify a need for gasoline and ownership of no more than five tires . All tires in excess of five per driver were confiscated by the government, because of rubber shortages . An "A" sticker on a car was the lowest priority of gasoline rationing and entitled the car owner to 3 to 4 US gallons (11 to 15 l; 2.5 to 3.3 imp gal) of gasoline per week . B stickers were issued to workers in the military industry, entitling their holder up to 8 US gallons (30 l; 6.7 imp gal) of gasoline per week . C stickers were granted to persons deemed very essential to the war effort, such as doctors . T rations were made available for truckers . Lastly, X stickers on cars entitled the holder to unlimited supplies and were the highest priority in the system . Clergy, police, firemen, and civil defense workers were in this category . A scandal erupted when 200 Congressmen received these X stickers . </P>

Why were american consumer goods rationed during the war